September 1, 2023 • 14 mins
Surviving the tumultuous world of outside sales is no walk in the park.
From dealing with sudden layoffs to navigating career changes, it’s a long game full of setbacks and opportunities. Join me, Mike O'Kelly, as I share my own experiences of charting out a long-term career plan, overcoming setbacks, and creating my own path. We dive into the importance of not jumping on the first job opportunity that comes your way and the value of having a secondary income stream.
To connect with the show: Subscribe, Download & Share!
Would appreciate a 5-Star Rating if deserved on Spotify & Apple Podcasts!!!
Connect with Mike:
Website: Mike O'Kelly
Mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
LinkedIn: Mike O'Kelly | LinkedIn
IG: Mike O'Kelly - Sales Builder
______________________________________________________________________
If you are in outside sales and have had any of the following:
- New to Outside Sales
- New to an industry, new product, new territory - any type of change
- Experienced, but have lacked training and business development
- Seasoned but feel like you have hit your ceiling and need a reboot
If any of those descriptions sound like you or someone you know,
If you want to have a conversation about:
- Scheduling a strategy call for your next move
- Help building your business or territory
Reach out to me:
Schedule a FREE consultation
or https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-o-kelly-44ba352b/
mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Surviving Outside Sales podcast, hosted by Mike
O'Kelly, presented by SalesBuilder Academy, the goal is to
survive and thrive all phases ofoutside sales, whether you're
getting in, dominating orgetting out.
Surviving Outside Sales Now onwith the show.
Welcome to the SurvivingOutside Sales podcast and your
(00:29):
host, mike O'Kelly.
If you were in sales and I wereto tell you that over the
course of your career, you aregoing to absolutely crush it and
you're going to have somesetbacks throughout, but in the
end it's all in all, it's goingto be extremely positive, you're
going to make a lot of moneyand it's going to be really low
(00:51):
stress.
As far as seeking jobs, lookingfor jobs, wanting jobs, would
you freak out in the short termif you lost out on an
opportunity?
Probably not, because you'vegot that macro goal for your
career and for what you'retrying to accomplish.
I want you to remember that,okay, because there have been a
(01:14):
lot of layoffs recently in thesales world, especially in the
medical, pharmaceutical, dental,eye care space, and I know that
a lot of people are probablyfreaking out and I can tell by
some of the things that theypost on LinkedIn.
I feel for each and every oneof those people that that
happens to, because this hashappened to me several times in
(01:34):
my career.
You get the email hey, we havean all hands on deck meeting and
we need to talk, and you get onin your VP of sales, the
president of sales, the CEO,hops on and says we've got bad
news.
I've been there several times.
Okay, I know what you might begoing through if this is
happening, but just remember,this is a long game.
(01:58):
Your career is a long game, allright, and early in my career I
hopped on one of the firstopportunities that I could.
Now I don't regret it becauseit led me up to this point.
Every decision that I made hasled me up to me right here,
behind this microphone, speakingto you right now.
So I do not regret that and Idon't regret that at all.
(02:20):
But when I advise my studentsand when I advise people in the
sales world, I tell them justlearn from my mistake, don't
just hop on the first thing,because you quote unquote need a
paycheck Now.
A way to not hop on the firstthing is to have another stream
of income.
So if your first primary streamof income goes away, you can
(02:43):
make ends meet until you findthat opportunity that you really
want.
And another thing is have along term plan.
If you don't know what you wantin your career, you are just
going to look for the next thingthat comes along.
You need to understand thecareer progression, your career
(03:04):
path and how you get there.
I recommend to all of mystudents and everybody that I
talked to at my speakingengagements five to 10 to 15
year plan, no matter who you areand how much experience you
have.
Something I spoke at themedical sales college in
Charlotte and a lot of thosegraduates are about to head off
(03:25):
into the world and they aregoing to start their careers.
I told them it is never tooearly to start and the reason
why is, before you know it,you're going to be drinking
through that fire hose for thenext two to three years and
you're going to look up andyou're going to think to
yourself oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve how fast those couple
(03:46):
years went.
