Everything You Need to Know About Sales: Part 1

[JoeyF]

The Jay Abraham Joint Venture content is very interesting. I spent a fair bit of the first quarter of this year studying it and putting it to the test.

Unfortunately, I've yet to make anything work at this stage. The closest I've come is putting together a deal with a company that creates signs for businesses. (I do web marketing and web design).

The idea was that they were going to hand out business cards for me to customers as their sales team went out to meetings.

Not sure why but nothing has come of that at all. Not a single bit of interest.

Recently, I pitched the idea of running a Direct Mail campaign to their customers to make them a special offer but the company has been lukewarm on doing this despite me assuming all the costs and offering a very conservative trial to test the waters initially.

I've kind of put the JV stuff on the back burner recently as it wasn't baring any fruit.

I would be intersted in discussing it further though.

I read this, which was very good and available for free: http://grumomedia.com/files/Jay_Abraham-From_Mediocrity_to_Millions.pdf

 

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[Thiago Machado]

@JoeyF

I want you to ponder on these questions...

• What problem are you solving for this company?
• What's in it for them?
• Did you create a process for this joint venture? Or did you just tell them to hand out business cards and hope to get a sale? What incentive do they have to carry on with this idea?
• Are their clients similar to the clients you already have?
• Do their clients have an actual need for what you offer?
• How can you give value back to this company?

The most important thing to remember is to put yourself in your clients shoes.

You get what YOU want by giving people what THEY want.

Truth is, nobody cares about you or your aspirations.

They want to see what's in it for them.

Think about it: If you help a company solve a HUGE problem that's costing them money, time, resources, etc, don't you think they will compensate you for it?


The Secret Formula To Success

• Solve problems
• Create / Add value
• Make Money

Read this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YBBKLKS/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

Read this thread: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-money-copywriting-in-15-days-or-less.59465/

Internalize this information and apply the knowledge.

 

[Thiago Machado]

@Disruptor

Don't know what you're up to.

But I wouldn't recommend jumping into various things at the same time.

In my opinion, this works best...

 

[JoeyF]

@JoeyF

I want you to ponder on these questions...

• What problem are you solving for this company?

Aside from helping them to make more money, being someone they could dependably refer their customers to when asked "can you help us get a website/marketing" which is something they don't do.

• What's in it for them?

More money, strengthened relationship with their customers (who get a special deal and looked after extremely well), access to additional products they otherwise don't have the expertise to offer.

I also gave them a couple of strong referrals from my own client base, who needed products this company offer (I thought this was a great way to start the relationship off nice and strong) with the offer to keep those coming, as and when they become available.

• Did you create a process for this joint venture? Or did you just tell them to hand out business cards and hope to get a sale? What incentive do they have to carry on with this idea?

Yes, we met and went over things, the company seemed really keen to have someone like myself on hand to refer their customers, who require help with web stuff. The initial plan was for them to do simply that, provide a business card and recommend me as and when it came up.

I did start to wonder about this being worth their while as they weren't getting anything out of the deal, so I then offered a % of the sales and to run a special offer just for their customers, which was met with a lukewarm response.

• Are their clients similar to the clients you already have?

Very similar for the most part with a few exceptions here and there mainly due to size.

• Do their clients have an actual need for what you offer?

This is my exact target audience and I know a good % of these people need what I offer. Very few small businesses have their online marketing ducks in a row.

• How can you give value back to this company?

As above, providing referrals, share of the profit that is generated, providing great service making them look extra good for referring.

Good questions. I've put answers below each bullet point to give you an idea what I've done up until now.

Always open to other ideas. I think I have done a lot to think more about the client than myself in this case.

The deal isn't dead, I've not heard back since sending the most recent idea I had for them through by email, where I offered to send out an endorsed direct mail campaign to their clients at my own expense and then share any profits with them.

They didn't dislike the idea per say, they had to think about it, and that was a couple of weeks ago.

I've not been right on top of this following up as much as I could.

I started to wonder if it was worth it, even if they agree to it I then have to start trying to sell their clients next by sending out letters and the whole thing just seems like a whole load of work without any real knowledge of whether it would be any better than sending out letters to businesses at random without the endorsement.

So that's where I am with it. I believe I'm thinking from the clients perspective before my own for the most part.

 

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[OVOvince]

Man I F*ckING LOVE this damn thread.

