Undeleted - How to break into sales & never go hungry?

[welshmin]

@Thiago Machado We should talk about this.

Answer to thread: Start selling for a company that has already produced revenue, preferably at least $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year.

Find the fastest growing companies in a specific region - companies doing $1,000,000 - $20,000,000 in revenue - and use Linkedin.com to find the identify of their head recruiter in sales.

Ask about the margins in the game.

Ask about business development agreements.

Aim for industries in which you can land $5,000 - $10,000 minimum paydays for landing clients, with the potential for $100,000+ paydays for larger clients.

Aim for the big industries: Energy, construction, tech, healthcare, etc.

Uber, cheers for replying to the thread mate. This is some primo advice. I actually got a feel for it earlier in the interview/conversation you posted on the forum recently in three parts. Listening to rainmaker this morning too. Some parts have already clicked with big "ah-ha" moments.

Would you say cutting my teeth on high volume telemarketing would be a good way to hone the skills first?
I can see my way to doing this web dev referral work to making 50k or so very reasonably, with the possibility of 100k with the right kind of upsells, this is a very realistic number and I think can be expanded greatly. This is while still working my part time job. My thinking is that i'll nail down the fundamentals of selling this way then dive into the next level shit soon after (sooner if I really nail it).

This is coming from zero sales experience.

 

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[OVOvince]

Uber, cheers for replying to the thread mate. This is some primo advice. I actually got a feel for it earlier in the interview/conversation you posted on the forum recently in three parts. Listening to rainmaker this morning too. Some parts have already clicked with big "ah-ha" moments.

Would you say cutting my teeth on high volume telemarketing would be a good way to hone the skills first?
I can see my way to doing this web dev referral work to making 50k or so very reasonably, with the possibility of 100k with the right kind of upsells, this is a very realistic number and I think can be expanded greatly. This is while still working my part time job. My thinking is that i'll nail down the fundamentals of selling this way then dive into the next level shit soon after (sooner if I really nail it).

This is coming from zero sales experience.

that recording was made for people with ZERO sales experience aka robot noobs like us.

i've gotten started since that recording has came out, re-watched the recordings like 4-5 times already, and have googled any sort of concept i didnt understand or anything that i thought was implied. im already in contact with a high management personnel in a company that is explosively growing in my area, and he is willing to talk to me aka discuss an agreement. since then ive been researching endless stuff and preparing for a journey of dominating that industry's market share as soon as I get the contracts signed. if we don't agree, ill just find the next company, and so on. get to work man, dont let intimidation make you settle for becoming a sales rep at footlocker, ive been there and it sucks a$$.

all the skills we need come from doing it. if you want to know how to sell at a high level, read those books Uber mentioned. ive ordered them, they still haven't come in so i found summaries online which will work for now until i read the whole thing WHILE I SELL.

I think you should go over that soundcloud page again.

 

[welshmin]

that recording was made for people with ZERO sales experience aka robot noobs like us.

i've gotten started since that recording has came out, re-watched the recordings like 4-5 times already, and have googled any sort of concept i didnt understand or anything that i thought was implied. im already in contact with a high management personnel in a company that is explosively growing in my area, and he is willing to talk to me aka discuss an agreement. since then ive been researching endless stuff and preparing for a journey of dominating that industry's market share as soon as I get the contracts signed. if we don't agree, ill just find the next company, and so on. get to work man, dont let intimidation make you settle for becoming a sales rep at footlocker, ive been there and it sucks a$$.

all the skills we need come from doing it. if you want to know how to sell at a high level, read those books Uber mentioned. ive ordered them, they still haven't come in so i found summaries online which will work for now until i read the whole thing WHILE I SELL.

I think you should go over that soundcloud page again.

Will go over it again man, cheers. I've read rainmaker and am working on SPIN now. I think i'm still going to get started in the telemarketing side. I can solo rep, all I need to do is get hot referrals not even close the sale, and can work it part-time. I think it's a great intro.

But, i'll reduce my testing time from my planned year+ to 3 months. Three months, hit it HARD then start lining up some work with the big dogs in town.

