That’s the message from Shawn Rhodes, an author, sales consultant and upcoming keynote speaker at ASI Show Orlando, to be held Jan. 4 through 6. His expertise comes from a unique experience: traveling the world and learning about leadership and team cohesion as a U.S. Marine. It was there that he learned the importance of having dependable, measurable and effective practices in place when working toward a goal. The same principle applies for salespeople, he says.

Shawn Rhodes, keynote speaker at ASI Show Orlando 2023

“I realized early on that there was very little information out there about how to take everything I was learning [about sales] and make sure that it was used on every call,” says Rhodes, who’s also a TEDx speaker. “The challenge is how to make sure that I’m using what I learn in a consistent, predictable way every time.”

As a Marine, Rhodes studied best practices among combat teams across all military branches. He found that consistency in strategy and operating procedures was key, versus leaving things up to chance, as well as tracking successes. “They definitely have a process and system behind learning what’s working and what’s not on the battlefield because the stakes are very high,” he says. “It’s life or death.”

In this episode of Promo Insiders, Rhodes speaks with ASI Media Executive Editor Sara Lavenduski about the mission behind his upcoming keynote address on Jan. 5 in Orlando, entitled “Bulletproof Selling: Removing Hope From Your Sales Strategy,” and helping sales reps be more intentional with their strategies in the new year.

“If I’m going into a high-stakes sales meeting,” he says, “do I want to hope that I remember all of the great tactics I’ve learned in past meetings? The answer is no. Become bulletproof by taking the time to capture what’s working and what’s not. Removing hope from sales requires a system, and that’s what I saw men and women do on battlefields around the world.”