I Can Sell Anything..AMA

[jockinbox]

Just got INSIDERS 2 days ago & I'm growing exponentially. Wanted to give something back

4-5 years sales experience. I've sold everything from:

• phones
• furniture
• insurance
• electronics (tvs, computers, etc)
• b2b

to name a few

Also trained sales reps, organized companies for efficiency, examined growth, out-side the box marketing, pitched to high level execs, etc.

AMA!

 

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[healthstatus]

Wanna sell for me?

 

[PSK]

Thanks for this.

How do you sell products where there is a lot of competition? E.g. selling a particular product where most of the market share is dominated by big brands and their marketing budgets? Is creating your own brand the way forward?

 

[Joe Cassandra]

Sell me this pen

 

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[JackWood]

In B2B how do you break down the initial barrier with a secretary or receptionist and find the quickest possible way to talk to the decision maker? Do you have a special technique for doing so and qualifying the person over the phone so you don't waste your time.

 

[jockinbox]

How do you sell products where there is a lot of competition? E.g. selling a particular product where most of the market share is dominated by big brands and their marketing budgets? Is creating your own brand the way forward?

Good question, you've got a ton of options ill give you a few

In a retail space
If you're in the retail world the key is to followup. A lot of walk in traffic is coming for information or interest. Take down their info and follow up with them. It takes an average of 8-12 follow ups to close someone more info down below. Did they call you? Before you answer anything get their name & number. Did they walk in? Have a little display setup where they can win a free X. DONT FORCE THEM TO SIGN IT, YOURE GONNA GET BAD LEADS LOL.

I was a sales manager for T-Mobile, one of our stores in Miami beach was next door to an AT&T & across the street from Verizon Wireless. We had literally just opened up that store in October of the year, and we crushed them by December. Here's what we did:

1) Observe walk in traffic, we noticed A LOT of people were tourist in this store so we would automatically pitch the No-Contract, Prepaid Plans. We made it easy for them to use their unlocked phones and we had good cheap phones they could purchase to use on our network now & whenever they returned to the US.
Lesson: Learn who your customers are & make your product better suited to them
2) Talked to nearby businesses and cut them a deal, in our case Hotel Services. The hotel concierges would recommend us/bring us biz.
Lesson: Engrave you & your brand in their mind. What niche does your product relate to? Advertise there. Youll be peoples first impression and can make an easy sale. For example, I know NOTHING about lawn mowers. But If someone mentions a certain brand like Husqvarna, I'm always going to remember that and relate lawn mowers to Husqvarna & vice versa.
3) Know everything about your product. When that store opened I asked for the most tech savvy reps, not the best sellers. I knew that with so many different kinds of phones we would be working with it would be hard for a regular person to keep up. Its easier to teach sales than tech anyways LOL. Now when customers come in AT&T & Verizon might say something like "what is that?? is that unlocked?? ugh idk do you wanna risk it??" and my reps were "oh cool thats model number A117 thats factory unlocked we are good to go youre gonna get high speed too."
Lesson: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.


In an online space
There's not that many differences between retail selling & online selling but heres some worth mentioning

1) make your website a 1 stop shop. Where your customer can do everything from Learn the basics about your product, how to use your product, etc. If you sell F*cking t-shirts tell them what color jeans they go well with, better yet make a bundle & sell the jeans and a belt too. If you are selling scooters make sure you have videos on how to turn it on, how to ride, stop, etc. Basically you dont want them to leave your website. The more time they spend the more likely you are to buy, if you are a buyer.
2) advertise, advertise, advertise. In the book "as a man thinketh" the author mentions something about that if you only had 20 bucks your gonna die in the advertising space because it take 7-8 times of seeing your ad to buy.
He says something like
the first time they see your ad they dont acknowledge it
the second time they see your ad they acknowledge it but dont read it
the third time the read it
the fourth time the wanna know the price
the fifth time they tell their wife/significant other about it
the sixth time they are ready to buy
the seventh time they buy

I laughed when I read that its so true.
A general sale goes through the following points
Interest (thats cool)
Education (how do I use it)
Suitability (is it for me)
Economy (can I afford it)
Do I really want it? (reinforce interest)
Sale

Thats why I mentioned making your website a one stop shop, where they can go through all of those and be ready to buy. In a retail world this is done in a systematic order to be effective in sales.