It happens you just get so busyand Q1 turns into Q2 and Q3, q4
and then boom, you've gotanother year, and then that
cycle repeats itself quickly andall of a sudden you're thinking
to yourself wow, I can'tbelieve, I've almost been here
for three years.
So a five year plan reallyisn't that long.
(04:06):
Ten year plan is about right.
15 year plan 15 year plan youcan create if you like.
The sweet spot I found is a tenyear plan.
Where do you want to be in adecade?
And I want you to ask yourselfthat when do you want to be in a
decade?
If you are going through anykind of tumultuous time, any
(04:26):
turnover, any kind of doubt inyour career, I want you to ask
yourself what do I inevitablywant to do?
Because I know it's not justmake a paycheck.
So what do you want to do?
What do you want to do in 10years?
I let everybody know what Iwanted to do 10 years.
(04:46):
I want to own my own businesses.
I want to call my own shots.
I want to wake up in themorning, I want to go to bed on
my efforts and my efforts alone.
I don't want to have anybodymandating, dictating, requiring
me to do anything.
And the reason why is I'm aself-motivated person.
I'm very creative, I like tocreate, I like to build.
(05:09):
Hence the Sales Builder Academy, sales Builder Blueprint, sales
Builder Everything.
By the way, I've got the SalesBuilder Blueprint out right now,
if you are struggling, ifyou're going through some change
, if you're new to sales, theSales Builder Blueprint and the
processes and systems are goingto help you get your business on
(05:29):
track that you can build upon.
Think about it as yourfoundation.
So right now, if you're goingthrough some of that change,
it's a great time to invest inyour future and to start
rebuilding your sales business,how you operate your processes
and systems, so that when thatnext opportunity comes along,
you are ready to rock and roll.
(05:50):
If that sounds like, you reachout to me, mike, at Surviving
Outside Sales, or you can go tothe surviving I'm sorry, excuse
me SalesBuilderBlueprintcom andlearn more about the options
that I have for the SalesBuilder Blueprint,
salesbuilderblueprintscom.
(06:15):
But you can look back, or I lookback on my 10 years and I told
people by the age of 45, rightnow I'm 44, and I've basically
been doing my own thing foralmost three years now.
Three years ago was my last W2position and since then it's
just been creating, creating owncompanies, being a founder and
(06:39):
kind of figuring out okay,what's my next 10 years?
And that's what I wanted tofigure out what is my next 10
years?
Well, I've told people and I'vemade it public, especially on
this podcast, that for me 55 iswhen I want to retire.
I want to retire at 55, and byretire it means I'm not done
with what I'm doing.
It's just I don't feel by 55,.
(07:01):
I want to make sure that Idon't feel like I have to go do
stuff and I don't really feelthat anyway.
But I want to Like, I wake upin the morning, I get really
excited.
I get excited for the week.
I get excited for Mondays.
I kind of get disappointed onFriday afternoons because I do
spend time with my family on theweekends.
And it's not because I getdisappointed because I have to
spend time with my family on theweekends, but I build up so
(07:24):
much momentum through the weekthat I feel like I lose that for
the weekend.
So that's kind of why I getreally all excited.
In about 3.30, 4.00 on a Friday, I'm rocking and rolling, my
creative juices are flowing andall of a sudden it's like bam, I
have to stop for several daysand then kickstart it back up on
Monday morning, and so I'm veryexcited at what I do.
(07:48):
But I started that plan backwhen I was 34.
And just so you know, I didn'tknow that it was going to be the
sales builder blueprint.
I didn't know I was going tostart to be one of the founders
of a sales technology company,rhythm AI.
I had no idea that that's whatwas going to be.
However, I knew that that'swhat I wanted to do.
I knew that those are the risksthat I wanted to take.
I wanted to jump off that ledge.
(08:09):
I wanted to walk away frommillions of dollars guaranteed
because that's the comfort zone.
Now, looking back, you couldsay to yourself well, maybe that
wasn't the wisest decision, butagain, it has led me to where I
am today and I wouldn't changethat for any other time in the
(08:32):
world.
I wouldn't change that foranything in the world.
I've mentioned before in thispodcast as well, my wife and I
are opening retail stores healthand wellness, restore, hyper
wellness.
