Happy late July everyone!
Last year’s summer was slow and each day dragged out.
This summer? Not so much! My kids start school on August 12, less than 3 weeks away!
Everyone seems to be literally on vacation, not for a week or 2, but for the whole month! I see the auto-responders from marketing emails and people are gone, which makes connecting with decision-makers even tougher.
Last summer, many people weren’t able to go on planned vacation and PTO, so they are making up for up it this summer. Kudos to them!
My long-time rep, Patti, recently celebrated a birthday so I drove up to Omaha this past Friday and met up with her. Kansas City to Omaha is 3 hours away and I hadn’t seen Patti in person since last Labor Day. She’s been with me for 10-12 years and I’m grateful for her contributions to Connect 5000 and she is the model of what a business development rep is. I’m proud to have her on my team.
Patti and I grabbed dinner at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Omaha, drove around the city, and even drove by Warren Buffet’s house. It was wonderful to see her and get quality time in person. Zoom and phone calls are great. In-person meals are even better.
On an unrelated note, I follow Mark Hunter, a sales expert who I admire and respect from a distance, on social media and email. We had exchanged emails a while back and he said to look him up whenever I was in Omaha. After Patti and I finalized plans, I reached out to Mark and we made plans to do breakfast Saturday morning before I headed back home. I referenced one of his books in my list of resources for a book I published last fall on Amazon.
We had a wonderful breakfast on Saturday morning, the 3 of us, and nice again to connect with Mark in person, talk shop, and get to know him in a smaller group setting. I highly recommend you check out his university here: https://learn.thesaleshunter.com/
Here’s the obvious, uncomplicated truth about sales and relationships: People like dealing with people. Yes, I know that technology and the pandemic have complicated things. BUT, there’s no substitute with connecting with others!
My breakfast with Mark was a social call. Not much work discussion planned. We talked about trends and patterns in the marketplace with pandemic but it was nice to spend some time with Mark and have no hidden agenda.
Bottom line: If you have BDR’s or SDR’s or remote employees, make the effort if possible to meet with them in person and stay connected to them.
If there are social media sales leaders that you follow and are nearby, reach out to them and connect with them. Get to know them on a personal level. Don’t try and sell them anything.
Towards the end of our time together, Mark brought up the question of how to work together and we generated some ideas.
Stay connected folks! I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Happy Late Summer and Greetings from Omaha, Nebraska!
/in Sales /by Ray RueckerHappy late July everyone!
Last year’s summer was slow and each day dragged out.
This summer? Not so much! My kids start school on August 12, less than 3 weeks away!
Everyone seems to be literally on vacation, not for a week or 2, but for the whole month! I see the auto-responders from marketing emails and people are gone, which makes connecting with decision-makers even tougher.
Last summer, many people weren’t able to go on planned vacation and PTO, so they are making up for up it this summer. Kudos to them!
My long-time rep, Patti, recently celebrated a birthday so I drove up to Omaha this past Friday and met up with her. Kansas City to Omaha is 3 hours away and I hadn’t seen Patti in person since last Labor Day. She’s been with me for 10-12 years and I’m grateful for her contributions to Connect 5000 and she is the model of what a business development rep is. I’m proud to have her on my team.
Patti and I grabbed dinner at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Omaha, drove around the city, and even drove by Warren Buffet’s house. It was wonderful to see her and get quality time in person. Zoom and phone calls are great. In-person meals are even better.
On an unrelated note, I follow Mark Hunter, a sales expert who I admire and respect from a distance, on social media and email. We had exchanged emails a while back and he said to look him up whenever I was in Omaha. After Patti and I finalized plans, I reached out to Mark and we made plans to do breakfast Saturday morning before I headed back home. I referenced one of his books in my list of resources for a book I published last fall on Amazon.
We had a wonderful breakfast on Saturday morning, the 3 of us, and nice again to connect with Mark in person, talk shop, and get to know him in a smaller group setting. I highly recommend you check out his university here: https://learn.thesaleshunter.com/
Here’s the obvious, uncomplicated truth about sales and relationships: People like dealing with people. Yes, I know that technology and the pandemic have complicated things. BUT, there’s no substitute with connecting with others!
My breakfast with Mark was a social call. Not much work discussion planned. We talked about trends and patterns in the marketplace with pandemic but it was nice to spend some time with Mark and have no hidden agenda.
Bottom line: If you have BDR’s or SDR’s or remote employees, make the effort if possible to meet with them in person and stay connected to them.