Thats just a few of the ways you can differentiate yourself, but theres literally a ton more just think outside the box

 

[jockinbox]

In B2B how do you break down the initial barrier with a secretary or receptionist and find the quickest possible way to talk to the decision maker? Do you have a special technique for doing so and qualifying the person over the phone so you don't waste your time.

That's a great question & that seems to stop a lot of people

First you need more information, information is what wins wars....& sales. The more you know the better off you are. If you know that John is in charge of the marketing department & his email is xxx@xxx.com and his assistant is Alex and her email is xxx@xxx.com. If you know that John leaves for lunch at 12 and goes to a cafe every Tuesday you can run into him there.
Again the more you know the easier. If this isnt possible heres what you do

The call (least effective/most time consuming)
-flatter the secretary/make her laugh ( I know YOU'RE the one in charge but can you tell me who is that one that thinks he is? )
-get as much info as possible from her
-dont call to make a sale, make a call to set an appointment & shell be the best person to talk to for this ( what does John have in his calendar )

The email (more effective/ less time consuming)
read this: http://www.therisetothetop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ColdEmailTemplate.pdf

Hire someone to get appointments (most effective /least time consuming)
You can literally hire someone for 4 bucks an hour to cold call the F*ck out of places and get you an appointment. If you suck at cold calling, dont do it. This is also most effective because it gives you a position of power. Youre not some bum off the street asking for money, you've got employees & a business must be good, etc.

Ever wonder why real estate sales people always drive Mercedes? So when they take clients around the client thinks "shit he must know what hes doing hes in a Mercedes"

How to play from a position of power

If you cold call & you show up & you pitch you seem like a lost puppy. Most people show up to an appointment & say "omg, thank you for finding the time to meet with you, i appreciate it"
Youre fighting an uphill battle bro.

Hire someone to cold call - client thinks shit this guy is legit
Mail them info (vague brochure, dont tell them exactly what you do, just make it seem like its something they need)
Go to appt and give yourself crazy value "Hi John, Im so happy I was able to find the time to meet with YOU, let me tell you about what I do"

If we both show up to an appointment I'm gonna close him 8/10 because I'm playing from a position of power. He's gonna call ME back. You're gonna "bother" him.
Does that make sense? Let me know if that helps

 

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[jon.a]

You're young, how do you get past that? Or, if so how do you make it an advantage?

 

[jockinbox]

You're young, how do you get past that? Or, if so how do you make it an advantage?

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions

 

[pickeringmt]

Super excited to follow this thread- can't wait to see where this goes.

 

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[jockinbox]

Super excited to follow this thread- can't wait to see where this goes.

ask away brother,

also I checked out your website as I too have a beard...

when i click the logo to return to the homepage it sends me to https:// and i guess that F*cks with the CSS

i'm running Google Chrome...you should get that checked out

 

[JackWood]

That's a great question & that seems to stop a lot of people

First you need more information, information is what wins wars....& sales. The more you know the better off you are. If you know that John is in charge of the marketing department & his email is xxx@xxx.com and his assistant is Alex and her email is xxx@xxx.com. If you know that John leaves for lunch at 12 and goes to a cafe every Tuesday you can run into him there.
Again the more you know the easier. If this isnt possible heres what you do

The call (least effective/most time consuming)
-flatter the secretary/make her laugh ( I know YOU'RE the one in charge but can you tell me who is that one that thinks he is? )
-get as much info as possible from her
-dont call to make a sale, make a call to set an appointment & shell be the best person to talk to for this ( what does John have in his calendar )

The email (more effective/ less time consuming)
read this: http://www.therisetothetop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ColdEmailTemplate.pdf

Hire someone to get appointments (most effective /least time consuming)
You can literally hire someone for 4 bucks an hour to cold call the F*ck out of places and get you an appointment. If you suck at cold calling, dont do it. This is also most effective because it gives you a position of power. Youre not some bum off the street asking for money, you've got employees & a business must be good, etc.