We're going to be opening ourfirst store this fall or early
in the winter.
That is part of the plan.
That is part of the revenuestream, the income stream to get
me retired by 55.
(08:53):
I came up with a plan.
I used somebody else's processand somebody else's system,
invested in their franchise andnow I'm opening my own.
So the point of this is if youare struggling right now and as
a reminder, let me bring it back.
I've talked a lot in thisepisode.
(09:15):
I want to bring it back to themain point, which was change.
If you're going through changeright now, don't worry,
everybody goes through change.
It is how we handle that changeand how we take action towards
a better future that willdictate your level of success.
(09:36):
If you just go with the motion,if you just go with the flow,
if you just update your LinkedIn, you put your open to work
banner on LinkedIn and maybe yousend out a couple posts hey, I
need help You're going to getthe scraps.
But if you take action and youactively look for things to do,
(09:57):
if you actively take control ofyour career, you're going to be
shocked at how simple it is tofind the next phase, to find the
next opportunity and to movetowards that end goal.
Whatever you want in the next 10years, I would say if you're in
your 20s right now and you'renot quite sure, just build out a
(10:17):
10-year track.
If you're in your 30s, do thesame.
If you're 40s, do the same.
Each one of your tracks shouldlook different.
Obviously, in your 20s, you'renot thinking about retirement
age In your 30s?
Neither are you doing that, butyou could possibly be talking
about family planning.
How does that look In your 40s?
You do think about it.
I do think about the fact thatI am closer to 65, the
(10:42):
traditional retirement age.
I'm closer to 65 than I am thelegal drinking age, so I'm 23
years post the legal drinkingage.
I'm only 21 years, or less than21 years, away from the quote
unquote retirement age.
I don't feel as if I'm old, butI do prepare for it and I do
think about that.
Those things have to be in yourmind.
(11:07):
You can't just block them outlike, oh, that's not going to
happen.
If you do, if you just float,you're going to be in your 50s
and possibly your 60s and youwon't have a solid plan.
And I'll be thinking about youthen.
Hopefully that doesn't happen.
(11:29):
Come up with a plan, figure outwho you are.
Figure out what your DNA is asa person, as a sales
professional, as a human beingall the above.
What do you want to represent?
What do you want to represent?
Who are you?
How do you want to conduct yourbusiness?
How do you want people torespond when they talk to you,
when you're around them.
Are you a giver or are you justa taker?
(11:50):
Do you believe in networkingfull time or do you just believe
in networking when it's anopportunity for you?
You have to ask yourself somereally tough questions, but I
know that if you do that, you'regoing to get some good, clear
answers.
And clarity is the key to life,it's the key to sales, it's the
key to relationships.
Think who you are, what you'retrying to do, what you're about,
(12:15):
why you're doing the thingsyou're doing.
You can figure that out.
You're gonna be just fine andhead of the game.
If you wanna reach out to me andyou want to talk through this,
I'll do a free strategy sessionwith you.
Reach out to me on LinkedIn,linkedincom, slash in, slash,
mic, dash, o-k-e-l-l-y.
(12:37):
I'm gonna put all those up inthe.
We'll just do it right now,right there, all right.
Linkedincom you can follow meon Instagram.
Also YouTube, of course.
Right now you're onMyCoKellicom.
So if you want to just reachout to me, you can go to
(13:01):
MyCoKellicom, slash connect, andor you can go to LinkedIn and
shoot me a DM.
Most people I'll tell you this,most people shoot me a DM on
LinkedIn.
It's the easiest thing to do.
Just shoot me a DM.
If you're not connected, let'sconnect and just send me a
message, say, hey, I'd reallylike to have a conversation.
I've done that with almostabout a hundred sales
professionals so far and I meanI enjoy doing it because I know
(13:22):
I'm helping people.
People come in lost and atleast by the time we're done
after a 30 minute call, they are.
They have a little bit moreclarity and they kind of
understand now which directionto go, and it's really helped
them.
So I'd love to be able to dothat with you.
I'd love to build a strongernetwork, a little connection
with people that are listeningto the show.
So reach out to me.
