I Can Sell Anything..AMA

[Joe Cassandra]

Sell me this pen

 

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[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]

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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[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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[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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[jockinbox]

You can't change the price because I want to see a good salesman's approach to dominating a market filled with the same stuff.

Going up in price is a tactic
It gives your product more value over others. It also gives you more profitability to create a better product.

Maybe you could post some examples of how your Copy would be?

Headling (promise/result)
Connect
Empathize
Solution (your product)
Remove Objections
Connect Again
Proof (testimonials)
Outline of What you Get (features/benefits)
Urgrency / Scarcity
Money Back Guarantee
Call to Action

Maybe you could tell us an exact angle you would take that is COMPLETELY different from the other guys that may set you as the company apart.

I would create a content rich website which takes a customer through all of the following stages
interest
education
suitability
economy (cost)

More tactics:
-find out what your customers are saying about other peoples product (what they like/hate) pitch with those things in mind
for example customer says they like the battery life on the S3 your response would be well the iPhone has the absolute best battery life in the market
Customer says he hates having to restart phone to close apps, well with the iPhone you can just hold the home button and close all your apps from there
-always offer free shipping
-find out who uses your product and make it more suitable to them
Do construction workers buy your tablet because its tough? sell them a water-proof case or a battery case
-bundle
Sell everything as a package
-offer better customer service
-have a twitter, instagram, facebook setup with social proof

theres 10000000 ways to go about this, if you tell me more specifically what field you are in I can give you dialogues, tips, tactics, etc.

 

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[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]

Sales person interview

Most of the people here are not salesmen but entrepreneurs so let me go over how to interview sales folk and what to look for

What to look for
1. Creative
2. Can explain complicated things easily
3. Is motivated my money
4. Is not employed elsewhere
5. Friendly


Interview questions
1. Name 5-10 uses for a #2 pencil besides writing (erasing, throwing, as a lever, press buttons, reach far places, push/pull things towards away from you, etc)
2. Pitch me something you've sold before
3. Go over commission structure ask if they like it or if they want to make any changes (have 2 or 3 that equal the same thing, some people want more commission and less base others want the opposite)
4. Are you employed elsewhere? Do people ask you what you do for a living? If they need to stay late to close a deal, make sure there's no other job they are worrying about.
5. Tell me about a time you dealt with a stupid/angry customer? (The correct answer is I've never dealt with a stupid/angry customer)
6. Why should I hire you? (Elevator pitch)

Anything else you can teach them

Some stories from interviews I've conducted:
One guy brought his girlfriend to the interview and asked her to review the compensation to see if it was okay for him to work there
One guy said his hobbies include being lazy, drinking beer, and watching soccer
I asked one guy to tell me about a difficult customer he said "buddy I've worked retail before, everyone is a difficult customer" ...that's a great attitude 'buddy'

 

[Ubermensch]

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.

Clever scripting usually gets you past the "gate keeper."

To develop the right script, you need to focus on the decision maker, and his relationship with the gate keeper. The gate keeper is there to protect the decision maker's time. She is there to help him do his job more efficiently, and avoid distractions.

Therefore, it is your job to make it obvious to the gate keeper that speaking to you is either customary and/or necessary.

Who are you calling?

If you're calling commercial property managers, find out which property each manager manages, and refer to that specific property.

If you're calling facility's managers, say that you're calling about a "facility's related inquiry." Or use the word "concern."

You might want to begin by viewing the admin or office manager as your ally. During your initial cold call, you need to pre-qualify the prospect. In other words, you need to know that you're talking to the decision-maker.

People often trip themselves up trying to figure out who the decision-maker is, even when it comes to asking the person on the phone. One easy way around this is just to make friends with the secretary or receptionist.

Don't overlook her (it's a female 98% of the time). Don't talk past her or over her. Don't sound like you're in such a rush to get off the phone with her. In most cases, she is there to help you, to make sure that you get to the right person.

I'll give you an example in my own experience. Just yesterday, I called the decision maker for a large firm I'm trying to close. The deal is worth six figures, possibly seven to me.

As you can imagine, the DM is very busy, working on a multitude of high-profile projects. We've had several phone meetings, and now it is time to get to the closing process.

But he's so damn hard to get on the phone.