Feels like I'm making some alright forward progress now. I have an official meeting and tour with the LED company this week and I already have a warm lead that fell out of the sky into my lap. I want to demand a decent cut out of the NET Profit, so i will use that initially. I told the LED guy over the phone that I have a warm lead, probably should not have done that. He knows about it now before the meeting. Oh well. I plan on asking for a 40% cut right off the bat despite only having 1 warm lead, any tips for negotiating?

 

[Disruptor]

@Disruptor

Don't know what you're up to.

But I wouldn't recommend jumping into various things at the same time.

In my opinion, this works best...

Yeah I see what you're saying. I'm thinking like, instead of watching netflix or chasing pussy, my thinking is that I could start doing deals as a side gig.
So main focus is sales job, but when I got time at hand. I'll go out and do my own deals instead, being a F*cking machine. I want this badly.

How can we best set up like a mastermind for this? Maybe start with a facebook group or whatever and then do weekly or biweekly skype calls?

Feels like we're all creating like this new path, instead of chasing bitcoins and facebook likes, we're tycoons going out in the real world. Old school but with contemporary game.

 

[OVOvince]

Yeah I see what you're saying. I'm thinking like, instead of watching netflix or chasing pussy, my thinking is that I could start doing deals as a side gig.
So main focus is sales job, but when I got time at hand. I'll go out and do my own deals instead, being a F*cking machine. I want this badly.

How can we best set up like a mastermind for this? Maybe start with a facebook group or whatever and then do weekly or biweekly skype calls?

Feels like we're all creating like this new path, instead of chasing bitcoins and facebook likes we're tycoons going out in the real world. Old school but with contemporary game.

Im down for the mastermind group. I have a lot of intricate questions I want to ask, and for some reason, I feel like it's better that I dont ask my suppliers to keep credibility.

Bolded part is how i feel about it as well. this whole thing changed my perspective on fastlane completely

 

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[Lukebrisbane]

I'm down for the mastermind. Calling companies up. Picked a niche in construction to do with Timber, contacting manufactures.

 

[Ubermensch]

Yeah I see what you're saying. I'm thinking like, instead of watching netflix or chasing pussy, my thinking is that I could start doing deals as a side gig.

You lose money by chasing women.

You do NOT lose women by chasing money.

 

[Thiago Machado]

So this morning I happened to stumble upon one of the first videos I ever saw in regards to starting a career in sales.

I know a lot of you guys here on the thread are jumping into the field.

It's a lot broader than you think, and there are many different roles / positions a salesman can have within a business.

Hopefully this can open up your mind to the all of the possibilities out there.

Enjoy.

 

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[Ubermensch]

a great strategic alliance is found by linking 2 non-competing companies within the same market, correct?

so for example, LED lights ----> Smart Thermometer or Solar Panels etc

Yes, which is why you should be paying attention to PACE, even though @Cyriex thinks I should stop talking about PACE on this forum, especially since it's so cutting edge.

@SteveO and @MKHB have seen the case study and news story about a multi-million dollar PACE transaction I recently closed with some construction partners and a commercial real estate client of mine.

He thinks I should keep it a secret.

@OVOvince PACE is your best strategic weapon as a salesguy in the United States construction industry (specifically the energy efficiency sector). It allows you to sell LED's, solar panels, window film, etc much more easily.

Fast fact: 4 out of 5 LED retrofit do NOT happen due to lack of available capital from the client. PACE solves for this.

 

[Ubermensch]

I'm down for the mastermind. Calling companies up. Picked a niche in construction to do with Timber, contacting manufactures.

The Australian construction industry is a big industry. $100,000,000,000 (100 billion dollars)... bet you can kind lots of opportunity in there.

What was your rationale in choosing the timber industry?

 

[Ubermensch]

Im down for the mastermind group. I have a lot of intricate questions I want to ask, and for some reason, I feel like it's better that I dont ask my suppliers to keep credibility.

Smart.

this whole thing changed my perspective on fastlane completely

Nice.

Man I F*ckING LOVE this damn thread.

Feels like I'm making some alright forward progress now. I have an official meeting and tour with the LED company this week and I already have a warm lead that fell out of the sky into my lap. I want to demand a decent cut out of the NET Profit, so i will use that initially. I told the LED guy over the phone that I have a warm lead, probably should not have done that. He knows about it now before the meeting. Oh well. I plan on asking for a 40% cut right off the bat despite only having 1 warm lead, any tips for negotiating?

The term "LED company" is too vague to use when there is so much margin on the line.

