I can prove you’re already great at sales
In this post I’m going to prove that you’re great at sales. Even if you hate sales or don’t like the idea of selling, you’re going to see that you sell ALL the time AND you’re great at it!
It’s not about sales, it’s about enthusiasm
As marketers we feel we’re above sales
Lots of marketers, designers, funnel builders, developers and automation experts tell me that they’re not sales people.
“The entire point of me being in marketing Mike, is because I hate sales”.
Maybe you think sales people are greedy or arrogant. I know I’ve met my share of difficult sales people.
Either you think sales is beneath you, or you believe that your services don’t require sales.
No one likes sales
Is it the selling you don’t like? Or the potential outcomes of sales?
Surely you’re happy when you make a sale. When the income rolls in and people pay you, surely you’re a fan of that.
Maybe it isn’t the sale you don’t like, it’s the rejection, the stigma of “selling” or the hard work.
No one likes being rejected. The difference is that great sales people don’t care about the rejection. It’s not that they aren’t bothered or affected by 100 no’s. They just understand that they have to keep pushing on to get to a “yes”.
Worried that some of your customers or prospects will think you’re selling to them? Does that sound a little tacky? Maybe a bit pushy?
I mean the power is with the customer right? They can decide if they want to buy.
If your marketing and advertising is so good, then you won’t have to sell!
It doesn’t work like that. The reason why, is because you can’t automate a successful sales process and remove yourself from it, when you’re not making sales in the first place.
Even the most desirable products in the world have to be sold to someone.
Your problem is not your sales ability, its your enthusiasm
It isn’t your ability to sell, it’s your enthusiasm for the product. There are things you sell everyday. Even for free.
Every day you make recommendations to friends and family on the products or services you think would suit them.
When was the last time someone posted a question in Facebook about a plugin, or a problem with their email automation. What did you do?
You recommended a product based on your experience, that you had a positive relationship with. You transferred your enthusiasm of the product to that person.
Can you imagine pouring your thoughts and energy into selling a product that you aren’t even paid for?
Some people are so fanatical about products, services and brands that they’ll rant and rave about them all day. People are loyal to products because their choice of product is tied to their identity.
If someone asks for help, we’ll immediately suggest products that could help. We’re confident about those choices because we made the choice to buy it and we’re a smart person. Therefor our product choices and recommendations are deeply tied to our identity.
But all too often we suggest products and even become evangelical about products, that we have no monetary gain for doing so. You could wax lyrical about the Marvel films all day. Telling everyone you meet that they have to see them, and buy the BluRay and the merchandise.
But Marvel is unlikely to start paying you to do so. Unless you’re a big influencer or sponsor-bait.
Sales is about being a slick talker
We can picture a sales person. Big smile, smart suit, fast talker.
“Someone who is great at sales isn’t a professional talker. They’re a professional stalker”
Grant Cardone
The biggest misconception about selling and sales is that you have to talk a lot, talk fast and have an answer to everything.
Great sales people know that remaining quiet, listening and asking questions is 100x more effective.
Yes, there are sales people who will talk non-stop until you submit. But if you’ve bought from them before, you know that you’ll do EVERYTHING you can to avoid talking to them again. Even changing suppliers, just to avoid the barrage of verbal diarrhoea.
Instead, great sales people will leave the customer feeling enlightened, smarter and positive. A great sales person can be quiet, ask the right questions and deliver insight on the customer’s situation.
It’s also a far higher close rate when you act like that.
You’re a natural born sales person
You either have it or you don’t right?
Ever heard a kid or baby talking a lot? Most people will say they’ll make a great sales person.
“Talent” for lack of a better term, is an indication that someone is energised from performing a certain skill. In terms of genetics, the variations between humans to be better at baseball, sales or coding is so negligible that talent absolutely cannot be responsible for high performing sales people.