(13:43):
Micah's arriving outside sales.
I'm gonna ask you to downloadthe episode.
Please share it withlike-minded individuals and kind
of ask people hey, what are you?
How are you preparing for theinevitable?
What's your 10-year plan?
Things like that.
Take control over your career,but also understand that there
are opportunities out there.
So don't just jump at the firstthing that's willing to offer
(14:03):
you a base salary or a nicepackage, because when you do
that you're gonna be possiblymissing out on the right type of
opportunity and we don't wantthat to happen.
So thank you so much forlistening.
I really do appreciate it andwe'll see you tomorrow surviving
outside sales.
Bye-bye.
The Surviving Outside Sales podcast, hosted by Mike
O'Kelly, presented by SalesBuilder Academy, the goal is to
survive and thrive all phases ofoutside sales, whether you're
getting in, dominating orgetting out.
Surviving Outside Sales Now onwith the show.
Welcome to the SurvivingOutside Sales podcast and your
(00:29):
host, mike O'Kelly.
If you were in sales and I wereto tell you that over the
course of your career, you aregoing to absolutely crush it and
you're going to have somesetbacks throughout, but in the
end it's all in all, it's goingto be extremely positive, you're
going to make a lot of moneyand it's going to be really low
(00:51):
stress.
As far as seeking jobs, lookingfor jobs, wanting jobs, would
you freak out in the short termif you lost out on an
opportunity?
Probably not, because you'vegot that macro goal for your
career and for what you'retrying to accomplish.
I want you to remember that,okay, because there have been a
(01:14):
lot of layoffs recently in thesales world, especially in the
medical, pharmaceutical, dental,eye care space, and I know that
a lot of people are probablyfreaking out and I can tell by
some of the things that theypost on LinkedIn.
I feel for each and every oneof those people that that
happens to, because this hashappened to me several times in
(01:34):
my career.
You get the email hey, we havean all hands on deck meeting and
we need to talk, and you get onin your VP of sales, the
president of sales, the CEO,hops on and says we've got bad
news.
I've been there several times.
Okay, I know what you might begoing through if this is
happening, but just remember,this is a long game.
(01:58):
Your career is a long game, allright, and early in my career I
hopped on one of the firstopportunities that I could.
Now I don't regret it becauseit led me up to this point.
Every decision that I made hasled me up to me right here,
behind this microphone, speakingto you right now.
So I do not regret that and Idon't regret that at all.
(02:20):
But when I advise my studentsand when I advise people in the
sales world, I tell them justlearn from my mistake, don't
just hop on the first thing,because you quote unquote need a
paycheck Now.
A way to not hop on the firstthing is to have another stream
of income.
So if your first primary streamof income goes away, you can
(02:43):
make ends meet until you findthat opportunity that you really
want.
And another thing is have along term plan.
If you don't know what you wantin your career, you are just
going to look for the next thingthat comes along.
You need to understand thecareer progression, your career
(03:04):
path and how you get there.
I recommend to all of mystudents and everybody that I
talked to at my speakingengagements five to 10 to 15
year plan, no matter who you areand how much experience you
have.
Something I spoke at themedical sales college in
Charlotte and a lot of thosegraduates are about to head off
(03:25):
into the world and they aregoing to start their careers.
I told them it is never tooearly to start and the reason
why is, before you know it,you're going to be drinking
through that fire hose for thenext two to three years and
you're going to look up andyou're going to think to
yourself oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve how fast those couple
(03:46):
years went.
It happens you just get so busyand Q1 turns into Q2 and Q3, q4
and then boom, you've gotanother year, and then that
cycle repeats itself quickly andall of a sudden you're thinking
to yourself wow, I can'tbelieve, I've almost been here
for three years.
So a five year plan reallyisn't that long.
(04:06):
Ten year plan is about right.
15 year plan 15 year plan youcan create if you like.
The sweet spot I found is a tenyear plan.
Where do you want to be in adecade?
And I want you to ask yourselfthat when do you want to be in a
decade?
If you are going through anykind of tumultuous time, any
(04:26):
turnover, any kind of doubt inyour career, I want you to ask
yourself what do I inevitablywant to do?