Fortunately, I've made the acquaintance of the office manager. I recognize her voice when she answers, and she knows mine. She's helping me coordinate a meeting with the DM, passing messages back and forth between us, allowing for seamless communication that would otherwise be impossible (the guy rarely answers his phone, responds to an e-mail almost never).

When you're selling B2B, you need all the allies you can get. If you're selling big-ticket items, where you can make five, six or even seven figures on one sale or on one client, then you need to tilt the odds in your favor in every single situation.

The office manager/secretary/receptionist/administrative assistant can make or break you.

Put yourself in the decision maker's shoes. Imagine if his receptionist says:

A) "Sir, that nice, cool, interesting, sweet, professional guy called back to see what time you wanted to schedule that webinar..."

versus

B) "That annoying, rude, abrasive, arrogant, obnoxious sales person called... again."

Wanna sell for me?

Are you seeking 100% commission sales reps?

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

I was 26 years old when I sold the corporate headquarters of Abercrombie and Fitch an electricity contract from First Energy Solutions.

They signed a three-year deal worth tens of millions of dollars in total revenue.

In that one deal, I produced more total business than many seasoned sales guys twice my age have produced in their entire careers.

The entire business decision took four days. From the time I contacted the decision-maker, to the time I got pricing, to the time I closed the deal - got the signature on the signature page from the head of facilities - it only took around 96 hours, and this all happened on the phone.

I was also the first energy broker to sell an electricity contract to a downtown office building in the AEP Ohio territory post deregulation circa 2009 - 2010.

So, how did I get past my age? My phone skills have allowed me to stay behind the scenes and sell decision makers 1.5 to 2.0 times my age.

Using the phone to get past my age allowed me to turn my age into an advantage. Like many millennials, I have strong research and analytical skills. However, unlike most millennials, I use these skills towards the acquisition of market data.

He who has the best market intelligence wins, just as - in warfare - he who knows his enemy (the competition), knows himself (his business, his capabilities) and knows the terrain (the marketplace, the customer, the industry, the needs, the problems, the solutions, etc) will never be in peril.

I use the gifts of youth - my skillz with the internetz - to find the best lists, information on corporate and business players.

I use advanced technology to run circles around ordinary salespeople. Most salespeople don't use a dialer; they pick up the phone, and make the calls manually. This only wastes time. If salesguy A and salesgirl B are both equal in skill, talent and work ethic, and salesguy A dials manually while salesgirl B uses a dialer, then salesgirl B will outperform salesguy A by 300%. Period.

For anyone trying to 10X their sales efforts, using a dialer is an obvious way to get a quick 3X boost.

Using dialers and advanced research reflects a millennial mindset, working smarter and not harder.

The phone sales game is a simple numbers game. The more calls you make, the more leads you get, the fatter your pipeline fills, and then it's a matter of your closing ratio.

In mastering the phone, I mastered the most powerful sales tool in the universe. The phone is the way to force your way into the marketplace, and make people listen to your message.

 

[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

 

[jockinbox]

from my previous posts related to sales

Cost Vs Value: How to price & pitch your products
Interesting question came up today on the forums developed a incredible software that solves a huge need but had a problem regarding pricing & how to pitch to hospitals (b2b)

There's 3 things to consider here: savings, reputation, market

1) Savings
Let's say your product solves a problem that will save your customer 10k a month. If your product cost 11k a month, you won't get any sales because they will be bleeding 1k a month. If you sell your solution at 1k a month, you miss out on a lot of money that could be profit.
So the solution is here is to get as close to the 10k you save the clients while still making them want to switch.

This applies to a lot of service business models like insurance. Suppose someone wants a quote on their car and they pay 200/m & your company can provide the same for only 100/m. From a sales perspective you should get as close to the 200/m while still providing enough savings for your client to switch. Maybe they'll switch for 180/m and you just sold 80 dollars more of product, which means more perspective value, higher retention rate, more satisfied clients, better referrals.