If there are social media sales leaders that you follow and are nearby, reach out to them and connect with them. Get to know them on a personal level. Don’t try and sell them anything.
Towards the end of our time together, Mark brought up the question of how to work together and we generated some ideas.
Stay connected folks! I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Vacationing and Unplugging As Entreprenuers
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Sunday everyone!
Over Memorial Day weekend, my family and I flew to Sanibel Island in Florida and enjoyed our first family vacation in over a year and a half.
We were gone from the Saturday before the holiday to the following Thursday.
Other than keeping an eye on email and Slack and handling invoices and payroll, I was able to disconnect, spend time with the family at the beach, sightsee, enjoy dining out at various local places, and getting out of the normal day-to-day flow. I even ran into a fellow small business owner from Kansas City who was on vacation as well with her family, 5 miles away. We were able to get the families together for the first time and dine out.
I had let my staff know in advance that I was going off the grid and that unless it was an emergency, don’t contact me. That they should contact the two other managers in charge. I’m all about delegating!
As small business owners and entrepreneurs, it’s tough and at times feels impossible to disconnect, unplug, and get away. Our companies are our “babies” and we have the mentality that our firm can’t function without us. For solopreneurs, that may be true.
Yet it’s critical to step away, unplug, rest, and come back with fresh eyes and ideas. I encourage you to get away when possible.
At Connect 5000, we have had some solid growth and have probably doubled the number of reps since last year.
With growth comes challenges and growing pains and the culture kind of takes a life on its own. More personalities and problems to manage and get out ahead of. But such is the life of small business ownership and entrepreneurship!
Happy Summer everyone!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Photo courtesy of Elizeu Dias.)
Continual Training and Professional Development
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy Friday everyone!
A few weeks ago, my firm finally joined the correct century and moved from IMAP email to Google Workspace.
Christy Rogers of Training Umbrella did some remote training with my team and was excellent! Continual education and professional learning are musts in this current remote age of working. I highly recommend her training and company.
(Not all of the staff are pictured here.)
When your team is working remotely, they may feel isolated and disengaged!
Have some friendly lunch and learn sessions and let them expense their meals to the company.
If you don’t have any topics to come up with, have your staff go around, share interesting facts and stories about themselves that others may not know about, and it’s a wonderful way to teambuild.
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
Podcast Interview with Real Media
/in General, Sales /by Ray RueckerHappy March everyone!
February was very frigid here in Kansas City and I believe we had 7 to 10 straight days of the temperature no warming up past 10 degrees.
Don’t get me wrong! It gets very cold here but I don’t recall it that many consecutive days. Such is life.
I was recently interviewed by Brad Burrow of Real Media here in the metro of a book I published last fall titled, “How to Score From First Base! (In Sales!).
You can listen to the podcast here and welcome to purchase the book if you wish.
Happy listening!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.
(Photo courtesy of Jukka Aalho.)
Greetings From Nashville, Tennessee!
/in Uncategorized /by Ray RueckerHappy belated 2021 everyone!
I noticed it’s been since mid-December when I last blogged something.
Unfortunately, I don’t have anything earth-shattering to say.
For the first time since September 2019, I hopped on a plane and flew to Nashville. So almost 1.5 years of no travel.
It was surreal to be on a plane with everyone masked up.
I attended a conference as a guest of one of my clients and visited with a few other current ones as well.
Nice to get out of town, meet and greet with clients and have good old fashioned face to face time.
Attached are a few pics from my 2 days there.
Yes, my face was cut off a few times but I wanted the focus to be on the clients, not me.
Here’s to optimism that things will improve for the better in 2021!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000!
Happy Holidays!
/in General /by Ray RueckerHappy mid-December everyone!
Seems like yesterday was the beginning of the pandemic in mid-March and now 2021 is right around the corner.
Where did the past 9 months go? Please tell me!
It’s been quite a year for almost all of us.
Thanksgiving came and went. Now, Christmas is almost upon us.
Cheers and blessings to you and your loved ones!
Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000
PS: Thank you, Greg Rohm, for the new logo design! Thank you Chuttersnap for the holiday pic!
Podcast Interview with AVANT Technologies
/in Lead Generation, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerHappy early Halloween everyone!
Adam Stein, an old client and colleague introduced me to Ken Presti, Research Vice President, Analyst & Producer/Host of “AVANT Technology Insights with Ken Presti” podcast.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently wrote a book, self-published it on Amazon, and was interviewed about the book.
