If you are new to sales, then there's no doubt. You're gonna make a few mistakes
along the way. Now. Good news is this. If we're smart about it, we can learn from
those mistakes. But the reality is this. If we can avoid those mistakes altogether,
we accelerate our progress. In this video. I'm gonna share with you some of the lessons that I
learned early on in sales with hopes that I'll help you avoid making the same mistakes I did.
And the very end I'll share with you kind of one of the biggest situations that I encountered
and how I navigated through that. So that if you encounter a similar situation,
you'll be able to do the same. Hi, I'm Shawn Casemore and I help you learn how to be a high
performing sales professional. So you can earn more and less time. If that sounds good to you
and why wouldn't it, make sure you click the like on this button and click the subscribe.
You'll be notified each and every time and release a new video. You know, we've all been there. We've
all started in sales. So whether you're watching this video, somebody's been in sales for a while,
or you're brand new to sales, we've all been in your position. I remember for myself,
it was being nervous about, you know, meeting with somebody for the first time. What questions
am I gonna ask? How am I gonna move them from a conversation to buying this thing I'm selling?
What if they say no? Right? There's so much stress. Well, here's the reality. There's only
a certain number of lessons that I've learned that have helped me
accelerate performance. And I've found that with others who I've worked with, who are new in sales,
this has dramatically improved their performance. It sped them along to making more money faster
because they've avoided those mistakes that I made at such a young age, cuz I was actually
started in sales officially in my twenties, but began knocking on doors when I was 11.
So it's been a while. Nonetheless, let's jump into those lessons. Lesson. Number one
is pretty simple. Know your next step. In fact always know your next step. I can tell
you when I first started my official job in sales, I was selling cars. So in that case,
people would come to the parking lot. I would meet them in the parking lot. We'd have a conversation
and invariably, we would get to discussing a car after all. Otherwise why would they stop by? It
was rare that somebody stopped by and didn't wanna buy a car. Now they didn't always buy for me. But
what I found is I could have that conversation just so I'm having now, but I wasn't always clear
my mind as to what the next step was. So I would get locked up in discussing family and friends and
colors of cars and features and benefits. And I didn't know where to go after that point and
I'd walk away frustrated because we didn't go anywhere. I didn't make the sale right
Now. We are having louder. Okay. Our prices have never been lower son. You have to talk louder,
never been lower, louder sun Buter our prices have never been lower stop
Heat. In fact, people started calling me saying, Hey Sean, I just wanna let you know
I had a great conversation with you. Uh, but I bought a car down the street. So clearly that
person was better at the job. The big gap for me was not knowing what the next step is. What
you want to do is make sure you understand what are the steps in my sales pipeline
or what are the steps in my sales process or process. And then when you're in a conversation,
just always know in the back of your mind what the next steps are. When I started out,
I used to write them and I had them on the cover of my book. So if I sat down with you,
I'd open my book and I could see my steps that I could quickly reference down, which was a reminder
as to what the next step is, which allowed me to always be heading in that direction.
So always know your next step. Now this one's a little bit hard for me. I learned it early on.
You always wanna listen as much or better, better yet more so than you speak. So as you can tell,
I can talk, right? I do this for a living. I, I attend conferences, speak as a keynote. Noter do
virtual presentations, you name it. So I enjoy speaking both to groups as well
as large audiences. However, in sales, that's not always a good thing. It's good. If you can
speak to others and if you're comfortable doing so, but you don't learn anything if
you don't stop talking. So here's the key. If you want to make sure you speak
the same amount or preferably less than what your buyer does, ask questions,
right? So have a good list of questions ready and then ask them and sit and listen.
And as you're listening, it's okay. If you want to take notes. So even if you're new and you're
thinking, okay, they're giving me responses here. I don't know what to do with them. Write
them down, just say to the buyer, you've raised some good points. Do you mind if I take some
notes here, nobody is gonna care, right? And you can even get software that if you're doing
this virtually, you can get software. That'll take those notes for you. But the point is this
always ask good questions and that will enable you to make sure you don't talk
at the same level or more so than your buyer. And that allows you to learn the information you need
to learn in order to take that next step. All right. If you're enjoying these tips, make sure
you click the like in this button that will ensure that everybody can see this, which is my goal.