2) Reputation
So let's assume that you are a personal trainer and charge on a per session basis. You get a client that wants to lose weight/gain muscle. He/she starts off and quits 3 weeks later. As a trainer you know a transformation will take at least 12 weeks to get to where they want to be but you allowed the client to work with you without a contract. Now the client goes on FB and tells everyone you're a shitty personal trainer because you didn't them results. You just missed out on a lot of potential clients because of this negative publicity
Instead the trainer should have pitched this as a 3 month deal with 60% upfront and then when the client finishes the 12 week program he'll see the results he wants & refer you some more fat people.
Mike is just starting to sell his product, the LAST thing he wants is a hospital network saying they didn't see savings using product. Now if he gets them on a 1-2 year contract, demonstrates savings, they will be RAVING about him/his product.
Eventually Mike will have to deal with copy cats since software is easy to reverse engineer, but he'll have reviews on his side. Nobody is gonna want to take a shot with the new kid on the block when Mikey's got the market cornered. Figure out how long it'll take to convert your sales into costumers and make this the minimum. Anything else you're wasting your time
If it takes a year for the hospitals to see savings, Mike should be pitching as a 60k product not a 4k a month product.

3) Market (n/a to mike)
Who do you want to target? Better yet, who do you want to deal with? Do you want to deal with 100 low end clients or 5 high end clients? Once you find out who you want to target it gets so much easier. The personal trainer that only trains celebrities and athletes banks, vs the the trainer that trains your average Joe could be living paycheck to paycheck. The shoe company that sells $30 shoes has to sell 1000 to make 30k, the shoe company that sells $250 shoes only needs to sell 120.

Some random tips in no particular order about selling b2b from my experiences
When selling to a business they only care about 3 things: increased sales, cutting costs, and higher conversion.
Give yourself value, don't bend over backwards for them. Make them chase you.
Tell them their competitors are interested in your product or have already purchased your product
Be willing to prove your product firsthand
Make it hard for them to say no
Make them think about what you want them to think about (the problem your product solves)
Don't try to sell them on the first meeting
Ask questions, make improvements, rinse & repeat

How to hire 'unlimited' sales reps
"I'm looking to hire some sales guys to make outbound calls to my customers to sell a high priced training package. Commissions per sale are high. Does anyone have any recommendations on where I can go to find good sales guys for this? I'm sure someone on here has done this before. What is your method for finding these people?"

It's always cheaper to do salary + commission from a business perspective.
1-you can hire better talent
People with sales exp usually feel entitled to salary, I don't blame them
2-less of a turnover rate
They don't feel like their wasting their time. If you go 5 days without a sale you'll most likely quit, where as if you had salary you have motivation to stay.
3-less commission per sale means more profitability while giving you more room to incentivize

Here's the formula I've used to hire new reps & maintain profitability

How often do you expect a sale
How much is the profit per sale

Let's say you make about 1000 profit per sale & expect to close 1 every 2 days average

Salary + Commission
$15hr X 16 hours=240+200 commission = 440

You'd have to dish out at LEAST 60%
So $600 a sale MINIMUM, in my experience if reps are commission only they usually want 60-100% of the profit

Everyone always worries about hiring salary & them not performing, fire them, problem solved. Remember, salary is the "safety" & "security" slow lane folks crave. Give them what they want & make money off that too!

So where do we find said reps? Well @ $15 an hour you shouldn't have too much of a problem since that's well above minimum wage but here's some ideas

Craigslist usually $25 per job post
Monster/indeed/the ladders: very expensive per job post
Recruiting: you can look into recruiting sales reps from: wireless stores, retail locations, best buy, etc. These cats are usually making close to minimum wage with "commissions" idk what the hell some of the companies mean by that (my first ever sales job @ a retail location I made a whopping 0.25 commission off a $100 sale, on top of my glorious minimum wage salary)

Also, don't try to mess with this formula, if you can afford to pay your people more DO IT. Don't be greedy it's gonna bite you in the a$$. I had a friend who worked for a wireless company & most of them working there were making $8 an hour and bs commissions (I also heard a rumor they would hold pay checks) Needless to say they all left and the company went bust a year later. If you have talent, invest in them, champion them. You have no idea how many sales jobs I've held in the past & I've literally quit on the first day because the commission structure was bullshit.

You can also hire kids straight out of high school that are hungry and get someone to train them. This usually works well since 18 year olds have girlfriends and POS hondas they wanna buy parts for.