When you look at the construction industry, you have to understand that it is broken up into sub-trades, such as electrical construction, roofing construction, HVAC (heating and air conditioning) construction, etc.

The "lighting" portion of the construction industry falls under the rubric of electrical construction.

There are many companies that may consider themselves "LED Companies."

1) There are "old-school electrical construction companies that do old-school construction projects (i.e. new builds, work with wiring, conduit, pipe, switch gear, etc).

2) There are "new-school" electrical construction companies, and they are sometimes called "ESCOs" (stands for Energy Service Company). These companies typically specialize in energy efficiency, and perform LED lighting retrofits, solar upgrades, HVAC upgrades, all of it catered towards energy efficiency.

3) There are distribution companies. These are the local Home Depot and Lowes type stores that carry massive inventory that contractors buy on a daily, weekly, monthly or "per project" basis.

4) There are manufacturers reps. These companies typically rep just one main manufacturer (like one of the big boys: Hubble, Cooper, Acuity, GE, Phillips, etc).

5) There are the manufacturers themselves. Hard to get access to these guys. If you do, you can make all the money. The margins in the lighting game are insane. To win, you just have to know how to play the game.

All of the above is just scratching the service of the massive LED industry. The LED market in the United States alone is projected to reach $30,000,000,000 (30 billion) in 2016.

There are guys winning big and cashing in on this wave. Where you are int he food chain will determine if you're laughing at the end of the experience, or licking your wounds.

 

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[Lukebrisbane]

The Australian construction industry is a big industry. $100,000,000,000 (100 billion dollars)... bet you can kind lots of opportunity in there.

What was your rationale in choosing the timber industry?

http://www.architectureanddesign.co...-laminated-timber-clt-australia-s-rising-star
Cross Laminated Timber is a popular and Eco-friendly timber that is popular in Europe but isn't even being manufactured in Australia. I pussied out and only emailed 4 manufacturing firms instead of calling since the manufactures were in germany, finland, austria and new zealand, so I doubt i'll hear much back. Could I get your feedback? I figured it could be a good idea but not sure how to position myself. Hopefully I get some confidence to call them and follow up.

 

[Premixedd]

Funny thing you're asking that. Because I got this on my mind lately. I've had an inactive account for some year.
But just a few days ago I've started bringing it to life. I doubled contacts in these days now, but still only got 70 so far (fully organically though with real connections.) Will probably get to 100+ when all have accepted. I've also tried positioning it professionally with images, need to do a pro photo shoot soon, got a personal branded logo made, strengthening the copy on the page etc... Will need to work more on all of this. Any more advice how to get like recommendations etc? Or is that relevant?

Also got some business card ordered today and will actually start meeting some well connected VCs here in London and go to networking events + am still doing direct outreach to companies.

That's the exact question that have been spinning in my mind "how do I get to 500+ quickly..???" Dude would be dope if you could share how !

I'm hoping you guys can elaborate more on this subject soon. I have had a LinkedIn account sitting dormant for a while now, but just recently have tried to make it more "legitimate".

 

[MikeAU]

Yes, which is why you should be paying attention to PACE, even though @Cyriex thinks I should stop talking about PACE on this forum, especially since it's so cutting edge.

@SteveO and @MKHB have seen the case study and news story about a multi-million dollar PACE transaction I recently closed with some construction partners and a commercial real estate client of mine.

He thinks I should keep it a secret.

@OVOvince PACE is your best strategic weapon as a salesguy in the United States construction industry (specifically the energy efficiency sector). It allows you to sell LED's, solar panels, window film, etc much more easily.

Fast fact: 4 out of 5 LED retrofit do NOT happen due to lack of available capital from the client. PACE solves for this.

Thanks for the info on this, it looks like Australia has a similar financing model available EUA Finance (Environmental Upgrade Agreement), will dive in and take a look.

 

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[Lukebrisbane]

Thanks for the info on this, it looks like Australia has a similar financing model available EUA Finance (Environmental Upgrade Agreement), will dive in and take a look.

We can talk about this at our meetup tomorrow, 5 of us from the fastlane forum are having a meetup in person in Brisbane, Australia. Should be good. All 5 of us have seen or posted in this thread so should be interesting bouncing ideas around.

 

[axiom]

Fast fact: 4 out of 5 LED retrofit do NOT happen due to lack of available capital from the client. PACE solves for this.

This fact should wet the panties of any salesman looking at this industry.