In fact I always see it as offensive when people talk about natural talent. Because it undermines the years of work, discipline and practice that someone has endured in order to get that good. Talent is an excuse from the lazy, as to why they’re not where they want to be.
I remember being the top insurance sales person for the car hire company I worked at. We were a small branch, but I consistently out-sold almost every other branch myself. Not each member of each branch, the ENTIRE branch.
I was always being labeled a natural sales person. Which really pissed me off. Not a single person ever asked “how are your numbers so high?” because I would have told them.
- I ask questions
- I develop a raport
- I offer the product
- I’m not afraid of rejection
- I’ll push past their first rejection
No one ever asked how I had a process or system, because again they all assumed it was natural talent. Wrong!
It was reading a lot of sales books, I listened to audio programs on sales (this was before podcasts were so ubiquitous) and I did sales training.
I remember getting a job in lead qualification early in my career, heading the UK division of lead gen and qualification for a data company DESPITE having a mediocre degree and no experience in the industry.
I asked why I got the job and it’s because I knew what the acronym for SPIN in Spin Selling was. I beat loads of sales people, from sales roles and sales companies, from similar industries, because I studied sales whereas they got by on being young and charming.
There is no natural sales talent, there is no genetic disposition for selling. You can get better at it. In fact, you’re probably already great at it.
Nothing happens unless someone makes a sale
Absolutely nothing happens in a business until someone makes a sale. It is the be all and end all in running a business.
Everything – EVERYTHING is secondary. Branding, design, customer service, finances, digital. It all costs money and sales brings in every drop of revenue into your business.
Seriously, you need to realise this. 100% of your revenue is derived from closing. 100%. Every single penny of your income is drawn from selling and closing.
But for some reason, we believe that a better website or Facebook page will find us customers.
A simple, low design website with 2 incredible sales letters and lots of phone calls will outperform a great looking, well designed site with no sales actions 1000:1.
Embrace sales or your business will die.
Prices will keep getting lower
The reason it’s so important to get good at sales now, is because prices will continue to drop for our services.
Marketing funnels, automation, sales automation. It’s all becoming commoditised and eventually, machines and AI will pretty much do all the leg work.
As the value of our money decreases every day, businesses that thrive will be those who embrace sales and commit to selling their services (I get the name of the business now!).
Even the pros hate cold calling and prospecting
That’s not to say that every sales person has embraced this. The fastest way to get a sales person to stop talking, is to put a phone in front of them.
I’m staggered at the number of sales people who I train or work with, who hate cold-calling and prospecting.
It LITERALLY is their job, but they hate doing it.
Rejection is the reason. They hate rejection like everyone else.
But people who make BANK, who make sales seemingly easily, are those who accept rejection as part of the process.
It’s not against their character, it isn’t rejecting them. It’s rejecting that offer at that time. Get up, move on.
You’re already great at sales (even if you hate it)
How do we discover our great sales person, deep within us?
I want you to remember this phrase through this entire exercise.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
Sales is a transfer of enthusiasm.
If I’m looking for a new TV show or movie, what should I watch?
I’m in a conversation with you, either over Facebook or in person. Or I’m searching Google and a few blogs on what TV shows I should start watching. Before you start making recommendations, you’re going to do one thing first.
What are you going to do first?
You’re going to ask questions about what I like. What kinds of genres, what other TV shows or movies. Are there actors that I like. What platforms am I watching on?
Your expertise in this area is defined by the questions that you ask.
“Are you on Netflix or Amazon Prime? Do you like horror TV shows? Have you seen all the Marvel films? Are you watching with your partner or kids?”
The more you know what I like, the better an idea you’ll have on what I should watch.
I’m going to invest dozens of hours into this series and I want to make sure it’s good.
I’m interested in sci-fi, horror, fantasy epics and crime TV shows and movies
You find out what I like and your mind will start racing to all the great shows I should be watching. Just a little information has allowed you to make better recommendations. 3 things have happened.