Getting referrals and a simple trick to boost retention, earnings, and profitability without spending much time/money
Do you know what the best time to ask for referrals is? Its right after you make a sale. Don't take no for an answer. This script is setup for a positive answer since the previous questions are affirmative

Mr. Customer thanks you for letting me earn your business today, how satisfied are you with the service I've provided you?
blah blah
Great, I'm happy I was able to exceed your expectations today, would you recommend my work to someone?
blah blah
Terrific, do you know anyone who needs this product/service?
yes=you know what to do
no=well I would love to talk with the first person that came to your mind. Who did you think about when I asked that?


Dale Carnegie's salesperson of the year was Jeoffrey Gitomer and he says he would rather have 100 existing customers than 1000 leads. Over the years, society has shyed away from being aggressive in sales, but he still makes a valid point. It's so much easier to sell to someone who already knows you/trust you. It's important to always follow up with you people you didnt close, but its even more important to follow up with those you did. Keep that relationship warm. Dont sell somebody something and then 14 months later ask them to buy something else if you havent followed up.

Here's an exercise I'm using with my current contract to improve retention/boost sales

Think of 5-15 customers that made you the most money last month and write them a quick thank you note and follow up by phone 3 days later. Every month do this with the previous months. It should take about 2-3 hours a month and you will see immediate improvement. The conversation should NOT be about sales but something else entirely. Ask them how they like your product, what they wish it did, recommendations, pros/cons, etc.

You will blow your competition out of the water. What was the last time you got a call or a thank you note from a product you purchased?
Only the very successful companies do this. Verizon Wireless, is critical on the follow up process.

Over time, your retention will be higher among the more profitable customers customers and you will lose the dramatic, time consuming, productivity killing customers that barely make you money.

 

[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

 

[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

 

[z6Evolved]

I got a question for you.

I sell home security systems over the phone. 12 hours a day 6 days a week I'm dialing leads non stop.

Hi John? My name is X I'm with Y, I'm not calling you to sell you anything haha, I have some good news for you, you have taken a brief survey over the phone a while back, it was about Z, you remember that right?

That's the first line in the script. 90% of people hang up quickly and/or just angry in general.

I don't HAVE to go buy the script exactly, I can say basically whatever I want. Its commission only. I convince the leads to sign a 3 year contract and pay the monthly monitoring fee.

I don't think I'm that good on the phone and never get any training, even though my "numbers" are good. I want to be doing much better. I've been looking at books about selling over the phone, it's tough to tell which book would actually be worth buying.

Do you have any good references to send me to or any advice would be great. Thank you.

I sell exclusively over the phone and I'm damn good at it (as you can tell I'm both humble and modest about my skillset.) I'm actually transitioning from doing to teaching right now so I figured I'd pop in and throw out some general advice. If there's anything specific you were struggling with, I'd be happy to try helping with that too.

Never, ever, ever, ever EVER start with saying "I'm not trying to sell anything!" You most certainly are. They KNOW you are. This just makes them think that, through the power of their own assumption, that you're a liar and not to be trusted.

10 seconds into the call is not a good place for that to happen, naturally.

Most of the big "sales trainers" who work with cold calling specifically suggest that you do the opposite. I don't do any cold calling anymore (thank the gods for that) but I can tell you what worked for me, and what I've seen work for others.

Start simple: "Hey, is this (name)? This is (your name) from (your company) - is this a bad time?" If they say yes, which they might, ask when a better time is. Or just be real and say "I know, I get it, when is it ever really a good time? But if you've got two minutes to spare..." If they ask you to call back, do it. They might not answer but if they do there's a much better chance of them hearing you out.

If they say they're not busy, great. You've got maybe 30-ish seconds to qualify why you're calling, why they should listen, and hook them into a conversation. If you need an example of how not to do this, I recommend this clip from boiler room:

Actually that's a great example of how not to make calls in general haha

So they say "nah it's fine I got a minute, whats up?" and where most people mess up is with broad generalizations like "I have a great offer for you!" or "I've got a product that can change your life!" They say nothing and people don't care. You need to get in there quick and make a point and get them interested.

"(name), I'm a home security specialist and I've worked in the past with many people in your community to help them improve their home security. From what we've seen in the area, most people are really concerned about (hot button topic 1) or (hot button topic 2). Which if these is more important to you?"

