Only a small slice of salespeople are actually considered
true trusted advisors.
63% of salespeople the data shows us,
are behaving in ways that are actually
in some cases driving down performance.
On the other hand, selling is still very very critical.
In fact the data shows that about 50% of customer loyalty
is based purely on that relationship with the salesperson.
My goal is two-fold, one is that you walk away
with some new mindsets towards selling
in this very new economy.
And then on the other hand,
is that you walk away with some really usable,
tangible ideas that you can apply right into your sales.
People always come up to me after this program
and they say "Marc this was great,
"but would you say is really the key to success in selling?"
And I'm always brought back to a quote by J. Paul Getty.
And he famously said, that "The formula for success,
"is to rise early, work hard, and strike oil".
(audience laughter)
Tongue and cheek, but I actually think
it's a really powerful quote,
when we think about the level of mystification
about what leads to success in sales.
And then suddenly we connect.
(pause)
Now I have no idea what happened next,
but when I woke up I'm told that
it looked something like this. (mild laughter)
This was my first experience.
Now the science tells us
that the lower person wins in football every single time.
Every single time the lower person wins.
What Bill was telling me unfortunately
was just misinformation.
And what I find is that we salespeople
are dealing with a lot of that same information
where we've gotten books and we read blogs,
or wherever we're getting sales ideas.
Or maybe we've followed around someone
who's been selling in a certain way and the reality is,
is that so much of the information in sales out there
unfortunately is dated.
When I first started to sell
these were some of the books that I went to.
At the time they seemed amazing,
but there are two key challenges to these books
which I would consider really
the foundation of traditional selling.
One, is that it's just essentially all opinion
and there's very little data to support
most of the assertions that are in books like this.
And the second which is just as important,
which is that the average copyright
of these particular books is 1980.
And the only reason by the way that it is so recent,
is because one of the books is relatively newer.
By show of hands who would like
the ultimate two-step process to making sure that a prospect
or customer never wants to hear from you again?
(audience laughter)
The two-step process is simply this:
It is, to be sure that you come in with lots of enthusiasm
when you go in and you meet with that customer.
And then secondly, is that you pitch the hell out of 'em.
You talk about all the great features and benefits
of your service or your offering, or your product,
and how it's so much better than the competition.
The best reps are getting significantly better.
And that trend is only accelerating,
It's literally a hockey stick.
So what are those top reps doing
that is allowing them to have such a bigger access
to all of the spoils,
while the average sales rep is actually declining?
Most of us have been taught that we need to persuade,
or we need to convince people to do business with us.
I would argue that we don't even need to qualify,
we need to disqualify people.
Because the reality, is that
at least half of the people that you come across
are not going to be a fit for business with you.
Rob, let me tell you the top three reasons why I think
that you absolutely must work with me.
We are doing what to that prospect?
We are putting what onto them?
Pressure!
And immediately they are going to feel that pressure
and they're going to want to do what?
Push back.
Hence, the traditional idea of objection overcoming.
We've all heard this idea of you gotta overcome objections.
We don't have to overcome objections.
What we want to do is avoid those objections
in the first place by asking really good questions
to understand what they're looking for,
provide a solution that's exactly
what they basically said they need,
and then say "So, what would you like to do next?"
If you've done a good job
there are no objections back and forth,
there is no arm-wrestling.
I want to imagine...
Please do not say the name of the organization out loud,
but just think of one of your absolute worst competitors.
I mean I'm talking about these people,
they just do a terrible job.
They say they're gonna do one thing they do something else,
service is a disaster...
Every industry has this person,
please don't say it out loud.
Do you think when the salesperson
for that organization gets asked by a prospective customer,
"Why should we do business with you?"
They're saying, "Oh by the way, about our service.
"Aaaaah, not very good".
No of course not. That's ludicrous.
They're saying "We got the best service.
"Not only do we have the best service
"but we have the best prices".
The data again shows that top performing salespeople
are asking about twice as many
business-related questions as average performers.
Almost twice as many. 10.1 to 6.3.
That is a profound slide. Profound!
'Cause again we're not talking about top performers
versus people that are failing,
we're talking about top performers
versus people that are making a living selling.
And those top performers,
those people that are at the high-end
of that curve who are crushing it right now,
are finding out the big picture questions.
Does that make sense?
The big picture questions are what makes us money.
That's what creates value.
That's something that machines are not going to be able
to replace us for a very very long time.
The top salespeople spend the majority
of their time in front of qualified prospects.
And the only way that's possible
is that when they come across someone who they determine
is not qualified what do they do?
They move on.
- [Audience Member] Marc, why should I do business with you?
- You know what Hal? I really appreciate
your asking me that question.
And quite frankly, at this point in the conversation
I'm not sure that you should.
Would it be okay if I just asked some questions
to see if we are in fact a fit?
- [Hal] Sure. - Sure. Right?
100% of the time he's gonna say of course.
Now what did I just do in that situation?
He expected me to put pressure on him,
what did I do instead?
I took the pressure off.
Which is by the way completely legitimate.
I do not know, if I am the right fit for him.
I don't.
I don't know if he has the issues or concerns that I solve,
I don't know if he's looking for the particular technology
that I might offer, I don't know if he's got money,
I don't know anything until I actually know those questions.
No buying decision is made purely logically.
Buying decisions are always made based on emotion.
Do I feel like this person gets me?
Do I trust this person?
Do I think that they have my best interests at heart?
These are not things that you can tell them to do.
You can't say "Oh, you can trust me".
You can't say "Oh, you know we're gonna be there for you".
You have to convey that
through the quality of your conversations.
There are going to be dinosaurs
in your industry that won't be here,
and I don't mean companies I mean salespeople,
that won't be here five years from now.
Not just at this meeting but in your industry.
(pause)
Don't be that dinosaur.
Take action with some of these ideas.
There are two categories of people in sales.
There are those that talk a big game,
and then there are those who play a big game.
And every single day it is on us to decide
which category we want to be in.
(soft music)