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Welcome to another episode of Data Driven Insights by the Sales Insights Lab! 

There are difficult ways to increase your sales—and then there are easy ways. I personally prefer easy ways, and I’m willing to bet you do too. A few years ago, I discovered an incredibly easy way to increase sales. At the time, I was working with one of my favorite clients, Danny.

Danny sells software to enterprises and, before I met him, his sales were stagnant for about three years in a row. Then I helped him implement one weird little sales trick—and we were able to increase his annual sales by 39%, in just one year. 

The greatest part is that it was incredibly easy. Danny didn’t have to work more, and he didn’t have to make more calls. Would you like to know what we did to increase Danny’s sales by 39%?

In this episode, I’m going to show you one weird trick that increases sales by 39%. Check it out!

So, there you have it. One easy trick that increases sales by 39%. Of course, 39% is a tough number to be exact about. But, if you actually use this approach, you’re going to see a dramatic increase in your sales. I want to hear from you. Have you ever used a trick like this before? Be sure to share below in the comments section. I’ll respond to every comment that I can get to.

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Welcome to another episode of Data Driven Insights by the Sales Insights Lab! 

What’s the single most overlooked sales technique in the world? Once you find out, you’ll start closing more sales right away.

For a free eBook on How to Crush Your Sales Goals, head over to http://www.marcwayshak.com/opt1/ right now!

Looking for an easy technique that can boost your sales and transform your selling style? Most salespeople use the same sales approach, so it’s hard to stand out from the competition. If you’re not constantly looking for ways to up your game, then you’re missing out on some of the most valuable sales techniques out there.

This failure to innovate costs salespeople a tremendous amount of money in lost sales. In particular, there’s one stand-out sales technique that’s arguably the most overlooked selling approach in the world. And if you use this technique, you’ll unquestionably close more sales.

In this video, I’m going to show you the most overlooked sales technique in the world…? Check it out!

So, there you have it. The most overlooked sales technique in the world. Have you been overlooking this sales approach? Or are you one of the few salespeople who use it? Be sure to share below in the comments section. I’ll respond to every comment that I possibly can. If you enjoyed this video, visit www.marcwayshak.com/opt1/ to get a free eBook on 25 tips to crush your sales goal.

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Welcome to another episode of Data Driven Insights by the Sales Insights Lab! I'm your host, Marc Wayshak, and today we’re diving deep into the common pitfalls that hold salespeople back. Drawing on my experience working with thousands of sales reps every year, I’ve identified the three most crushing mistakes that are costing you sales and, more importantly, how you can avoid them. 

Whether you're selling like everyone else, winging your questions, or falling into the trap of sporadic prospecting, these missteps are killers. Tune in as we uncover actionable strategies to break free from these habits and start closing more deals today. Let's get started!

Most salespeople make the same three crushing mistakes. Watch this video to make sure you’re not one of them!

Every year, I work with thousands of salespeople across industries. As a result, I get a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in today’s fast-changing marketplace. What I’ve discovered is this: The vast majority of salespeople make the same mistakes, over and over again. And they don’t even seem to realize it. 

The challenge is, most salespeople can’t recognize when they’re making one of these critical mistakes. If they did, they’d stop right away—because these mistakes are slowly killing their sales. 

In this video, I’m going to show you three crushing mistakes most salespeople are making—and most importantly, how to avoid them. Check it out!

So, there you have it: Three crushing mistakes most salespeople make. Have you ever made one of these mistakes before? If so, what was the result? I want to hear from you. Be sure to share below in the comments section. I’ll respond to every comment I possibly can.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome to Data Driven Insights, the podcast that helps sales reps and business owners elevate their game and close more deals at higher prices. I’m your host, Marc Wayshak.

In this episode of Data Driven Selling, we delve into a fundamental challenge faced by sales professionals: How to close deals more quickly and prevent them from slipping through the cracks. Marc emphasizes that many issues encountered at the end of the sales process actually stem from how the process was initiated. 