It's like a soft win-win close, because even though you're not asking for a sale you're asking for a commitment on their behalf to get them to admit they're concerned about something. Doesn't matter much what it is. Just make sure they're relevent topics for your product, like "the rising number of break ins in (whatever city)" or "the possiblity of home invasions". I don't know your industry, you'll know this better than I would.

Once they pick a topic, ask them why that's important to them. Let them expand on it. That just solidifies their position as caring. This way when they say "no" or "I need to think about it" to your close later, you can hit them with "I know you told me that (topic) was something that really concerns you because of (reason) and (reason) - this is the perfect solution for that because of (benefit). Let me help you by..."

A lot of people are just going to hang up within the first half minute though, honestly. That's the nature of the game. The difference between the closers and the quitters tends to be who can laugh off the hangups and the people who just curse at you for no reason. If you can let that shit slide, and keep dialing, you'll eventually get paid. But increasing the percentage of people who hear your pitch, and you get a chance to actually close, that's going to make it much easier for you to keep your sanity.

Hope some of that helped, and if it was too much of a ramble let me know and I'll try to make it more compact.

Could you recommend any books that helped you out when along the way?

Saw this pop up and wanted to recommend a few. Influence by Robert Cialdini and BrainScripts by Drew Eric Whittman. Read his book Ca$hvertising too if you have the time, it was a game changer for me when I was doing marketing/advertising and a lot of the basic ideas translate to sales on some level.

 

[Andy Black]

Worth a bump. There's been lots of sales related questions and threads lately.

@jockinbox hasn't logged in for a few months, but there's still a lot of great content in here already.


We're ALL sales people one way or another.

Getting your kids to brush their teeth is selling.

Getting someone to believe in themselves and take action is selling.

Convincing yourself to change what you're doing is selling.

 

[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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[z6Evolved]

Thanks for the response.

Yeah I've watched all the sales movies countless times. Not much actionable advice though.

"I'm not here to sell you anything haha" I've never liked that line but my boss wants us to say that it's in the script. I've always disliked it strictly for the reason you said and my boss says it and he's "the best" so I say it once in a while.

You're tip on qualifying the customer first, finding out what they're concerned with, I like that a lot and it's not something I've actually done yet.

I always just say my name my company why I'm calling and explaining the service. I usually get 1-2 sales a day. If I could get even 1 more a day it could double my income.

What are your thoughts on exact tonality when pitching? I'm talking real specifics.

I don't stress about tonality - not into NLP or using voodoo to sell haha. It's about how you come across. I hate to quote Jordan Belfort but his whole thing is that within the first few seconds of starting the conversation you need to make sure they know that you're (and I'm quoting here) "Sharp as a tack, Enthusiastic as hell, and an authority or force to be reckoned with." Guy is a douchebag but it's true. You want them to know you're excited (but not excited to the point where you sound creepy or like you're trying to steal their pension), that you've been doing this forever, that you're on top of your game and a professional to boot. It's all about building their confidence in you.

Instead of tone worry about cleaning up your speech. No "ums" or "uhhs". Don't hesitate or pause. Answer them confidently and quickly, but not immediately. That makes it seem like you're bullshitting. Pause for a second - let them think you're mulling it over - then hit them with the response. We call that the "pause for the cause" for some dumb reason, but it works.

Match their tone and pace while they talk. Try to bring them up slightly if they're real low. If they're real quiet and slow, meet them near there and move toward more enthusastic and slightly faster. If they change their pace and tone you're golden. If not, try to stay near matching but always a little more optimistic, a little happier, a little more confident. Again, that's how you build their trust in you.

Selling over the phone puts you at a disadvantage because you can't use the normal salesman's arsenal like body language, facial expressions, nice clothing, etc. But the upside (in my opinion) is that I can close a 5 figure deal wearing jeans and a t-shirt and the guy on the other end of the line pictures me in a three piece suit. That's the mental image they'll get of you if you come across as knowledgeable, helpful, an expert and a true professional.