- Asking me questions makes ME feel important and that my answers are what matters. I’ve developed a deeper relationship with you because I feel you want to know what I want. Not what you think I should want.
- You’re clearer on what I should watch and you can now demonstrate your experience with an answer that suits my tastes
- Your recommendation will be better because you listened to me. Therefor I’m more likely to enjoy the show and trust you for further recommendations.
If you knew I liked Marvel movies, crime dramas and I had Netflix, you might suggest The Punisher on Netflix with John Bernthal. I like John, I like Netflix, but I haven’t seen the Marvel TV shows.
However, if you’d found out that I watch Netflix with my partner Liv who HATES gore and bones breaking, you wouldn’t recommend The Punisher.
I’ve never seen Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, The Wire, The Simpsons or The Walking Dead.
Think about the HUGE record breaking TV shows that everyone can’t shut up about. TV shows that have become a part of our shared culture and have created numerous spin-offs, prequels and rip-offs.
Imagine someone telling you that they hadn’t seen any of these. How excited are you to tell them about them. Especially if they’ve told you all the genres they like.
Think about what you’d say to me, to get me to watch one of those shows
What things come to mind about your favourite TV show? The acting, the drama, the story, the scope, the CGI, the actors, the dialogue, the suspense, the plot.
There are so many things to get excited about and you’re getting excited just thinking about the experience they’ll have!
You’re becoming enthusiastic about their journey and their future. That’s the sales process.
It’s about transferring enthusiasm
Remember that point? It’s about a transfer of enthusiasm. It isn’t the technical details, it isn’t the features.
With media like TV, podcasts and movies or songs we talk about emotions and feelings to excite people. We talk about the drama, suspense, humour, horror or insight.
We do not talk about how it’s a 16:9 aspect ratio with a 24 frames per second 44 minute TV show. Those are what the show IS, not what it DOES to us.
Actors names, directors, producers, studios. They create something that makes people FEEL. And that’s exactly what your products and services should do too.
My product is boring, it’s nothing like a TV show
The most fundamental rule of selling, is that if you don’t rate your product, no one else will.
You have to give 100 to get a 10 back from anyone. If you’re so excited that you can’t help but tell people about your product, then you’ll make sales.
If you do think your product is boring, and I hear that a lot, you’ll struggle to make sales.
The good news is that you CHOOSE to be excited by your products.
I know a business that sells re-furbished Cisco servers to medium sized businesses. They’re cheaper than new ones and they pretty much do exactly the same thing.
Sure, we could focus on the price. But selling equipment like that on price DOESN’T evoke emotion. And believe me, even Sam the IT Manager want’s to buy on emotion.
Managers like that want to feel 2 things.
- Validation that they’re making a smart choice, because they want to feel smart
- Secure in their job and safe knowing that the equipment will work
Saying something is cheaper is often not a smart or safe response. Instead, Cis-teq (I begged them to change the name), now works with IT Managers to help them make smart choices. Smart choices that increase their job security and the safety of their customers.
Your products and services do MORE than Cis-teq. They create revenue, they grow businesses. You can help people find new customers and increase their reach.
If you can’t get excited about that. maybe you should change careers.
Sales emails
One of the best exercises for discovering your sales skills, is using our sales email templates below. You’ll be able to create powerful, high converting sales campaigns.
Don’t worry about the structure or format, just follow the prompts and write in your enthusiastic, energetic words into the spaces and you’ll see just how to transfer your enthusiasm.
Enter your email and name below and we’ll send the sales email templates to you straight away.
You’re fantastic at selling so many things
You have lists of products and media and people and services that you absolutely love. You sell them to people all day long, and if you can take some of that energy and effort and place it into your own services, you’ll have no trouble making sales.
Decide what you want to get enthusiastic about
You get to decide what you’re enthusiastic about. You get to choose what you want others to experience and be a part of. It’s totally up to you!
P.s. it’s situation, problem, implication, need.