The interview was 27 minutes long. If you need help falling asleep, turn it on and doze off gently! Here’s the link:
https://goavant.libsyn.com/ray-ruecker-how-to-score-from-1st-base-in-sales
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000. Happy listening!
It’s Official: My Book Is Finished and Published!
/in Cold Calls, General, Lead Generation, Uncategorized /by Ray RueckerHey everyone!
My 2-year-old “baby” was finally born on October 8, 2020, a few weeks ago.
How to Score from First Base! (In Sales): A Step-by-Step Guide to Shorten Sales Cycles and Multiply Revenue is now available via paperback or Kindle.
Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735638307
If you’re a sales, marketing, or lead generation leader or executive, I highly recommend this book if you have outbound sales challenges or need improvement with your current system.
Here’s the book summary:
Do You Struggle to Get On First Base with Targeted Companies?
If long-term growth is your goal, this is your playbook. Because in today’s business climate, connecting with key decision-makers and securing meetings is a challenge. Executives rarely pick up the phone, typically ignore emails, and if you do happen to make a live connection, you have seconds to gain their attention. But even with these challenges, you can be successful at connecting with targeted companies by generating qualified sales meetings.
Learn how to:
• Write an introductory email or sales letter that gets a response.
• Leave voicemails that pique curiosity and result in a returned phone call.
• Quickly find contact information for direct decision-makers.
• Bypass the gatekeeper and connect with executives.
• Communicate your values and capture someone’s attention in 10 seconds or less.
• Ask open-ended questions that uncover a prospect’s pain, problems, and challenges.
Whether you are a new or seasoned sales professional, How to Score From First Base! (In Sales) will breathe new life into your day-to-day sales activity. Using both creativity and purposeful connection, this playbook provides a step-by-step guide to shortening sales cycles and multiplying revenue. Because if home plate is your endgame, first base is where you have to start.
Happy Fall Everyone!
/in General, Lead Generation /by Ray RueckerHey everyone!
Fall, football, and school are back in full swing. (Sorta!)
It’s odd to see empty NFL stadiums nationwide. The KC Chiefs hold 80,000 seats and they only allowed like 17,000 for their first home game.
My kids have done virtual school since September. It’s much better than last spring but they go hybrid next week. Woot woot!
It’s weird to see half-empty college stadiums as well.
One thing that hasn’t changed: Kansas Jayhawks football is STILL terrible, pre and post Covid-19.
What hasn’t changed?
The need to prospect, make outbound calls, and hunt for new clients!
Casting a wide net to strangers never goes out of season, quarantine, or not!
As we enter the 4th quarter for 2020, make it a priority to set meetings with ideal prospects and continually fill your pipeline.
Cheers to a crazy year and the upcoming final quarter!
I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000!
Coming Soon: My Soon To Be Published Book!
/in Lead Generation /by Ray RueckerSelf-published via Amazon that is.
Writing a book has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. But like so many other things, it fell into the “someday” category until the Fall of 2018, when I casually mentioned my goal to my long-time friend, Stacy Stephens. With her encouragement and introduction to her friend and editor, Sara, my dream became reality.
Sometime this fall, my book “How to Score from First Base! (In Sales)” will be available in both print and electronic copy on Amazon.
Here’s a short description:
If long-term growth is your goal, this is your playbook. Are you struggling to get to first base with targeted companies? In today’s business climate, connecting with key decision-makers and securing meetings is a challenge. Executives rarely pick up the phone, typically ignore emails, and if you do happen to make a live connection, you have seconds to gain their attention. But even with these challenges, you can be successful at connecting with targeted companies by generating qualified sales meetings.
Learn how to:
• Write an introductory email or sales letter that gets a response.
• Leave voicemails that pique curiosity and result in a returned phone call.
• Quickly find contact information for direct decision-makers.
• Bypass the gatekeeper and connect with executives.
• Communicate your values and capture someone’s attention in 10 seconds or less.
• Ask open-ended questions that uncover a prospect’s pain, problems, and challenges.
Whether you are a new or seasoned sales professional, How to Score From First Base! (In Sales) will breathe new life into your day-to-day sales activity. Using both creativity and purposeful connection, this playbook provides a step-by-step guide to shortening sales cycles and multiplying revenue. Because if home plate is your endgame, first base is where you have to start.
Cheers!
Ray Ruecker
(Photo by John Schnobrich)