Do you find that there's a lot of conflicting information
about what actually works in sales?
I see it all day long.
Because we have our finger on the pulse
of what's really happening out there
we see all of that conflicting information.
Do you start with a pitch or do you start with questions?
Do you go for the close or do you go for next steps?
All of these different pieces of information
really overload us.
So, what I want to do is break it all down
into a couple of key steps.
So in this video
I'm going to show you how to be a better sales person
in seven steps.
Check it out.
(upbeat music)
Number one, they can't hurt you.
This is really so central.
And I know it's a mindset
but it's so important to remember that,
your prospects cannot,
under any circumstance,
actually physically hurt you.
Now, especially in today's world
where most selling is so virtual,
there's no physical way
that they could actually even physically touch you.
If you're making a prospect and call and they get mad,
that's okay.
If you're on a Zoom and they get annoyed, fine.
If they kick you out of their house or office,
that's okay too.
But they're not going to hurt you.
And we have to remember that,
anything that we're doing in a selling situation,
there's no reason to be actually nervous
about what's going on
because there is no risk of physical harm.
The worst that can happen
is the conversation doesn't go well.
And that's okay.
Because if we are selling nervous then we're in trouble.
So, as soon as you take that pressure off of yourself
and realize, you know what?
There's nothing that they can really do
suddenly all of that pressure goes away.
They can't hurt you.
Number two, take them off the pedestal.
I find that so many salespeople
put their prospects on a pedestal.
Like they're looking up at the prospect
like they're just this magical being.
That if they could just have an opportunity
to talk to this person they'd finally be happy.
But you know what?
Your prospects are people.
They have good days, they have bad days.
They have things that are maybe impressive about them
and they have things that are gross
and pathetic and weird about them too because they're human.
And humans are just humans.
It doesn't matter if they're famous,
if they're a celebrity
or if they're the CEO of a fortune 500 company,
they're just people.
Their spouses probably mad at them,
their kids are annoyed with them,
their kids think (chuckles) that they're a complete jerk,
they're just people.
Take them off that pedestal and see them as a peer
as opposed to someone who is somehow above.
That's a really important distinction.
Because if you think that your prospect is somehow superior
you are going to be selling
from a place of such massive weakness.
Number three, it's 100% about them.
In selling situations, we so often have this inclination
to want to talk about our company,
to talk about ourselves, to talk about our offering.
But the reality is,
your prospect doesn't care about any of that.
All they care about is themselves.
So the more that you can gear that conversation around them
and their organization and their challenges
the more likely they are to see value in the conversation
because your prospects, they don't care about you.
They don't care about me,
they don't care about your company,
all they care about is themselves.
And solving this very common challenges
that are right in front of them.
So make your conversation all about them.
Number four, get them talking ASAP.
This is so important
because there's a tendency, as salespeople,
to go on and on and on
with a sales pitch early on.
And trying to basically,
if we could just have 15 minutes to pitch our offering
they're suddenly going to be magically persuaded.
The reality is that, your prospects,
they don't want to be pitched
and they don't want to sit and listen to your pitch
for 15, 20, 30 minutes.
What they want to do is talk.
They want to share what's going on in their world.
They want to share what's most important to them.
So the more you can get them talking early on
the better off you are going to be.
If we start and just go into a tirade about ourselves
and our company, they are going to turn off and shut down.
They may be polite and allow you to finish
but ultimately that is killing the sale.
Get them talking early and as soon as possible.
Number five, arm yourself with research.
The more insight you have in your prospect
the better off you are.
So, if your opening conversation
is very turnkey and cookie cutter
and it's obvious the prospect,
you know, they may go through with it
but ultimately it's not as powerful.
But if you can start your conversation by understanding
and demonstrating that you understand things about them
and their organization,
you're going to be so much better off.
Even in a business to consumer selling situation
understanding them and what might be going on in their lives
is going to be so powerful.
So, arm yourself with that research.
Don't use research as a crutch
but try to understand as much insight
as you possibly can on that them and their organization.
That's going to demonstrate that you know them.
And is going to give them that permission
to allow you to go just a little bit more.
Number six, dig deeply into what they most care about.
This may sound obvious
but I find that it is the single biggest distinction
between average reps and high performing reps.
And that average reps, yeah they ask some questions
and they find out what's going on
but they don't go as deeply as they could.
Because your prospects aren't going to just divulge
that deepest, deepest stuff that's going on in their world.
But if you can get them to slowly unpack that,
that's where you get into the real value.
So, dig deeply into what they most care about.
Be willing to stick on one topic for a while
and just ask questions like, why do you say that?
Or help me understand that.
Or why do you think that is?
The more deeply you can go
the better off you are going to be
because that's going to create real value
in the sales conversation.
Number seven, next steps over closing.
There's so much pressure in sales
to want to go for the close.
I can't tell you the number of times
I've heard a sales manager
or a VP of sales or a president of a company say,
"You got to go for the close.
You've got to be closing more.
My people they're not closing enough."
And it's like, no, the problem isn't closing
it's actually about next steps.
Now, there are some specific situations
where there might be a one call close situation.
But for the most part,
most selling situations are multi-stepped processes
where there's an initial conversation
and then maybe a discovery conversation
and then a presentation meeting that could end in a close
or it could end in some kind of next steps
with multiple other people.
Whatever it is, don't worry about the closing so much
as having established clear next steps every single time.
Because what you want to avoid is that following up
or checking back in
or would it be okay if I called you on Monday
to see what your decision is?
That's junk.
Instead, what you want to do is say something like,
do you have your calendar on you right now
so we can avoid that back and forth
and just get something on the books for a next step, right?
Getting the next steps is so much more important
than some high pressure close.
So there is, how to be a better sales person in seven steps.
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