To address this, Marc introduces a five-step strategy designed to accelerate any sales cycle and drive more effective results:

1. Organize your entire process.

Every professional salesperson, and every sales organization as a whole, must have a good CRM system in place to organize everything. The last thing you want to do is just have your entire sales process organized in some Excel spreadsheets, on paper, or in Google Docs.

You don't ever want to walk into the office wondering what your day will look like. Your process should be so organized that you already know exactly what each day is going to entail. There must be a particular system through which you can see your entire pipeline, so that way nothing is ever slipping through the cracks. 

The more organized your process, the better off you'll be. Having a good CRM system that really holds it all together is simply key to closing the sale faster.

2. Disqualify prospects.

This is less about organization and more about how you're actually selling. One of the reasons many sales start to slow down is that they were never truly qualified in the first place. You must become adept at using a systematic process to understand whether each prospect is actually qualified or disqualified. This is essential to closing the sale faster, because otherwise you’ll spend all of your time with disqualified prospects that have just kind of hung around in your pipeline. You've got to clean those people out, and move on. 

By learning to disqualify prospects early on, you’ll enable yourself to focus your time and energy on prospects that are actually a good fit.

3. Present only what’s relevant.

Salespeople constantly want to present their entire offering to every single prospect. But the reality is that you probably have an offering that's pretty broad. And so your prospects often don't need everything that you do. They only need certain things.

Presenting features or components of your offering that are outside the scope of what the prospect is really trying to solve only distracts them—and slows down the sale.

If you really want to close the sale faster, you must present only what’s relevant.

4. Be NSO.

NSO stands for Next Step Obsessed. One of the most common reasons sales start to slow down is a lack of clear next steps. If you really want to start closing the sale faster, then you need to become absolutely obsessed with next step. As in, you can’t sleep at night if you know that you didn't schedule a next step in that last meeting.

Once you prioritize next steps and become militant about scheduling them in every meeting or sales conversation, you’ll noticed that you’re able to hold sales together far more effectively.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in sales is to give a proposal to a prospect and then plan to “reconnect in a couple of months” or something similarly vague. Instead, there should always be a scheduled appointment in the calendar. Become obsessed with asking every prospect, “Do you have your calendar in front of you?” before ending any sales conversation. (And by the way, everyone has their calendar in front of them nowadays.)

Always get that next step in the calendar right then and there, and send out a calendar invite while you're actually on the phone or on the Zoom or for face to face with the prospect. Always be obsessed with next steps.

That's going to hold the sale together. And it's going to condense your sales cycle, so you can start closing the sale faster.

5. Live by your pipeline.

The next step to closing the sale faster is to become crystal clear—and truly honest—about your pipeline’s strongest opportunities, and where you need to focus your time. Living by your pipeline and only focusing on the very best opportunities means condensing that sales cycle and closing the sale faster. And, quite frankly, more frequently. 

Marc wraps up the episode by offering listeners the opportunity to register for a free video training session, designed to provide additional tactical advice on closing deals without facing common issues like price pushback or ghosting. To access this valuable resource, visit closingtraining for instant access.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome to "Data Driven Insights," the podcast that merges tactical sales advice with data-backed strategies to help sales reps and business owners generate more meetings and close more sales at higher prices. Hosted by Marc Wayshak, each episode dissects critical sales techniques and methods supported by real-world data, ensuring you have the tools to elevate your sales game. Tune in to discover how you can leverage data to improve your sales outcomes.

In this episode, host Marc Wayshak dives into five strategic questions designed to get prospects to open up and share their true challenges and needs. Marc emphasizes the importance of effective communication and how asking the right questions can reveal invaluable insights, leading to more successful sales outcomes. 

The episode covers:

1. **Quick Opening Play**: Utilize the "opening play" method by sharing the top three challenges your prospects typically face and asking if these issues resonate with them.

2. **Tell Me More About That**: Prompt deeper conversations by asking prospects to elaborate on their statements, helping uncover core issues.

3. **Why Do You Think That Is?**: Get prospects to explore and explain the reasons behind their problems, providing deeper understanding and context.