The days of the sleazy used car salesman are dead, and anyone who doesn't realize that and move forward will eventually be out of work. I read an article from Edmunds the other day about how so many dealerships are moving to a lower pressure no haggle sales staff that suddenly the "old guard" of used car dealers went into real estate towards 2008-2009, and after the market fell out they all went into selling mattresses of all things. High pressure, price-pumping commission based sales, I guess. Who knows. But the people who are making bank in the car industry, and in most "real" sales positions, are taking a new approach towards sales. You need to be an expert in your field, and come across as helpful instead of pushy. I never liked the "old school sales tricks" they used to teach us because they're gimmicky. "Say OK a lot to get them to agree to anything!" or "say their name 10 times in the first 5 minutes to guarantee the sale!" Sure, man. Let me know how that works.

Know your product, know your customer base. Qualify the customer. If the product will help them and it's a good fit, it will sell itself once you show them that connection. If it's a bad fit all you're doing is reaching in their wallet and taking their money. You'll have an unhappy customer, which makes for an unhappy boss, which makes for an unhappy you when there's no commissions coming in. I really started to close a lot of sales once I realized that I was less of a "salesman" and more of a "problem solver". My customers have problems, my employer offers solutions. My job is to dig out the problem from the customer (especially since they almost never want to tell me what it is) and then show them how XYZ product can make their life better and solve that problem. When you think about it that way it's a lot easier to close people because you feel like you're honestly helping them, and they don't feel like they're being sold to because it's more like a trusted friend guiding them toward a solution to an issue they're having.

 

[Ubermensch]

Bestow me with your knowledge on dialers, please.

Would you rather use your cellphone and a laptop, or would you prefer to use a VOIP system?

Personally, I prefer the cellphone-and-laptop setup, because you can use this tool anywhere: In your home office or on the beach, in Texas or in Tijuana, in California or in the Caribbean. You only need an Internet connection and cell phone service to make this work.

Should I code the dialer myself? Should I have someone do it for me or buy it?

Just buy it. It's not complicated at all. Very simple.

You shouldn't spend anymore than $150 - $200 per month on a dialer.

Just buy it, set it up, and it will start making calls for you. Simply import your call list in spreadsheet format.

Upload the list, and you literally click a button that says "start dialing," or something to that effect (depends on which platform/software you subscribe to).

To connect to the dialer, the system will provide you with a number to call into. If you use your cell phone to make sales calls (as I do), you call that number with your cell, and you - viola! - you just 3X'd your prospecting.

Once you begin using the dialer, you will never have to manually dial another phone number; you will never have to listen to another phone ring; you will never have to listen to a client's or prospect's voice mail.

People don't dread cold calls; they dread the monotony. They dread the downtime, the wasted time - the time spent dialing, listening to phone rings, and leaving voice mails - the time not spent actually speaking to potential or actual clients and customers.

Sales gurus have written entire books on the concept of call reluctance. Books on Amazon.com discussing the subject of call reluctance include:

Call Reluctance: Lose The Negative Feelings Keeping You From the Success You Deserve

The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance

How I Conquered Call Reluctance, Fear of Self-Promotion, & Increased My Prospecting

From Hello To Yes in 3 Minutes Or Less: How to Overcome Call Reluctance Know Exactly What to Say and Avoid Rejection When Using the Telephone as a Network Marketing Professional

Frank Rambaskas has sold 50,000 by tapping into the sales community's deep aversion to cold calling. However, one of Frank's best "never cold call" recommendations entails hiring others to make the calls for you, an idea @jockinbox mentioned in the OP.

No matter who makes the calls, they should make them with a dialer if they want to be 300% more efficient than the person not using the dialer.

People don't dread talking to potential customers; they dread the mind-numbingly boring hours spent listening to voice mails, listening to phone rings, busy signals and leaving voice mails.

Anyone in sales knows about how momentum affects a salesperson's mentality. When you close a deal, get a hot lead, or have any kind of conversation that could and should lead to real business, you get a rush of excitement, a sense that you can do it again. A dialer generates a phenomenal amount of momentum, allowing you to immediately move on to the next exciting conversation.

Where should I start?

Is it just you making calls, or do you have a team?

 

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[Ubermensch]

Hey man.

I tried the cold emailing thing and I get the feeling people don't take me seriously.

Would you agree that hitting the phones is the best thing still?:

Do you take your own hustle seriously? I ask, because you can't expect others to take you seriously if you don't take your own hustle seriously.

I have no idea what you're selling. I bet the prospects you call have the same felling, as evidenced by the fact that a prospect you called sounded confused.