So I appreciate your help with that. And if you click subscribe to the channel, you'll be notified
each and every time I release a new video, which is typically every single week, if you are new
to sales, one of the challenges, obviously at the start is getting some prospects lined up. But as
you start to gain some momentum, what I find is we often go from documenting those prospects in
a book or on a piece of paper, maybe in a CRM. But I find when people are new, they're a little bit
uneasy, jumping into serum right away. So they document it somewhere. But as you get busy,
you need to keep track of where everybody is at, right? What is the next step
for each of these prospects you're dealing with? So for that reason,
number three lesson is document your progress. I can't tell you how many times
I connected with people early on and I'd be asking myself, so where did we leave off? What
are the next steps? And so invariably, here's a little, little strategy for you. You can ask,
you can say something like, you know, the last discussion we had was really good. I wanted to
get your perspective on what those next steps are. Now. That's kind of a backup plan. Preferably you
come in prepared and you know the next step, which is why lesson number three is always be ready.
I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready.
I'm ready and have documented where you left off so that when you reconnect, you know what the
next step is. I even teach when it comes to your prospecting touch points to have a plan. Here's my
eight steps of how I'm gonna reach out to people and then document which step you're on. Number 1,
2, 3, 4, et cetera, in your notes. So that, you know, when you look at company a or person
number person, a that you know, okay, they're at step two, which means next is step three,
document your progress. It makes conversations obviously flow better. You don't get into the
awkward situation of not knowing what's next. And it speeds up your ability to move to the
close because you're always progressing that discussion and conversation. Okay,
this next one goes about saying, but I made this mistake early on and it got so frustrating.
Make sure you ask for the sale. So lesson number four, ask for the sale, right? Here's what that
means. If you're in a conversation you've explored features and benefits, you understand your buyer,
what their needs are, and it really appears to you. Like there's a good fit here.
You want to ask for the sale now it's okay. If it's a little bit too early,
if it is the buyer's gonna say to you, well, I have some more questions first.
Okay. No problem. But make sure you ask, you might say something like, you know, it,
it seems to me at this point that what I'm selling and again, you can personalize this a bit,
but what I'm selling really in lines of what you're looking for, would you agree again? They're
either gonna say yes or no. If you say something a little more direct, you might say, well,
it seems to me like the next step would be, just be to put the proposal together and move forward.
Uh, does that sound good to you? Right. So what I'm doing here is I'm testing by asking for the
sale. You can do it in a multitude of ways, but the point is, if you think you're getting there,
ask a question it's harmless and your buyer will tell you, yes, I agree. That's the next step or
no I don't. But going back to some of my previous videos, if it's early on in the discussion, you
haven't really got into building much for rapport yet you don't really fully understand the buyer's
situation or their needs. And you ask that question. They say, yes, send me a quote or
send me a proposal. They might be pushing you outta the office. So be very careful if you're
gonna suggest that is your next step, but make sure you ask for the sale. Ultimately your buyer
will tell you whether you're on track or not. And that will ensure that if you are on track,
they'll say yes, then it's a no brainer. You know what the next steps are. If they say no,
then you know what you need to address in order to move things forward. This next one
comes from personal experience. You may have had the same, even though you're new to sales,
but when it comes to objections and you're gonna get all sorts, right? Your price is too high. Your
timing's off this. Isn't the best solution for us. The objections come in, all different forms all
Out. objection, your honor, on grounds that this is Redon overruled.
But here's the key. When you get an objection, don't argue with it. Don't disagree with it.
Right? I did that early on. I'd say, well, why would you think that not the best question to
ask you always wanna agree because at the end of the day, we're not the buyer. And if they
share with us, there's a concern. It's obviously a concern for them. We need to respect that. How
do we do that? We say, okay, I understand the price for you right now is too high.
And then we move to our transition, right? So whatever that transition might be, you might say,
I understand right now, this price seems too high. But if we go back to our return on investment,
right? We talked about that in an earlier video. My point is this.
If you're given an objection by a buyer, don't disagree, don't dispute it.
Don't argue it. Don't don't clam up and say it nothing. Make sure you agree with it. Say,
you know, I understand. And then move to your transition statement, which is bringing them back
into the value and the return of investment that your product service provides. All right. If you
are a sales professional, and especially if you're new in sales and staying on track with
all the different activities and goals, you need to can become a challenge. Even if you've got the
best software tracking your own personal progress is a challenge. For that reason, I created what I
call the 30 day action sales planner. There's a link below. You can grab it yourself,
put it to use. There's no charge at all. And it's my gift to you to try and help
you. If you're new in sales to progress and accelerate faster than ever before. Now,
last but not least. If you are new in sales, you're gonna need to practice your influence.
So I put this video together for you to watch next, that will help you master your influence
when it comes to selling. And until next time let's get out there and go sell something.