Ever wonder why real estate sales people always drive Mercedes? So when they take clients around the client thinks "shit he must know what hes doing hes in a Mercedes"

How to play from a position of power

If you cold call & you show up & you pitch you seem like a lost puppy. Most people show up to an appointment & say "omg, thank you for finding the time to meet with you, i appreciate it"
Youre fighting an uphill battle bro.

Hire someone to cold call - client thinks shit this guy is legit
Mail them info (vague brochure, dont tell them exactly what you do, just make it seem like its something they need)
Go to appt and give yourself crazy value "Hi John, Im so happy I was able to find the time to meet with YOU, let me tell you about what I do"

If we both show up to an appointment I'm gonna close him 8/10 because I'm playing from a position of power. He's gonna call ME back. You're gonna "bother" him.
Does that make sense? Let me know if that helps

Awesome man thanks for the response, appreciate the effort you put into writing all that out. Im currently working in sales as well at the moment and when in an appointment I will close 80-90% of the time, but it is that initial lead generation that I struggle with so that is a huge help. I definitely have not put enough focus into my cold emails and that link you posted is a great read. Thanks again

 

[jockinbox]

Awesome man thanks for the response, appreciate the effort you put into writing all that out. Im currently working in sales as well at the moment and when in an appointment I will close 80-90% of the time, but it is that initial lead generation that I struggle with so that is a huge help. I definitely have not put enough focus into my cold emails and that link you posted is a great read. Thanks again

Your job as a salesperson is NOT to generate leads to close. Your job is to close leads.

i feel you...the struggles of being a salesperson....LOL

 

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[JackWood]

Your job as a salesperson is NOT to generate leads to close. Your job is to close leads.

i feel you...the struggles of being a salesperson....LOL

Oh trust me I've tried to argue that in the past with my work haha. I'm planning on going out solo within the next few months so this will definitely help in the beginning. Do you do much cold emailing/ had much success with it in the past?

 

[jockinbox]

Oh trust me I've tried to argue that in the past with my work haha. I'm planning on going out solo within the next few months so this will definitely help in the beginning. Do you do much cold emailing/ had much success with it in the past?

the only "lead generation" a sales rep should have is referrals

yeah getting emails is a LOT cheaper than getting phone numbers
plus when you learn to write copy you're gold
another advantage is that when you are small you can setup a bunch of different email address like
john@xxx.com
nancy@xxx.com
and that gives the other person the impression that you are actually larger

once youve raised enough capital with that HIRE A COLD CALLER, have them setup 8 appts per day for you to show up & close. Ive paid $120 bucks for 40 appts.

What field/industry are you in? or what do you sell?

 

[pickeringmt]

it sends me to https://

Thanks man, got that changed

 

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[jon.a]

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions

I'm disappointed. I feed you a question to help the other young guy's and you fumbled it.

 

[Joe Cassandra]

Ok, I have a serious question..Although, I would like to hear your take on the whole 'sell me this pen' thing.

Whenever i walk into a store, especially a luxurious one [for example, my wife likes Michael Kors purses]. The sales person walks up and says, "Can I help you find anything?"

It's a small shop, there' not many places to get lost. I do this and I watch other customers do this as well, we say, "Nope, just looking." Then the retail persona says, "Ok, let me know if you need some help." And trudges off. They do this with every customer over and over.

I know there has to be a better approach for the retail person to take, but I can't think of one, what do they do? How do they keep the conversation going?

Background: I've never worked in a retail shop. I worked as a teller at a large bank and it was our job to try and get non-customers to sign up for accounts. I was average at it.

 

[jockinbox]

I'm disappointed. I feed you a question to help the other young guy's and you fumbled it.

the young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions

when one is young he should play to his strengths & learn the rules of how to play the game. What is what, when is the time, who is who. if X then Y, if Y then Z.
CENTS (control, entry, need, time, scale) if I presented this model to a young person he knows no limits to it & can probably come up with dozens of business ideas, he simply knows the rules. Now if I present that to a genius like yourself you would probably punch a whole in 99% of his ideas.

