The Belfort Group has a new initiative gaining steam, and we’re thrilled to share how it is shining a spotlight on all the unique talents at our agency. We’re calling it BG Summit, our version of a professional “Show and Tell.”
Every Tuesday, we host an internal “Touch Base” meeting where we meet as an agency and discuss our latest wins in business in addition to upcoming projects and potential new clients. To switch things up, we’re introducing BG Summit to these internal meetings.
Once a month, one of our employees will share a presentation on a particular skill or project they would like to highlight for the agency. After all, across our agency, our BG employees offer a lot of unique talents and cover many expert areas. Whether it’s Google Ads, networking, or video design — we’ve got a person for it!
To kick off our very first BG Summit, our fearless BG President Don Martelli gave us a peek into his world of everyday sales and closing in on business deals for BG.
Here are some key takeaways —
We’re All in Sales!
No matter what our job title may say, we’re all in sales! Each of us markets skills we have to offer as an employee, so we essentially must “sell” ourselves as a business. And part of that requires us to be effective communicators.
It’s All About the Relationships
At BG, 99% of our business is created through the relationships we make. Relationship building starts on Day One and these relationships can ultimately span out to cover different needs and services. Through establishing approximately 75 professional contacts per week, Don leads the charge in pitching BG as a go-to expert that is in tune with the needs of both our current and potential clients.
Doing Business Differently
50% of tentative clients ask us, “Help me solve this problem,” while the other 50% ask, “What are the costs?” Rather than just trying to help them “get more out there,” Don digs deeper to learn their business goals and build them a strategy plan to deliver scalable results.
Empathy Is Our Superpower
A big part of successful networking is being empathetic and inquisitive. As good listeners, we focus on the little details as much as the big ones. Don himself brings some thoughtful touches to his client outreach, remembering things like client milestones and birthdays.
Don’t Be Afraid to Fail!
From Don’s experience, facing frequent rejections before reaching a breakthrough is part of the trade. Some businesses may just not be the right fit no matter what, so rejection should not be taken personally. Instead, it should be seen as another potential stepping stone that can take us toward the next successful lead.
We’re All in It Together
At BG, each employee plays a big role in the agency and makes an impact on the way we do business. From our interns to our CEO Phil Pennellatore, everyone represents BG as an agency and is essential to our client relationship building.
Tools for Success
As a sales expert, Don swears by the following professional tools, which he uses on a day-to-day basis while on the job.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator – Don uses this to conduct effective niche searches.
Evernote – Notetaking is a breeze with this platform.
Leadfeeder – Leadfeeder provides data on where web traffic is coming from.
Zoho – With Zoho, leads are tracked and outreach updates are logged for easy referencing.
Calendly – Don’s a very busy guy, and Calendly helps make it easy for potential clients to schedule calls and meetings with him.
Don’s deep dive into BG’s sales world provides a glimpse into how nuanced our work at BG really is. As part of our job, we sell ideas and concepts every day to find and nurture new relationships for the agency.
We’re always working towards more opportunities and proposals for business. As Don often says, our next great client win is always the next one!
Curious to know what BG can do for your business? Get in touch with Don at don@thebelfortgroup.com.
