Today we share Dennis Schiraldi’s Story. He is the founder of the annual DOYO LIVE marketing event and founder of ‘The Icon’s of Youngstown’ Publication. He shares how he got started in the business, what it takes to be an entrepreneur and how he decided to go all in on himself.

Dennis has had a great career in both marketing and sales and we ask him how both have changed over the last decade.

He says that one of the biggest changes in sales is the inflation of base salaries for sales teams. Part of the reason for this is sales cycles just take longer now and there is a much larger emphasis on the knowledge sharing & information requirements that a sales person needs to have about their product.

We are also seeing a lot of churn in sales teams the expectation for closing sales is now so high (due to inflated salaries) and reaching your targets/quotas is almost unattainable in most companies.

His solution: Don’t sell S@&! to people that they don’t need.

He advises to never put your need for making a sale above what the customers need are. It’s a losing strategy.

Dennis believe’s companies should consider incentivizing by teams, meaning both sales and marketing teams reap reward if goal thresholds are met.

He also believes the negative perception of sales people has largely been a self-inflicted wound. Most sales people don’t put the customers needs first, they put their own need of having to make a sale first ahead of the customer.

He shares how empathy, relationship-building, patience paired with some hustle and hard-work go a long way in building a successful sales career in 2019.