Through trails & tribulations the young man too learns the exceptions.

I became good at selling because I learned the rules, when most jumped straight to the exceptions. I broke revenue records for several large companies because I learned the basics of the game.

 

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[jon.a]

the young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions

when one is young he should play to his strengths & learn the rules of how to play the game. What is what, when is the time, who is who. if X then Y, if Y then Z.
CENTS (control, entry, need, time, scale) if I presented this model to a young person he knows no limits to it & can probably come up with dozens of business ideas, he simply knows the rules. Now if I present that to a genius like yourself you would probably punch a whole in 99% of his ideas.

Through trails & tribulations the young man too learns the exceptions.

I became good at selling because I learned the rules, when most jumped straight to the exceptions. I broke revenue records for several large companies because I learned the basics of the game.

Okay, I'm getting it.

Learn the rules.
Follow them.
Use them to my advantage.
Succeed within them.
Expand my knowledge.
Become exceptional at the game.

Oddly, that was one of my paths. And, one that I have recently returned to.

 

[jon.a]

Now if I present that to a genius like yourself you would probably punch a whole in 99% of his ideas.

Was that a jab? I am in fact a genius. I just don't talk about it much.

 

[jockinbox]

Ok, I have a serious question..Although, I would like to hear your take on the whole 'sell me this pen' thing.

Whenever i walk into a store, especially a luxurious one [for example, my wife likes Michael Kors purses]. The sales person walks up and says, "Can I help you find anything?"

It's a small shop, there' not many places to get lost. I do this and I watch other customers do this as well, we say, "Nope, just looking." Then the retail persona says, "Ok, let me know if you need some help." And trudges off. They do this with every customer over and over.

I know there has to be a better approach for the retail person to take, but I can't think of one, what do they do? How do they keep the conversation going?

Background: I've never worked in a retail shop. I worked as a teller at a large bank and it was our job to try and get non-customers to sign up for accounts. I was average at it.

Ah yes, retail sales...

this one is tricky since we seem to be hard-wired to say "no thanks just looking"

the trick is to ask the right questions at the right times

Hi welcome to XX, my name is Cleiver
Hi / hello cleiver / or theyll inroduce themselves
if they introduce themselves, be sure to use their name in your response

Stacy, what brings you in today?
open ended question that triggers away from the normal no thanks just looking
then theyll say
(a) im looking at purses
great, we have an interesting selection of purses to look at. let me show you some of our favorites and most fashionable (tonality is super important here, when you get to let me show you, lower your voice to indicate scarcity which leads to interest)
(b) im just checking stuff out
great, we have looks of stuff to check out..although I do want to mention that XX purse is flying off the self right now, do you want to look at it? I can set one aside if youd like theres only 2 left (again tonality, create scarcity, and this time she feels like EVERYONE else is getting it too)

now you must realize that a lot of people ARE just LOOKING in which case refer to sales model above
interest - they already have this thanks to your opener
education - tell them about the purse
suitability - tell them how great youd look with that purse, how it matches your skin, your hair, your eyes. Ms. Cassy I must say this color makes you look vibrant, you should model for our company. TELL HER WHY ITS FOR HER.
economy - this doesnt mean give discounts ALOT OF RETAIL GIVE DISCOUNTS NOOOOOOOOOOOO) if you give a discount youre saying "MY PRODUCT ISNT WORTH WHAT IM ASKING FOR" there are other ways of pitching economy. A lot of stores have credit cards perfect pivot Ms. Cassy you can take this home today and not have a single payment until 45 days. I know this is a very expensive and very desirable purse, and you wouldnt want to miss out would you? (of course theyre gonna say NO I DONT WANT TO MISS OUT)
CLOSE

 

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[jon.a]

Ah yes, retail sales...