 

[OVOvince]

This fact should wet the panties of any salesman looking at this industry.

been doing my research on it and at first it just sounded too good to be true.

anyone who decides to utilize PACE to upgrade their property to energy efficiency only benefits. talk about making money and saving the F*cking planet + helping people out massively lol

 

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[axiom]

Feels like we're all creating like this new path, instead of chasing bitcoins and facebook likes, we're tycoons going out in the real world. Old school but with contemporary game.

I'm glad you feel it too. We are the JP Morgans, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies of the modern world. A fraternity of killers, of creators who build entire cities from the power of their own will.

@Ubermensch
@Thiago Machado
@OVOvince
@Disruptor
@welshmin

 

[OVOvince]

just exchanged PM's with @axiom in regards to negotiations with NET Profit, and he feels it will be beneficial to all the other guys like me getting started, so he will post his reply here.

BTW, i recently went to a SCORE mentor in my city, which was completely useless. I tried to talk about strategic partnerships, structuring the legal contracts for non exclusive joint ventures, etc, and this "mentor" was completely clueless, but he just didn't have the guts to admit it, and proceeded to waste my time. he kept telling me that i should be an employee because its better that way for tax purposes (dude was an accountant for the the government), and that it makes more sense to negotiate out of revenue because profit margins can go up or down, and that i would be taking a bigger risk. wasted an hour yesterday.

anyways here is my message to Axiom

Hey man, I wanted to ask a question in regards to negotiating my part of the cut of NET profit. btw, if you feel like i should just ask this question in that sales thread, or make another thread then let me know and ill tag you along with uber and other people. I just didn't want to make it seem like im detracting from general guidance for specific questions.

here's my situation:

I am inexperienced with sales, BUT i have a lot of "theoretical" knowledge in it because of that sales thread and all the resources mentioned. useless in reality but i feel like i can utilize it for my benefit to get a bigger cut.

i am familiar with corporate finance: strategic partnerships, NPV calculations, and some other tricks that I will be using to scale + make deals with. still haven't put it all the way together since i haven't actually done anything major, but like i said, i want to position myself to get the most out of this partnership with my LED supplier.

right now, I have a small sized deal on my lap, just waiting to be executed once I sign an agreement with the supplier. I don't want to come off as a person that is looking to make small deals, as I will be going after large commercial and industrial properties.


what's my best route for tomorrow's negotiation? any sort of financial calculations i should make to present with? i really don't want to end up taking a 10% cut or whatever their default is.

also, worst comes to worst, is there room for re-negotiations in the future? my gut tells me yes, if i can prove to them that I am legit.

lmk man thanks

 

[axiom]

just exchanged PM's with @axiom in regards to negotiations with NET Profit, and he feels it will be beneficial to all the other guys like me getting started, so he will post his reply here.

BTW, i recently went to a SCORE mentor in my city, which was completely useless. I tried to talk about strategic partnerships, structuring the legal contracts for non exclusive joint ventures, etc, and this "mentor" was completely clueless, but he just didn't have the guts to admit it, and proceeded to waste my time. he kept telling me that i should be an employee because its better that way for tax purposes (dude was an accountant for the the government), and that it makes more sense to negotiate out of revenue because profit margins can go up or down, and that i would be taking a bigger risk. wasted an hour yesterday.

anyways here is my message to Axiom

My response:

There is no need to let them know that you are inexperienced. Sales, like most everything else, is about appearances.

Instead of focusing on what you've done before (as I assume it isn't much as far as sales is concerned), focus on what exactly you will give them in the future. Simply tell them that you know how sales work, and that you will be the source of a lot of business for them down the line, so long as you are fairly compensated for doing all of the legwork.

You are doing the sales work. They are not paying you any upfront fee. This is business they would never have otherwise. Make sure they know -- without explicitly stating it -- that there are a dozen other companies just like them that would love to have the essentially free business you bring in.

Tell them that in exchange for a higher cut of the net profit, they will get a deal that is already essentially closed -- that it will simply be a small taste of the business you will bring to them in the future.

@Ubermensch
@Thiago Machado
@OVOvince

 

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[Paul Thomas]

This thread has AMAZING value and a lot of what is said resonates me and with what my goals currently are.

That being said....

Anyone have experience transferring from "highly reputable" cubicle jobs to sales where you think you would be put to much better use after discovering your real strengths? The reason I ask is because while these jobs are reputable and I enjoy them - think Investment Banking, Strategy, etc. sales is about results, and experience getting results - after having a few years experience, the switch to sales could be tough.. no? I know the type of sales done on here is not necessarily boiler room at a big firm type sales...