Because I know it's not justmake a paycheck.
So what do you want to do?
What do you want to do in 10years?
I let everybody know what Iwanted to do 10 years.
(04:46):
I want to own my own businesses.
I want to call my own shots.
I want to wake up in themorning, I want to go to bed on
my efforts and my efforts alone.
I don't want to have anybodymandating, dictating, requiring
me to do anything.
And the reason why is I'm aself-motivated person.
I'm very creative, I like tocreate, I like to build.
(05:09):
Hence the Sales Builder Academy, sales Builder Blueprint, sales
Builder Everything.
By the way, I've got the SalesBuilder Blueprint out right now,
if you are struggling, ifyou're going through some change
, if you're new to sales, theSales Builder Blueprint and the
processes and systems are goingto help you get your business on
(05:29):
track that you can build upon.
Think about it as yourfoundation.
So right now, if you're goingthrough some of that change,
it's a great time to invest inyour future and to start
rebuilding your sales business,how you operate your processes
and systems, so that when thatnext opportunity comes along,
you are ready to rock and roll.
(05:50):
If that sounds like, you reachout to me, mike, at Surviving
Outside Sales, or you can go tothe surviving I'm sorry, excuse
me SalesBuilderBlueprintcom andlearn more about the options
that I have for the SalesBuilder Blueprint,
salesbuilderblueprintscom.
(06:15):
But you can look back, or I lookback on my 10 years and I told
people by the age of 45, rightnow I'm 44, and I've basically
been doing my own thing foralmost three years now.
Three years ago was my last W2position and since then it's
just been creating, creating owncompanies, being a founder and
(06:39):
kind of figuring out okay,what's my next 10 years?
And that's what I wanted tofigure out what is my next 10
years?
Well, I've told people and I'vemade it public, especially on
this podcast, that for me 55 iswhen I want to retire.
I want to retire at 55, and byretire it means I'm not done
with what I'm doing.
It's just I don't feel by 55,.
(07:01):
I want to make sure that Idon't feel like I have to go do
stuff and I don't really feelthat anyway.
But I want to Like, I wake upin the morning, I get really
excited.
I get excited for the week.
I get excited for Mondays.
I kind of get disappointed onFriday afternoons because I do
spend time with my family on theweekends.
And it's not because I getdisappointed because I have to
spend time with my family on theweekends, but I build up so
(07:24):
much momentum through the weekthat I feel like I lose that for
the weekend.
So that's kind of why I getreally all excited.
In about 3.30, 4.00 on a Friday, I'm rocking and rolling, my
creative juices are flowing andall of a sudden it's like bam, I
have to stop for several daysand then kickstart it back up on
Monday morning, and so I'm veryexcited at what I do.
(07:48):
But I started that plan backwhen I was 34.
And just so you know, I didn'tknow that it was going to be the
sales builder blueprint.
I didn't know I was going tostart to be one of the founders
of a sales technology company,rhythm AI.
I had no idea that that's whatwas going to be.
However, I knew that that'swhat I wanted to do.
I knew that those are the risksthat I wanted to take.
I wanted to jump off that ledge.
(08:09):
I wanted to walk away frommillions of dollars guaranteed
because that's the comfort zone.
Now, looking back, you couldsay to yourself well, maybe that
wasn't the wisest decision, butagain, it has led me to where I
am today and I wouldn't changethat for any other time in the
(08:32):
world.
I wouldn't change that foranything in the world.
I've mentioned before in thispodcast as well, my wife and I
are opening retail stores healthand wellness, restore, hyper
wellness.
We're going to be opening ourfirst store this fall or early
in the winter.
That is part of the plan.
That is part of the revenuestream, the income stream to get
me retired by 55.
(08:53):
I came up with a plan.
I used somebody else's processand somebody else's system,
invested in their franchise andnow I'm opening my own.
So the point of this is if youare struggling right now and as
a reminder, let me bring it back.
I've talked a lot in thisepisode.
(09:15):
I want to bring it back to themain point, which was change.
If you're going through changeright now, don't worry,
everybody goes through change.
It is how we handle that changeand how we take action towards
a better future that willdictate your level of success.