this one is tricky since we seem to be hard-wired to say "no thanks just looking"

the trick is to ask the right questions at the right times

Hi welcome to XX, my name is Cleiver
Hi / hello cleiver / or theyll inroduce themselves
if they introduce themselves, be sure to use their name in your response

Stacy, what brings you in today?
open ended question that triggers away from the normal no thanks just looking
then theyll say
(a) im looking at purses
great, we have an interesting selection of purses to look at. let me show you some of our favorites and most fashionable (tonality is super important here, when you get to let me show you, lower your voice to indicate scarcity which leads to interest)
(b) im just checking stuff out
great, we have looks of stuff to check out..although I do want to mention that XX purse is flying off the self right now, do you want to look at it? I can set one aside if youd like theres only 2 left (again tonality, create scarcity, and this time she feels like EVERYONE else is getting it too)

now you must realize that a lot of people ARE just LOOKING in which case refer to sales model above
interest - they already have this thanks to your opener
education - tell them about the purse
suitability - tell them how great youd look with that purse, how it matches your skin, your hair, your eyes. Ms. Cassy I must say this color makes you look vibrant, you should model for our company. TELL HER WHY ITS FOR HER.
economy - this doesnt mean give discounts ALOT OF RETAIL GIVE DISCOUNTS NOOOOOOOOOOOO) if you give a discount youre saying "MY PRODUCT ISNT WORTH WHAT IM ASKING FOR" there are other ways of pitching economy. A lot of stores have credit cards perfect pivot Ms. Cassy you can take this home today and not have a single payment until 45 days. I know this is a very expensive and very desirable purse, and you wouldnt want to miss out would you? (of course theyre gonna say NO I DONT WANT TO MISS OUT)
CLOSE

Mrs jon helps out at our oldest boys custom lantern business in the back office. When the others employees do the "okay" and walk away thing she gets pissed off. She'll go out and just start a conversation.

Are you from "our small town"?
Look at these, we're the only place in the US that sells them.
Here's some of our custom lanterns that you can't get anywhere else either.

She treats the customers like friends.
And acts like she owns the place maybe because her son does.
So, what are the lazy ones learning? Let Mom do it. Oh well.

Of course she out sells the lazy ones.

 

[jockinbox]

Mrs jon helps out at our oldest boys custom lantern business in the back office. When the others employees do the "okay" and walk away thing she gets pissed off. She'll go out and just start a conversation.

Are you from "our small town"?
Look at these, we're the only place in the US that sells them.
Here's some of our custom lanterns that you can't get anywhere else either.

She treats the customers like friends.
And acts like she owns the place maybe because her son does.
So, what are the lazy ones learning? Let Mom do it. Oh well.

Of course she out sells the lazy ones.

crazy thing...desire

 

[pickeringmt]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on selling a product that people don't buy on impulse.

A great example would be my former employer. We sold industrial transfer pumps. This isn't something that people really shopped for, and had no reason to buy unless there was a direct need/application - but we needed sales of course.

How would you approach selling a products like these?

 

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[jockinbox]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on selling a product that people don't buy on impulse.

A great example would be my former employer. We sold industrial transfer pumps. This isn't something that people really shopped for, and had no reason to buy unless there was a direct need/application - but we needed sales of course.

How would you approach selling a products like these?

good question,

let me tell you a story, once upon a time I thought I knew about computers. & so I applied at a computer store and landed the job. My first week on the job I realized I DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT COMPUTERS. The people that came in to this store are hard-core computer builders, gamers, engineers, programmers etc. I realized that if I was going to be successful I couldn't keep playing the knowledge card.

You see, eventually you will run into someone who's smarter than you. Much smarter than you. And yes you may know features and benefits but they understand uses, fittings, sizes, measurements, and much more than you. Its kind of like going to a technical school for something VS going to university for something. Yes, you know how to code, but they know what every line means & how to push it.

So my usual system
interest > education > suitability > economy > interest + close

Would crash and burn at step 2

So what do you do?