4. **What Prompts You to Say That?**: Use this question to clarify the motivations behind a prospect's statements or questions, ensuring a focused dialogue.

5. **Why Is That?**: A simple yet powerful question that encourages prospects to delve into their objectives and challenges, allowing you to address their needs more effectively.

Marc's insights reveal that successful selling hinges not just on presenting solutions but on understanding and unpacking the true challenges prospects face. By incorporating these five questions into your sales conversations, you'll be equipped to foster more meaningful interactions and achieve better sales outcomes.

Tune in to master these essential sales techniques and transform your approach to selling by making every conversation count. For further resources, visit closingtraining where you can access additional free training on the five-step formula to closing more deals.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome to Data Driven Insights, the podcast that helps sales reps and business owners elevate their game and close more deals at higher prices. I’m your host, Marc Wayshak.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into one of the most crucial aspects of the sales process: how to start a sales conversation with any prospect. It's often said that starting strong leads to ending strong, and this principle is especially true in sales. In this episode, I'll be sharing our unique approach known as the "opening play," which goes beyond the typical elevator pitch.

We’ll explore how to kick off your conversations with key insights about what you help clients achieve, the challenges they face, and prompt engagement to enter a meaningful dialogue. If you’re ready to transform the way you approach your prospects right from the start, stay tuned for actionable insights that can change your selling game. Let’s get started!

KEY POINTS 

Introduction and Importance of Starting a Sales Conversation:
- Impact of how you start on ultimate outcome.
- Philosophy taught by one of Marc’s mentors: strong start leads to strong end.
- Goal: Develop a way to start conversations that prompts prospects to open up and make buying decisions.

Develop Your Opening Play:
- Explanation of the "opening play" concept.
- Contrast with traditional methods like 30-second commercials or elevator pitches.
- Importance of a structured approach in the first 20 to 30 seconds.
    - Problems with typical salespeople getting off-track.
    - Need for a tight and concise opening.

Start with What You Help Clients Achieve:
- Problems with starting conversations focusing on what you sell.
- Suggested approach: Start with what you help clients achieve.
    - Examples:
        - Insulation company focusing on a warm house.
        - CRM systems focusing on organized leads and increased revenues.

Discuss Key Challenges You’re Seeing:
- The importance of addressing key challenges prospects face.
- Demonstrating insights into common challenges affecting prospects.
    - Importance of showing value and insight.
    - Conversion of these challenges into engagement.
    - Analogy to a doctor's perspective.

Close with Engagement Prompt:
- How to end the opening play with a prompt.
- Preferred closing question: "Do any of those issues ring true?"
    - Purpose of prompting the prospect to engage.
    - Contrast with common pitfalls of traditional closing.

Practical Example of Opening Play:
- Sample opening play sequence Marc would use.
    - High-level overview focusing on salespeople or small businesses.
    - Key elements:
        - Clients leverage data to drive revenues.
        - Challenges like low-price competitors, generating new business, and difficult sales environment.
        - Closing question to prompt engagement.

Conclusion:
- Recap of the power of a well-constructed opening play.
    - Insight demonstration.
    - Prompting prospect engagement.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

In this episode of Data Driven Selling by the Sales Insights Lab, host Marc Wayshak dives into the fascinating parallels between martial arts and sales techniques. Drawing from his personal experience in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Marc explores how the principles of martial arts can dramatically enhance your sales game. From treating your prospect as a training partner to replacing force with skill, Marc shares invaluable insights that can transform your approach to closing deals. Learn how to harness the energy of your prospects, think multiple steps ahead, understand likely outcomes, and develop an intentional training process for long-term success. Whether you're a seasoned salesperson or just starting out, these strategies can help propel you to the top of your field. Stay tuned for a dynamic episode that blends the art of martial mastery with the science of selling.

KEY MOMENTS
1. Your prospect is the best training partner
2. Replace force with skill
3. Let their energy lead where you want to go
4. Think many steps ahead
5. Understand the likely outcomes
6. Intentional training leads to long-term success
7. The best athletes often don’t become the best martial artists

TOPICS

Using Prospects as Training Partners
- Role of a training partner in martial arts.
- Prospects as the best training partners in sales.
- Importance of learning from each sales interaction.

