All About Sales
It’s Monday — time to get out there and make things happen! Our families are counting on us, our colleagues are counting on us, and our employees are counting on us.
What are you going to do today? Are you going to hang around and play lazy? No way — it’s time to get to work.
Today, I’m going to talk to you guys about sales, and what they’re really all about. So let’s go ahead and roll into it!
I make a lot of videos about sales, marketing, and graphic design: all the things that I am passionate about, and that have helped me build a $500,000-a-year company. Over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot of tips and tricks that I use everyday. Now, I’m sharing those things with you for free.
Today I want to talk to you about the way I approach sales, and all the strategies I use.
What is sales all about?
What do I believe sales is all about?
Number one: sales is about serving. It’s as simple as that! Sales is about serving other people; it’s about putting other people’s problems, needs, and mission first. Trust me — when you do that, your needs will get met.
Number two: sales is about being ethical. You have to be ethical by sharing the truth, being transparent, and earning their trust. That’s a big deal when it comes to selling.
Be honest, be truthful, and show them your strengths. Tell them where you are strong, where you are weak, and what your expectations are. Relay to them what you are expecting out of the relationship in the long term. Get that stuff right out in the beginning — this is the ethical side of the process.
It’s especially important to understand what their goals and expectations are. Figure out what they are trying to accomplish and get a plan laid out. My mission is to help entrepreneurs in business. I help them to avoid pitfalls and find success. I want you to make more money than you have ever made before — that is my mission.
Number three: sales is about proof. You must prove to people that what you are preaching to them is something you use yourself.
Showing Proof
My company generated just shy of $500,000 last year! That’s the biggest year that I have ever had in business. Many people never hit that level of revenue. This is just the beginning for me; I still have a lot that I want to accomplish in the business world. I’m using that as proof, to show you that you can do this as well.
People need to know what it is that you can do for them. They are looking to solve a problem, and they’re probably not interested in hearing about your story. They want to hear about how you are going to help them create their own story.
You can also show proof through references, reviews, and visual aids. If you have a printout of something you have done, something that you have accomplished, that lends credibility to your proof.
If you have reference letters from clients, which I highly recommend, you should collect them in a binder. You’ll be able to pull out that binder on-demand, and show them what your clients have to say about you. Online reviews are a really good way to prove your skill set as well.
As far as visual aids go, PowerPoint presentations can create visual reference points so you can clearly show them the breakdown of your process. You will be eliminating some of the fear they may have of dealing with somebody who’s scummy and could just be trying to take their money.
Meeting their needs
We need our clients to take some sort of an action, and how we get that is to ask them about their needs. This is something that even I have struggled to do in the past.
When dealing with a client, I’m looking to help them with their business. They must have a strong need; a strong purpose, and we won’t know about that if we fail to ask.
If they need to grow from 5 million to 10 million, or 10 million to 20 million, I am going to give them a realistic timeframe. This includes providing them with realistic expectations I know that I can deliver on. It’s imperative that you make sure that what they’re asking for is obtainable.
The ask
You must be fair in business; when I am selling to somebody, I make sure what I’m offering them is a deal over the lifespan of the relationship.
If you know somebody that you think you can work with long-term, there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to increase your ask over time. Don’t expect to get everything upfront. You need to be patient to build a relationship — and the cornerstone of that interaction is trust.
You need to show them results, so that you can move forward together. What I want you to do is to come up with a simple ask.
For example: “Hey, I want to try something out for 90 days, and in those 90 days, what I will ask is for you to gage our success. And all I want in return is $3,000.”
If their first reaction is that it’s too much money for their budget, then you need to ask what their budget is. That should be one of the main questions you ask in your prospecting phase. You should always know what someone’s budget is upfront.
It’s important that your ask is clear, concise, and simple.
So that’s all I’ve got for you guys today. God bless, and as always, keep looking up.