You have to KNOW that what you're selling provides serious value to the prospect. You have to know it and believe it the way a religious zealot believes in his holy scriptures. You need to memorize your script the way a monk knows his religious text. You won't get all hung up - or hung up on - once you have the conviction and knowledge that comes from preparation and immersion.

 

[JaxAttacks]

Sell me this pen

 

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[Ubermensch]

Thank you for the feedback!
Not that many emails unfortunately. I definitely need to be sending out more emails. I'm actually terrified of speaking on the phone especially cold calls. I had a phone call chat with one client that I secured but I was kind of a nervous wreck and surprised I even got the sale. I remember I was mumbling my prices when he asked me because I was so nervous lol. I guess this is something I will have to overcome. I kind of fell off of the bandwagon last week focusing on producing good work and delivering it quickly to the first client rather than trying to procure more clients. Its my fault and I feel ashamed for not being productive.

How do you suggest I follow up with leads that expressed some interest? A quick short email like

"Hey, its so and so

I'm just following up to see if you had any more questions or concerns in regards to helping your website bring in more business?

Best Regards,

XX "

Do you suggest I cold email them and then try to get them on the phone as quickly as possible? I'm going to have to prepare some sort of script so I don't sound like an idiot on the phone again. Do you also suggest I follow up with leads that won't silence after I gave them my price?

I also suspect like you suggested that my emails are too long on my responses. I'm going to have to find a way to shorten this down.

I forgot to mention, its holiday season right now. Do you think it matters whether I follow up now or wait until new years? I don't want to seem I'm pestering them over the holidays when they are on vacation.

@Thiago Machado Never got back to this guy.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

SPIN selling applies here.

You won't be "nervous" speaking with clients once you're in flow. Once you start selling, and closing, you'll see that the game is the same each time.

Introduce yourself (get their attention FAST, and get their implicit or explicit agreement to give you 5 minutes of their time).

Ask questions. Shut up, and listen.

 

[healthstatus]

Wanna sell for me?

 

[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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[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.

 

[jockinbox]

As a matter of fact I'm dead serious. You said you can sell. You said to ask you how to sell. Plenty of people may have that question. What is so hard to believe about that question? I'd benefit from your answer, you asked me to ask you.

Seems like a troll question since you didnt bother reading the first page & you wouldve found your answer there

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

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

Learn who your customers are & make your product better suited to them

Engrave you & your brand in their mind

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.

Also seems like a troll because I cant change the price? Why can't I raise the price on my product?

If you are serious how you do it
1. Brand product
2. Raise price to 149-199
3. Make YouTube Videos demonstrating your product and put videos on your website
4. Buy twitter ads to kick off
5. Adwords (adwords will favor you because youve developed a brand and people are more likely because they recognize you from twitter ads, which increases your CTR which decreases your CPC)
6. Reinvest heavily
7. Bankrupt everyone else

 

[jockinbox]

Thanks for doing that. This thread is full of good advice.
I am about to launch a marketing campaign for my lead generation website so on one side I plan to contact the professionals through a cold email series and on the other side, I am planning on setting up Facebook ads for the customers.
Could have I your view about what I plan to do and how you would go about it if you had to do it yourself?

On the professional side
Cold Calling might work better, be sure to have some references ready to go. Also niche down as much as possible, its impossible to compete against LeadsUSA unless you niche down (I know I tried LOL)

Script something like:

Heading: Do you know the #1 reason businesses (replace with niche like Surgeon, Agent, Doctors, etc) fail?

Hi (name)
I'm the (owner/manager/ceo/top dog) at XXXX & for years we've been helping (surgeons,agents,doctors) like yourself succeed in their business. We've learned many things a long the way & I wanted to share some of this info with you.

Let me know if you'd be interested in getting this exclusive content for FREE

Yours truly,
Cleiver V

Second email

Hi (name)

Here's the link to my article: xxx.com/case-study

Cheers,
Cleiver V

P.S I'll follow up with you in a week, whats the best number/time to reach you?

make a simple webpage talking about how businesses fail because of lack of business and what your company does (be vague, but intriguing)

Once you get them on the phone your home free bro

tips of cold email
-use advantage of making up people in the company (john@xx.com, tony@xx.com)
-goal of first email is to get a response
-look at the guide i posted above with a link

Again, cold call is gonna be much easier since all business owners wanna make $$$$$$$$$

The leads is gonna be the harder part

again catchy copy
and listen to this https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ow-to-kick-a$$-with-facebook-marketing.48920/

hope that helps, anything else just ask

 

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[jockinbox]

Hey brother thanks for all the likes I appreciate it!!