Replacing Force with Skill
- Common beginner's mistake: using force.
- Transition from using force to using skill in martial arts.
- Applying skill over force in sales.
- The discomfort prospects feel when reps use forceful techniques.

Letting Energy Lead
- Traditional selling techniques versus guiding energy.
- Embracing objections rather than opposing them.
- Steering the prospect’s energy in the desired direction.

Thinking Many Steps Ahead
- Advanced martial artists’ ability to think multiple steps ahead.
- Parallels in sales: having a process and planning future steps.
- Differences between trained and untrained salespeople.

Understanding Likely Outcomes
- Predictability of human behavior in martial arts.
- Predicting prospects’ responses in sales scenarios.
- Preparing for various potential outcomes.

Importance of Intentional Training
- Need for a structured training process in martial arts.
- Importance of having an intentional training process in sales.
- Long-term benefits of consistent and intentional training.

Misconception About Natural Talent
- Observations about top martial artists not always being top athletes.
- Comparison to sales: natural charisma versus learned skills.
- Emphasis on focusing on skill development rather than innate traits.

Conclusion
- Summarizing the martial arts approach to closing sales.
- Encouragement to focus on skill development and continuous learning.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome to Data-Driven Selling, where today our host, Marc Wayshak, dives into the powerful mindsets that distinguish successful and wealthy salespeople from the rest. Marc will share the crucial mental shifts that can elevate your sales game from thinking you're the best to recognizing sales as a strategic game, not a life-or-death struggle. 

Discover why seeing your interactions with top-tier prospects as equal footing encounters is essential and how embracing sales as a game can replace stress with enjoyment and effectiveness. Whether it’s adopting the mantra "The best prospects need me,” or understanding that losing a sale is just part of the game, this episode is packed with transformative insights. Moreover, Marc emphasizes the importance of loving what you do, believing in your product, and having a clear sales plan. Tune in to learn how to shift your mindset and dramatically increase your sales effectiveness and enjoy the pursuit of your sales goals with a renewed vigor and strategy.

Here is a comprehensive sequence of topics covered in the podcast episode "Sales Mindset - The Way Successful & Rich Salespeople Think," with sub-topic bullets detailing the main points discussed under each primary topic:

1. Introduction to Sales Mindsets
   - Explanation of common traits among successful and rich salespeople.
   - Importance of adopting certain mindsets to reach the top of one’s sales game.

2. Critical Sales Mindsets
   - I Am the Best
     - Believing in oneself as top in their field.
     - The necessity of self-belief to achieve top performance.

   - The Best Prospects Need Me
     - Viewing oneself as a solution rather than an annoyance.
     - Recognition that certain prospects inherently need what you're offering.

   - Sales Is Just a Game
     - Conceptualizing sales as a game to improve engagement and reduce stress.
     - Changing perception of sales from a high-stress environment to a playful competition.

   - Can Go Toe to Toe with Any CEO
     - Confidence in dealing with high-level executives.
     - Not being intimidated by the status of the prospect.

   - If I Lose a Sale, So What?
     - Acceptance of losses as part of the sales process.
     - Maintaining composure and perspective when a sale falls through.

3. Focusing on Process Over Outcomes
   - Activity and Process Over Closing
     - Emphasis on consistent activity and refined processes.
     - Importance of building a robust pipeline and engaging in effective sales practices.

   - I'll See If You're a Fit
     - Evaluating prospects for fit rather than trying to close every possible sale.
     - Moving on quickly if a prospect is not a fit.

4. Goal Setting and Planning
   - Having a Clear Plan to Sales Goals
     - Importance of having specific, measurable steps to reach sales targets.
     - Breaking down goals into actionable items like number of meetings and deal sizes.

5. Passion for Selling
   - I Love What I Do and Sell
     - The necessity of passion and belief in the product for sales success.
     - How enjoyment and belief in the product impact sales performance.