(09:36):
If you just go with the motion,if you just go with the flow,
if you just update your LinkedIn, you put your open to work
banner on LinkedIn and maybe yousend out a couple posts hey, I
need help You're going to getthe scraps.
But if you take action and youactively look for things to do,
(09:57):
if you actively take control ofyour career, you're going to be
shocked at how simple it is tofind the next phase, to find the
next opportunity and to movetowards that end goal.
Whatever you want in the next 10years, I would say if you're in
your 20s right now and you'renot quite sure, just build out a
(10:17):
10-year track.
If you're in your 30s, do thesame.
If you're 40s, do the same.
Each one of your tracks shouldlook different.
Obviously, in your 20s, you'renot thinking about retirement
age In your 30s?
Neither are you doing that, butyou could possibly be talking
about family planning.
How does that look In your 40s?
You do think about it.
I do think about the fact thatI am closer to 65, the
(10:42):
traditional retirement age.
I'm closer to 65 than I am thelegal drinking age, so I'm 23
years post the legal drinkingage.
I'm only 21 years, or less than21 years, away from the quote
unquote retirement age.
I don't feel as if I'm old, butI do prepare for it and I do
think about that.
Those things have to be in yourmind.
(11:07):
You can't just block them outlike, oh, that's not going to
happen.
If you do, if you just float,you're going to be in your 50s
and possibly your 60s and youwon't have a solid plan.
And I'll be thinking about youthen.
Hopefully that doesn't happen.
(11:29):
Come up with a plan, figure outwho you are.
Figure out what your DNA is asa person, as a sales
professional, as a human beingall the above.
What do you want to represent?
What do you want to represent?
Who are you?
How do you want to conduct yourbusiness?
How do you want people torespond when they talk to you,
when you're around them.
Are you a giver or are you justa taker?
(11:50):
Do you believe in networkingfull time or do you just believe
in networking when it's anopportunity for you?
You have to ask yourself somereally tough questions, but I
know that if you do that, you'regoing to get some good, clear
answers.
And clarity is the key to life,it's the key to sales, it's the
key to relationships.
Think who you are, what you'retrying to do, what you're about,
(12:15):
why you're doing the thingsyou're doing.
You can figure that out.
You're gonna be just fine andhead of the game.
If you wanna reach out to me andyou want to talk through this,
I'll do a free strategy sessionwith you.
Reach out to me on LinkedIn,linkedincom, slash in, slash,
mic, dash, o-k-e-l-l-y.
(12:37):
I'm gonna put all those up inthe.
We'll just do it right now,right there, all right.
Linkedincom you can follow meon Instagram.
Also YouTube, of course.
Right now you're onMyCoKellicom.
So if you want to just reachout to me, you can go to
(13:01):
MyCoKellicom, slash connect, andor you can go to LinkedIn and
shoot me a DM.
Most people I'll tell you this,most people shoot me a DM on
LinkedIn.
It's the easiest thing to do.
Just shoot me a DM.
If you're not connected, let'sconnect and just send me a
message, say, hey, I'd reallylike to have a conversation.
I've done that with almostabout a hundred sales
professionals so far and I meanI enjoy doing it because I know
(13:22):
I'm helping people.
People come in lost and atleast by the time we're done
after a 30 minute call, they are.
They have a little bit moreclarity and they kind of
understand now which directionto go, and it's really helped
them.
So I'd love to be able to dothat with you.
I'd love to build a strongernetwork, a little connection
with people that are listeningto the show.
So reach out to me.
(13:43):
Micah's arriving outside sales.
I'm gonna ask you to downloadthe episode.
Please share it withlike-minded individuals and kind
of ask people hey, what are you?
How are you preparing for theinevitable?
What's your 10-year plan?
Things like that.
Take control over your career,but also understand that there
are opportunities out there.
So don't just jump at the firstthing that's willing to offer
(14:03):
you a base salary or a nicepackage, because when you do
that you're gonna be possiblymissing out on the right type of
opportunity and we don't wantthat to happen.
So thank you so much forlistening.
I really do appreciate it andwe'll see you tomorrow surviving
outside sales.
Bye-bye.
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