 

[OVOvince]

This thread has AMAZING value and a lot of what is said resonates me and with what my goals currently are.

That being said....

Anyone have experience transferring from "highly reputable" cubicle jobs to sales where you think you would be put to much better use after discovering your real strengths (not excel monkeying)? The reason I ask is because while these jobs are reputable think Investment Banking, Strategy, etc. sales is about results, and experience getting results - after having a few years experience, the switch to sales could be tough.. no? I know the type of sales done on here is not necessarily boiler room at a big firm type sales...[/QUOTE

.

view sales as a performance sport. If you put in the time working, evaluating, adjusting, learning, etc, you can only get better. There's guys in the basketball courts that complain about not having a good jumper or dribbles but they never go into the gym and do drills. And even if they did do them, they never try it out on the court. People never apply themselves and complain.


I'm a complete noob at this, and I don't expect things to come easy at all, but I'm just excited for the journey and the opportunities. How good or bad I do is all on me. Should be the same for you, in fact it would seem like you would have an advantage considering you have the knowledge of the interworkings in the world of business. Yesterday I had to spend considerable time researching flow charts of sector markets just to see what exact company or entities I will be targeting to call up or email. I don't know the nomanclature to narrow down quickly, but either way I have to get it done

 

[Disruptor]

Just starting to learn about the construction industry by reading, asking dumb questions to a friend who's worked in the industry etc.

Any suggestion of steps one should take to get one small deal under the belt quickly as a beginner?

Is it just about finding a fast growing construction company with a great product and then try to sell those or set up strategic alliances?
From the outside looking in now it's still quite overwhelming. I need a breakdown of the steps so I can set a goal, because the rest I'll figure out easily.

 

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[Ubermensch]

This fact should wet the panties of any salesman looking at this industry.

LMAO, what.

What salesman wears "panties"?

been doing my research on it and at first it just sounded too good to be true.

anyone who decides to utilize PACE to upgrade their property to energy efficiency only benefits. talk about making money and saving the F*cking planet + helping people out massively lol

Scientific American has a list of the world's most world-saving, planet-saving ideas.

PACE is top 20 on the list.

Think about that.

You've got a world-changing idea that almost nobody knows about as a sales tool.

 

[axiom]

LMAO, what.

What salesman wears "panties"?

Figure of speech.

EDIT: Pretty sure Ghandi coined it.

 

[OVOvince]

Just starting to learn about the construction industry by reading, asking dumb questions to a friend who's worked in the industry etc.

Any suggestion of steps one should take to get one small deal under the belt quickly as a beginner?

Is it just about finding a fast growing construction company with a great product and then try to sell those or set up strategic alliances?
From the outside looking in now it's still quite overwhelming. I need a breakdown of the steps so I can set a goal, because the rest I'll figure out easily.

What I took away is that money in sales is in b2b deals. What can you provide companies within the construction industry?

Energy efficiency products?
High tech smart materials?
Etc

Then you get the agreement with the supplier of that product, and you start looking for places where a shit ton of that product will be needed for big sales. For small sales look for small homes or property, etc.

You can find existing property to retrofit the products or you can strike up deals with builders to use the products in their upcoming projects.


Same goes for any other booming field-- find the breakthrough product that the industry is going to have to inevitably adopt at a rapid pace that is also high value which you can sell.


edit: @Disruptor

just realized this above post was sort of unhelpful.

you want to make a deal fast? use that link by @Thiago Machado to create a customer profile.

in the book Crossing the Chasm, it says you have to profile the early adopters who will buy your products quick and fast. you need to profile them by age, interests, etc.

want to sell green technology? find hippies that own properties.

sell energy efficient products? find businesses that need to cut down on their electricity bill fast + hippies

that's my approach on it anyways, maybe if im wrong, the veterans can correct me.

 

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[OVOvince]

agreement done

35% commission. ready to start doing everything mayne. i blew their F*cking minds with the email i sent them and during the meeting (talking about the mysterious PACE). literally the whole management team knew about me before i came. already made list of trade conferences/ ACG meetings to go to. gonna rip through the how to sell to affluent people book. gonna start developing strategy on how to create a scalable sales system and shit. im fukin excited. haven't felt this damn good since the last podcast in this thread (btw yall need to make another one).

 

[blueoceanblues]

@OVOvince Beastmode.