6. Conclusion and Additional Resources
   - Summarization of key sales mindsets.
   - Invitation to access further sales training resources.

Each of these topics provides a detailed overview of the various mindsets and strategies that, according to the podcast, are essential for achieving and maintaining success in sales.

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In this episode of "Data Driven Selling," hosted by Marc Wayshak, we delve into a common challenge faced by sales reps and business owners: the "This is Too Expensive" objection from prospects. Marc provides seven strategic keys to effectively handle this objection, emphasizing a shift in both mindset and tactics. The episode is rich with actionable advice aimed at helping listeners not only overcome the objection but also ensure they are aligning their sales process to showcase the value of their offerings clearly.

 "7 Keys to Handling the 'This is Too Expensive' Objection" by Marc Wayshak covers a comprehensive guide to navigating price objections in sales. 

Here’s a breakdown of the primary topics covered, with sub-topic bullets for each:

1. Determine How You Got Here
- Exploration of the sales process to identify potential improvements.
- Understanding that price objections often stem from a perceived lack of value.

2. Own Your High Price Upfront
- The strategy of proudly owning and justifying a higher price point.
- Discussion on the negative implications of competing on price in your industry.

3. Remember That 20% Must Be DQ'd
- Categorizing prospects into three buckets based on their price sensitivity and value perception.
- Emphasis on immediately disqualifying the bottom 20% who are price-focused.

4. Slow It Down
- Tactical approach to pause and slow down the conversation upon encountering the objection.
- The importance of not rushing into defensive or justifying responses.

5. Ask What Prompts You to Say That
- Turning the objection back to the prospect to understand their perspective.
- The value of listening and prompting further explanation from the prospect.

6. Dig Deeper
- The importance of digging into the objection to truly understand the prospect's concerns.
- How effective questioning can reveal the underlying reasons for the objection.

7. Can I Throw Some Ideas at You?
- Strategies for collaboratively exploring potential solutions or alternatives with the prospect.
- Seeking permission to offer ideas, enhancing the receptiveness of the prospect.

Conclusion and Additional Resources
- Summary of the key strategies to handle the "This is too expensive" objection.
- Invitation to access additional free training material to improve closing skills without price objection.

Each of these topics collectively aims to equip sales professionals with strategic responses and a deeper understanding of handling price objections effectively, turning potential setbacks into opportunities for value demonstration and closing sales.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome back to another educational episode of "Data Driven Insights." I'm your host, Marc Wayshak, and today we're joined by the head coach at the Sales Insights Lab, Coach Tiffany Torres. 

In this episode, Marc and Tiffany discuss the significance and benefits of targeting larger deals in sales, challenging common assumptions, and realigning mindsets toward high-stakes opportunities. Marc Wayshak begins by explaining three ways to increase sales: more prospects, higher closing rates, and bigger deals, emphasizing that the latter is often overlooked despite its potential impact on revenue.

Coach Tiffany advises sales professionals to focus on the value of the problems they solve for prospects rather than just the cost of their product or service. By doing so, salespeople can effectively communicate the worth of their offering in relation to the prospect's challenge, creating an opportunity to discuss and justify higher budgets.

The conversation shifts to strategies for increasing deal sizes, such as dynamic pricing, offering tiered service packages, and targeting bigger companies with larger budgets. They highlight the importance of understanding the prospect's language and tailoring the value proposition accordingly.

Marc and Tiffany advise on pipeline management, emphasizing the need to cultivate multiple large opportunities so any single deal doesn't become disproportionately crucial, a concept likened to balancing on a beam at different heights. With a full pipeline, salespeople can operate from a position of power, less concerned about individual losses and more focused on the many opportunities ahead.

Finally, they wrap up with a discussion on adopting a "some will, some won't, so what" attitude, recognizing when to move on from a lost prospect, and how small increases in average sales size can lead to significant overall growth.

Listeners are also invited to access a free video training to learn a five-step formula to close more deals, available at closing training.