Let's dive right in

Would you advise to stick with the follow up calls to get a better hang of it, learn a bit more, really get a hang of it, and THEN hire for it? Or just hire an appointment setter ASAP?

It takes a special kind of person to be successful at cold call...you have to be friendly, understandable, wont take no for an answer, have a good phone system/quiet place to call. There's a pretty big learning curve for learning how to cold call, but theres also a big learning curve on learning to pitch & close. So what i recommend is

Find where you are strongest (me personally I can pitch & close all day long)
Outsource everything else ( I HATE cold calling, yeah I said it, sue me. But guess what cold callers are a dime a dozen )
Do what you do best, after a while you'll realize you can hire someone to help you and you can technically be in two places at once
Rinse & Repeat

I've had little success in getting these calls to leads to consultations where I then sell based on their problems, pains and desires.

Once you get them on the phone ask them for a meeting not a sale
Remember a big ongoing sale like that will take anywhere from 5-12 meetings (including discover, pitch & follow up)

Any questions feel free to ask

 

[GuestUser113]

Could you recommend any books that helped you out when along the way?

I believe @jockinbox read a lot of Grant Cardone books. @z6Evolved mentioned some good books. I recently read Influence: The Psychology of persuasion. It was a really good book imo.

 

[Formless]

"I'm not here to sell you anything haha"

I never say it because it raises bullshit alarms. 'If you're not trying to sell (get commitment) then why would you be calling me?'

We live in the post-insurance scam era, people are weary. You can close, but don't lie, their radars are highly sensitive.

 

[mrsilva]

I suppose I'll just continue to hog this thread since no one else asks sales questions =P

I had an interview at Toyota for sales today, the guy had 22 interviews and chose 8 people to start training.

I was one of the 8 people to be selected, I start training Wed. I really do not want to mess this up, its not fastlane at all but it's an extremely good oppurtunity for the mean time. All the sales associates there make 70k+ a few make 6 figures. Always room for management, thats what they want, managers make 150k.

Im used to makeing 200-400 dollars a week. Most sales jobs suck and are a complete dead end. This is much much better.

Question: Anyone work for a major dealership selling cars? What can I expect? Any tips for me before I go into training? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I will throw some advice and insides about this industry. Just for reference I worked at Honda, Lamborghini and multi-brands dealerships. Today I am still selling cars for a living on the side.

Is a great way to start on the sales industry. Few points:

- 100% commission. That means you need to sell, everyday, all day. ABC my friend. ALWAYS BE CLOSING.
- Extremely competitive. If you stay on this dealer or industry for a while you will see many people coming and going. Is very hard to get used to long hours, work saturday's, sunday's and holidays. Expect 50+ hours per week.
- Pay attention to your Pay Plan. I've worked for flat rates (U$250 per car), 20%, 30% commission of profit. At the beginning is usually low. With experience you can request a raise. Take advantage of bonus and spiffs.
- Learn a lot about sales. Grant Cardone is a reference into car sales industry.
- I would prefer to work for a large scale dealer and popular brands (Toyota, Honda, Ford). In Florida the number one dealer for Hondas was Rick Case, over 250 cars per month. More salespeople, but a lot walk-in traffic. You just need to be quick and attack every opportunity. Make tons of phone calls (50-100 per day).
- Guys making U$70-100k a year usually live there. Means they spend a lot of hours, have 10+ years of experience and have a great customer list.
- Always dress nicely, never crazy color shirts or ties. Nice and short hair cut. Hygiene always!

Some guys sell a lot of cars because they are "nice", some because know a lot technical info... I used to be a mix between the nice guy, and because I love cars I could explain many features.

After some years... Did I learn a lot? Yes. Do I regret? No. Would I work at a dealer again? I don't think so.

Today I control the buying, fixing and selling. I control the price, my time... is different and is probably the only reason I keep doing.

Good luck!