The great thing about this, is that people looking for an industrial transfer pumps 1) know what it is 2)know what it does 3)they know they need it
So we jump all the way to step number 4
Economy

If you sell 10 different industrial pumps, start with the highest one and work numbers

-Mr. Hill this product is THE top of the line pump. Not only will it do what you NEED, it will also EXCEED your expectations.
(inset price objection)
qualify objection (is this really the problem?) "that's a legitimate CONCERN most of our customers have, Mr. Hill if I could demonstrate to you that this pump will not ONLY solve your problems, but its going to maximize efficiency, boost productivity, and make your boss happy (or your wallets fatter if hes the owner) would you move forward on this product with me?
If he says Yes "OK terrific, here's what its gonna do for you. Its going to boost your transfer ability by XX pounds or XX percentage which gives you more time and more efficiency to go about your business. I understand this is a very high VALUE (not cost) item, so heres what we can do. (lower voice induce scarcity) Mr. Hill, we can finance this product for you & your corporation at VERY LOW monthly installments, so that the extra SAVINGS & EARNING generated from this pump will pay for itself over time. How does that sound? (hes gonna say that makes sense/sounds good) terrific, would you like to have this pump working for you 24/7 (obvious yes) (lift voice back up) Perfect let me go speak with our inventory manager to see if he has any available. (at this point he'll say OK and you stall for a few minutes to calm him down/ or if you did a really good job with scarcity he'll say something like GIVE ME THE DEMO"

Come back
Workout financing
Close deal
Go to fancy lunch

 

[AlterJoule]

Here's a fun one.

You are selling a computer tablet. You have only one type. It costs $100 dollars. You have 50 other companies selling the exact same one for the same price give or take. You can't change the price and you can only sell it online, like the other guys.

Tell me how you will stand out above the rest, while following the above.

 

[LibertyForMe]

I am looking for a job currently. I could get a job in analytics, which is what I have the most experience in, but I also want to learn sales.

I don't have a track record of success, but I am confident that I could figure it out. What are your recommendations for people brand new to sales? What type of sales job should I try to get? Inside or Outside sales? B2B or B2C? Selling products that are really expensive and occur more rarely, or selling a whole lot of something that is relatively cheap? What industry is best for beginners?

I think that I would probably like to sell something pretty expensive, since the commissions would be higher; but I really don't know. Thoughts?

 

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[jockinbox]

I am looking for a job currently. I could get a job in analytics, which is what I have the most experience in, but I also want to learn sales.

I don't have a track record of success, but I am confident that I could figure it out. What are your recommendations for people brand new to sales? What type of sales job should I try to get? Inside or Outside sales? B2B or B2C? Selling products that are really expensive and occur more rarely, or selling a whole lot of something that is relatively cheap? What industry is best for beginners?

I think that I would probably like to sell something pretty expensive, since the commissions would be higher; but I really don't know. Thoughts?

Everything is sales. Getting a girl to go out with you is sales. Interviews are sales pitches. Convincing your friends where to go for lunch is sales. Practice everyday, in every conversation/interaction. You can get an analytics job & sell your employer on the fact that you are more capable and worth of a promotion/raise.

Now if you want a sales job go for a Door to Door sales job (d2d) this is the quickest and best way to learn how to overcome objections and how to react to defeat. Commissions are good and you can make a ton of sales..best of all...unlimited doors to knock on. You will hate it after a few weeks, in which case I would save every single dollar I can and use the funds raised to start a business.

Other options
Car sales = youre gonna be there 60-70 hours a week so unless you have no fastlane hope for a while I wouldnt bother (good teachers, youll make decent money)
Furniture sales = good if you wanna learn the financing game (youre gonna have to learn this one on your own / good upside )
b2b = good if your fastlane involves b2b tactics (again, youre gonna have to learn everything on your own)
retail = no (you wont learn shit, no one will teach you shit, and youll be broke)
real estate = if you have enough money to last you until your first sale


Hope that helps

 

[jockinbox]

Here's a fun one.
You are selling a computer tablet. You have only one type. It costs $100 dollars. You have 50 other companies selling the exact same one for the same price give or take. You can't change the price and you can only sell it online, like the other guys.
Tell me how you will stand out above the rest, while following the above.