My next day off is Friday, I will break the barrier and make those first calls, then just let momentum take over.

Or are you saying F* it, go straight to the big dogs with no experience? Would the telemarketing be a waste of time? That's what I am trying to decide.

 

[OVOvince]

Will go over it again man, cheers. I've read rainmaker and am working on SPIN now. I think i'm still going to get started in the telemarketing side. I can solo rep, all I need to do is get hot referrals not even close the sale, and can work it part-time. I think it's a great intro.

But, i'll reduce my testing time from my planned year+ to 3 months. Three months, hit it HARD then start lining up some work with the big dogs in town.

My next day off is Friday, I will break the barrier and make those first calls, then just let momentum take over.

Or are you saying F* it, go straight to the big dogs with no experience? Would the telemarketing be a waste of time? That's what I am trying to decide.

before that recording, i was applying to various sales jobs on craigslist. now, im going to go try to play with the big dawgs and waste no other time. i don't see why it would be a waste of time, if anything it would just expedite your learning curve

but its your call at the end of the day man

 

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[Ubermensch]

before that recording, i was applying to various sales jobs on craigslist. now, im going to go try to play with the big dawgs and waste no other time. i don't see why it would be a waste of time, if anything it would just expedite your learning curve

but its your call at the end of the day man

@Thiago Machado People talk about Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power often.

Less often, people talk about how to apply such books of strategy to your daily life.

Looking online for sales jobs on Craig's list is the least strategic way to go about getting into sales.

Attack where they do not expect you to attack, like @Silverhawk851 did when he contacted HVAC companies.

Avoid what is strong... do not attack strong points... do not go the expected route. Use indirection to win.

In other words, show up at a trade association conference or monthly meeting, a place where decision-makers will be. Get yourself in a room full of business people, work the room, be polite, ask questions, and seize opportunities with the "right fit."

 

[Ubermensch]

@welshmin Update?

 

[welshmin]

@welshmin Update?

Hey mate,

It's a 1 step back, 2 steps forward type situation. The web development firm I was working with turned out to be some dodgy bastards. They have an awful reputation in the industry and a history of screwing clients over. A large part of the reason I wanted to work with them was because I could up-sell to happy customers once their website was complete. They do not get a lot of happy customers.

Currently, I'm considering other options to sell this stuff, whether white labelling, outsource to freelancers, or finding another agency. There will be plenty of cold calling, email advertising and reputation and brand building. I'm going through a process of refinement in order to better aim my offering towards one focused area.

The two steps forward has come from an agreement I have recently secured to set up a local news website covering my area (300k+ minimum). They have a good history and the manager will produce much of the content for the time being. The advantage to me being cheaper advertising for my own sales. This will launch in June and is expected to hit around 10k views per month. I will have a focus on SMEs in the area and market primarily to them.

I have begun putting together a directory of contacts, currently standing at over 500, that will be used to pre-sell advertising on the website, directory listings and to have them generate content for me. In a short time, we will hit a self-sustaining content generation mode where I will merely have to edit and sell more advertising.

The advantage is that the previous websites are HEAVILY under-monetized, the limitation is I do not have full control.

I'm thinking towards what I can sell in the US too, I am in the process of moving and so haven't had the time I wanted to devote to all of this. I need to get some cash rolling in sooner rather than later. I have meetings with a couple of businesses that I might be able to rep for. One, in particular, is an IT outsourcing company with the average cost per sale of around 70k + ongoing monthly fees. Commission would be around 35%. I am thinking that this could be a good area to focus on. Having built a local reputation and having a history in IT, it could be a natural fit.

Every day I am getting closer, refining and getting more focused. An ongoing process of elimination where I viciously remove unproductive aspects and flighty ideas, I have to continue trimming the fat and find my focus. I have a sales channel being built with cheap advertising and good scalability, now I need to figure out what product to sell via the sales channel and how it can be scaled.

Edit: Just saw Thiago's latest post here - https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...w-about-sales-part-1.67207/page-4#post-535293

HUGE! I will use this method to find US sales and potentially a good local one too. It's funny actually, I've been using a scraper to build my contact list already!