Key Topics:
1. Introduction to Wholesale Hunting
2. Benefits of Targeting Big Deals
3. Strategies to Increase Sales
4. Approaches to Increase Average Sales Size
5. Pricing Tactics 
6. Strategy in Selling Big Deals
7. The Importance of Mindset
8. Pricing Structures and Optionality
9. Benefits of Multiple Options in Offering
10. Working with Larger Companies
11. Importance of a Full Pipeline
12. Analogy of the Beam and Height

00:00 Focusing on increasing sales and landing bigger deals.
04:40 Analyzing the decision-making process for high-cost items.
07:29 Bigger sales challenge mindsets, worth and confidence.
11:14 Expanding options leads to successful sales strategy.
14:40 Multiple dates reduce pressure, increase opportunities, comfort.
16:50 Focus on closing good deals, not lost ones.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome back to another educational episode of "Data Driven Insights." I'm your host, Marc Wayshak, and today we're joined by the head coach at the Sales Insights Lab, the insightful Coach Tiffany Torres. 

Together, we're diving deep into a skill that often flies under the radar yet holds the power to dramatically shift the outcomes of your sales calls: mastering tonality to disarm your prospects. 

You'll hear real-world insights into the widespread overcompensation of salespeople's enthusiasm, why this can sabotage your efforts, and the proven strategies for adjusting your tone to one that's engaging and authentic. From Tiffany's eye-opening statistics on call success rates to our touching on the crucial doctor's mindset approach, this episode is packed with actionable advice. Are you ready to learn how to strike the right note with your prospects and revolutionize your sales approach? Listen in as we uncover the secrets to turning your voice into a compelling tool for connection and sales success.

00:00 Different approaches and tonality affect effectiveness.
04:38 The speaker discusses the tone difference between talking to a prospect and a personal connection in an office setting.
09:12 Doctors must balance friendliness with professional boundaries, while sales should be based on delivering value and not just relationships.
12:14 Focus on progress, not perfection in sales. Recognize failure is part of the process.
13:18 Trust in learning process, approach tasks strategically.

Key takeaways:

**The Power of Tonality**: Learn how the right tone can triple your effectiveness, transforming 1-in-80 calls to 1-in-20 for setting appointments.
  
**Value vs Enthusiasm**: Discover why oozing genuine value trumps fake enthusiasm every time, and why prospects prefer insights over excitement.

 **Practice Makes Perfect**: Embrace the importance of role-play in mastering the art of disarmament through tonality—minimize stakes, maximize comfort.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Welcome back to another episode of Data Driven Insights. I'm your host, Marc Wayshak, joined by our esteemed head sales coach, Coach Tiffany. Today, we're diving into a fascinating discussion that every salesperson needs to hear: "How to Create Immense Value in Sales Conversations." 

This episode peels back the layers of traditional selling techniques to show you a revolutionary approach that speaks directly to the buyer's needs. We'll dismiss old-school, pitch-focused methods and move toward a genuine, conversation-driven strategy that empowers prospects to unpack their own value. 

Expect to explore the crucial differences between simply agreeing with a client and engaging them in a deeper dialogue that leads to understanding their unique challenges. Coach Tiffany and I will guide you through real-life scenarios, equipping you with the insights to transform your sales conversations from one-sided presentations to collaborative exchanges that lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. 

So, if you're ready to enhance your sales process and empower your clients, tune in and let's unlock the secrets of creating immense value together.

00:00 Prioritize initial value in sales interactions.
03:42 Avoid waiting for opportunity, focus on understanding.
09:38 Against strict rules, prefers understanding real costs.
10:25 Roa calculators project a sales dictatorship: guide prospects.
13:26 Creating understanding, building value, and commitment.

Here are 3 key takeaways to transform your sales approach:

- **Unpack the Prospect's Perspective**: Step into their shoes. Your role is to guide them through their own challenges, not dictate the journey with your solutions. This builds trust and positions you as a partner rather than just a vendor.

- **Dialogue Over Monologue**: Engage in a conversation, not a pitch. Ask probing questions to understand the pain points deeply. When you let prospects articulate their issues, they’re more likely to see the value in your tailored solutions.

