Sales As A Service

[Vilox]

This is one of the objections you only hear in the first few minutes of a conversation. And most of the time they're using it as a pretense to end the conversation early.

Anyway, the solution you're selling should help them achieve their goals. It shouldn't matter whether they already have a guy. You provide value and offer a win-win-deal. Just keep the conversation going. Google's a good resource if you want some canned responses. "We already have a guy / work with your competitor / whatever" is one of the most common objections and has been covered countless times by people a lot more talented than me.

Personally, my method hasn't changed. I go with something like:

That’s great. What do you like best about working with [X]?
​

... and let the conversation flow from there.

 

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[Vilox]

Quick update: I focused completely on the American market since my last post. It’s been more than three months, and the results have been underwhelming at best (compared to where I was before).

Two Issues:
Not playing on the same level
Closing five-figure deals is really, really hard. It’s not been easy in Europe, but it’s been easier. Granted, the fault’s on me with this one.

Maybe it’s due to English not being my native language.

Maybe it’s me making calls in the afternoon (timezone differences) despite being a morning person.

Or maybe I’m just a fish trying to climb a tree.
​

The quality of my leads skyrocketed ever since I got a VA, so the issue has to be on my side.

Trying to climb too high too quickly
I started calling American companies after I had secured a partnership with an amazing partner and a high class design agency. After a while it became apparent that I wasn’t performing on the required level. So I decided to go back to the “lower leagues”.

Because I wanted to make something happen NOW (and because I’m a giant monkey) I reached out to everyone who sent me a proper partnership proposal here on the forums.

I started closing deals regularly again, but naturally I couldn’t accommodate everyone I reached out to.

In summary, I’m back to where I was a few months ago. Except that I tarnished my reputation with a handful of very decent people. I reached out to the affected individuals earlier, but I’d like to apologize publicly as well:

I’m an idiot who bit of more than he could chew. I appreciate you giving me a shot. I’m sorry for wasting your time. And I’ll make it up to you. Promise.​

Going Forward
I’m thinking about getting into a corporate sales career. I just feel like I need help breaking through the plateau I’m currently stuck at. The idea is to help someone grow their company while learning how real professionals conduct their business.

One of the more experienced sales people I stay in contact with suggested that websites aren’t the best high-ticket items to sell. So I might even end up switching products.

Whatever happens, I’ll keep you posted.

Conclusion
This all sounds very grim, but it's not. I still make enough money to live a very comfortable life in the big city. I honestly don’t have any right to complain.

On that note I wish each and every one of you a happy and prosperous new year. Cheers!

 

[Vilox]

Oh boy, already eight months since my last update.

Turns out the most recent hiccup was just that: a hiccup. Here’s a short summary of what has happened so far in 2018:

• My original vision for this whole thing was to bring other Salesmen on board. I did that, and the endeavor failed miserably. Fault’s on me for being too naive.
• Being fairly discouraged, I had a couple thought-provoking conversations with some amazing people, among them our very own @Andy Black (thanks Andy!). I’m terribly afraid of paralysis by analysis, so I always try to keep moving. But in this case, it was really important to take a step back and think about whether I’m still going in the right direction.
• Fast forward to the present: I spend less time on the phone nowadays. Online Sales has become a little bit of an obsession to me. I’m also thinking about working on my ‘real life skills’, by facilitating donations for Charity in the streets or helping out as a car salesman. Yeah, this sounds cheesy. But I’m open for anything as long as I get some face-to-face interactions.
• A nagging thought has turned into a real plan: I want to get involved with either Enterprise Sales or Crypto. I find both wildly fascinating for different reasons. I'll slowly start reaching out to more people over the course of the coming weeks.
• I had my Sales anniversary back in May. Not that I celebrated it, but it’s nice to see how far I've come in just 15 months.

Long story short, I’m probably spreading myself a little bit too thin nowadays. But it’s sustainable, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it. And isn't that the whole point?

Thanks for reading!

 

[KJG]

Oh boy, already eight months since my last update.

Turns out the most recent hiccup was just that: a hiccup. Here’s a short summary of what has happened so far in 2018:

• My original vision for this whole thing was to bring other Salesmen on board. I did that, and the endeavor failed miserably. Fault’s on me for being too naive.
• Being fairly discouraged, I had a couple thought-provoking conversations with some amazing people, among them our very own @Andy Black (thanks Andy!). I’m terribly afraid of paralysis by analysis, so I always try to keep moving. But in this case, it was really important to take a step back and think about whether I’m still going in the right direction.
• Fast forward to the present: I spend less time on the phone nowadays. Online Sales has become a little bit of an obsession to me. I’m also thinking about working on my ‘real life skills’, by facilitating donations for Charity in the streets or helping out as a car salesman. Yeah, this sounds cheesy. But I’m open for anything as long as I get some face-to-face interactions.
• A nagging thought has turned into a real plan: I want to get involved with either Enterprise Sales or Crypto. I find both wildly fascinating for different reasons. I'll slowly start reaching out to more people over the course of the coming weeks.
• I had my Sales anniversary back in May. Not that I celebrated it, but it’s nice to see how far I've come in just 15 months.

Long story short, I’m probably spreading myself a little bit too thin nowadays. But it’s sustainable, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it. And isn't that the whole point?

Thanks for reading!

What a journey!

I'm really in awe of how you choose to handle your fear of cold calling and even started a business on it (and made enough good money)

How is it going in 2022?

 

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