Scraper + Auto Dialer = Win.

 

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[welshmin]

Update:

About to sign a deal to represent a web development company in the US. It's scalable and I can work it at night (I'm in Aus) while working something else during the day (spoken about what I will work on earlier). There's a real opportunity for me here to hit produce enough income in my spare time to fully cover my families living expenses and then some. It will take a little bit of time to grow, but every new customer will add.

Best of all, it's monthly commission. I will get that same commission cheque, for each customer, every month. Hopefully for a while. It's a snowball, it'll start with one customer, then another, then another, until I start hitting 6 figures a year. That's not something I ever thought I would realistically see.

This is what I've needed. This is huge. It isn't fast lane, but it will help me work on my sales skills and in a short time, quit my job if I am still unhappy with it. Or continue working it and the sales for the time being. The point is I will have the freedom to choose.

Once I begin, I will circle in fat red marker a date on the calendar to make a decision whether or not to stay in my day job. Then the real work begins,

 

[welshmin]

Quickly learning how badly you need C for Control (CENTS). Very frustrating.

Also cold calling freaking sucks, but it definitely works. Take heart and dial on fella's.

 

[Thiago Machado]

Also cold calling freaking sucks, but it definitely works. Take heart and dial on fella's.

haha, tell us more about this...

 

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[welshmin]

haha, tell us more about this...

I've only started selling recently, fair enough. But out of email marketing, face2face and cold calling, the phone definitely has the highest ROI so far.

I can see email marketing being better long term, and door knocking being better for insta-sales. But for introductions, appointment setting and closing, you really can live off a laptop and a phone.

So why doesn't everyone do it? Cause it hurts. It's extremely disheartening to get rejected within 5 seconds again and again, or to call the hundredth person and get the hundredth no. But it's also the fastest, slickest, easiest way to qualify leads. You'll know very quickly if its a no or a could-be-yes. Don't waste time on the former. The phone gives you access to essentially the full population. You don't need to waste time on the maybes and the no's.

 

[458]

As much as I would love that, as a 23-year-old with an arts degree and a background in finance, it might be too much of a leap. Or do you think there's a way around that? The idea of being a PM had occurred to me and does seem very interesting. There's usually alot of corporate bullshit behind that too though. Which I am trying to avoid.

It's called sales, confidence, and fake it until you make it.

Right now I'm working on a project where I had to assemble a board of 8 individuals deep with an average age of 55-60 and convince them were gonna take this shit public with a billion dollar market cap. I'm 27 and they all eat that shit up. Sell em the dream and quit being a little bitch.

 

[welshmin]

It's called sales, confidence, and fake it until you make it.

Right now I'm working on a project where I had to assemble a board of 8 individuals deep with an average age of 55-60 and convince them were gonna take this shit public with a billion dollar market cap. I'm 27 and they all eat that shit up. Sell em the dream and quit being a little bitch.

Yeah cheers man, there's been alot of progress since back then. But thanks for the advice.

Betting you're a fan of Dan Pena?

 

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[axiom]

It all really comes down to which is more important to you: success or comfort.

If the answer is success, you'll do what it takes to succeed in sales because it sure as he'll isn't comfortable.

If the answer is comfort... What are you doing here?

 

[welshmin]

It all really comes down to which is more important to you: success or comfort.

If the answer is success, you'll do what it takes to succeed in sales because it sure as he'll isn't comfortable.

If the answer is comfort... What are you doing here?

You're absolutely right about that, and it's something I still struggle with every time I click "call".

I have to fight myself every day to kick my a$$ into gear instead of sitting on the couch. But it's slowly getting easier as momentum builds.

This might be one of the biggest reasons most people don't become entrepreneurs or salesmen (or just half-a$$ it). Because they don't have a boss forcing you to do what needs to be done. You don't have a teacher setting a due date, there is no deadline. There is only you and the force of your will that is created entirely within your own body and mind.

It all relies on you pushing yourself.

I had a debbie downer day yesterday @axiom but you've given me a kick in the a$$. Cheers mate