158: Wendell Santiago – The Action-Oriented Approach

Wendell Santiago is a Commercial Real Estate executive and Sales Manager at Realty Capital Advisors, where he leads client relationships, site identification, acquisitions, and leasing across multiple markets and asset classes. He serves as a trusted advisor to clients, guiding projects from market analysis and site tours through due diligence, approvals, leasing, and construction coordination. In addition to his real estate leadership, Wendell directs firmwide marketing efforts, developing LinkedIn and email campaigns, branding, signage, and SEO-driven content to increase market exposure and generate deal flow. With a strong entrepreneurial background and over two decades of experience in operations, finance, and real estate, Wendell is known for his action-oriented approach, ability to navigate complex approvals, and talent for building long-term, high-trust client relationships. Key Points: Success Comes from Taking Action A core philosophy: nothing happens without action. Brokers must make calls , visit properties and physically walk spaces. Confidence comes from hands-on knowledge, not theory. How His Team Doubled Revenue Wendell's team grew leasing volume from ~$9M to ~$24.9M by: · Anticipating Market Shifts · Solving Problems Proactively · Adapting to Demand Trends · Positioning the Market Leadership & Team Management Salespeople are the "eyes and ears" of the business. Strong leaders listen closely to field feedback and use that insight to guide strategy. Wendell maintains credibility by staying hands-on (showings, tours). Leveraging Interns as a Force Multiplier Interns handle prospecting , list building and cold calling. At peak: 1,000+ outbound calls/week from interns alone. Brokers focus on closing, not dialing. The Biggest Frustration: Poor Follow-Up Wendell's #1 issue with salespeople is dropping the ball on follow-up, especially frustrating when leads are already warm or handed to them. Wendell feels the root problem is confusion between activity (busy work) and productivity (closing deals). Critical Sales Lesson: Ask for the Meeting Many salespeople fail at a basic step: asking for the meeting. Even with warm leads, they hesitate. If you don't ask, someone else will . Accountability & Performance Culture Wendell discusses his strong belief in setting clear expectations and consequences for inaction. Bottom line: results matter. Core Philosophy · Be proactive, not reactive · Stay close to the market · Act quickly on opportunities · Support your team—but expect performance Bottom Line Success in sales (and leadership) comes from action + awareness + accountability. About Salesology®: Conversations with Sales Leaders Download your free gift, The Salesology® Vault. The vault is packed full of free gifts from sales leaders, sales experts, marketing gurus, and revenue generation experts. Download your free gift, 81 Tools to Grow Your Sales & Your Business Faster, More Easily & More Profitably. Save hours of work tracking down the right prospecting and sales resources and/or digital tools that every business owner and salesperson needs. If you are a business owner or sales manager with an underperforming sales team, let's talk. Click here to schedule a time. Please subscribe to Salesology®: Conversations with Sales Leaders so that you don't miss a single episode, and while you're at it, won't you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated! To learn more about our previous guests, listen to past episodes, and get to know your host, go to https://podcast.gosalesology.com/ and connect on LinkedIn and follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and check out our website at https://gosalesology.com/.