-  **Expertise Through Inquiry**: Admitting that you don’t have all the answers might feel counterintuitive, but it’s actually a powerful demonstration of expertise. It shows you're attentive, you care, and you're committed to understanding their unique situation.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Today, we're diving deep into a high-stakes topic that makes many in sales visibly shudder—the Alpha Prospect. These are the tough, intimidating sorts that can dominate a sale, often leaving even the most seasoned reps feeling like they've stepped into the ring with a heavyweight champion. But fear not! Coach Tiffany and I are here to deconstruct the mythos of the alpha prospect and provide you with the game plan to not only survive but thrive in these daunting encounters.

We'll be revealing why it's essential to stand your ground. We show you that sales, at its core, is a game—a game where intimidation is purely psychological and can be conquered through a steadfast strategy and an unwavering mind frame.

From reframing our perspective, to sticking to our process, engaging fully in the conversation, and delivering undeniable value, we're unpacking the tactical approaches that will help you engage with alpha prospects on an equal footing, turning potential adversaries into allies in your sales journey.

By the end of our conversation, you'll be equipped with the insights and confidence needed to tackle those high-octane sales meetings. Change the way you perceive these prospects and transform trepidation into excitement. Remember, it's just a game, and we're here to win.

Sales Strategies for High-Value Clients: "Alpha prospects are some of those people that can, like you have nightmares about actually running into a sales scenario with, but in reality they're people just like anybody else. And if you're coming in with a strong strategy, you're going to be fine with them."
— Coach Tiffany [00:00:46 → 00:01:00]

Navigating Power Dynamics: "And they, you know, a lot of times people in this space are walking around thinking like you're either a predator or you're prey and you're kind of walking in with that sign that says you're one or the other."
— Coach Tiffany [00:03:16 → 00:03:27]

Business Communication Candidness: "Exactly. And they're not taking the meeting to be nice. And you'll know where you stand with them, which is really cool. They'll tell you. They'll be really blunt often and say, I don't see how this makes sense. Or they'll tell you, like, I can kind of see that. And you know exactly where you stand."
— Coach Tiffany [00:04:36 → 00:04:50]

Sales Leadership in Negotiations: "What they want to have happen. The issue is that in sales, you have to take that leadership position and own this opportunity for them. So you have to define it by your process and not let them push you into a space where they're deciding and dictating what comes next or how things go."
— Coach Tiffany [00:05:28 → 00:05:43]

Sales Approach Wisdom: "sales is about having a conversation. It's not about a performance."
— Coach Tiffany [00:06:48 → 00:06:51]

The Art of Conversation: "And that back and forth that happens with somebody when you're just, like, kind of guiding them through questions can be so powerful for them. And that's what usually breaks that wall that they've got built up around what they really think or what's going on in their situation."
— Coach Tiffany [00:07:59 → 00:08:14]

Building Better Business Relationships: "Yeah. It takes them from feeling like adversaries to feeling like partners. Right. Like, that's the goal. That's the trajectory you're aiming for."
— Coach Tiffany [00:08:58 → 00:09:04]

Understanding Value in Sales: "It's what they're fishing for. It's the thing that's going to open up the door and they're not looking at value as like, what can you tell me about your service?"
— Coach Tiffany [00:10:32 → 00:10:41]

Understanding Sales Dynamics: "Every time you show up to a sales experience, you're kind of just, like, exploring the space and being like, oh, so that's the game we're going to be playing today. And then you can really come at them from this, like, informed perspective."
— Coach Tiffany [00:12:33 → 00:12:44]

Turning Anxiety into Excitement: "when your heart starts to beat faster and stuff like that, there's no real difference physiologically between excitement and anxiousness. So I would always just say as like, oh, I'm excited."
— Coach Tiffany [00:13:43 → 00:13:55]

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

In this podcast episode, Tiffany from Sales Insights Lab and the host discuss evolving cold outreach strategies. They stress the importance of tactical approaches and avoiding generic methods due to advanced email filtering by G Suite and Outlook. They advocate for high-value, purpose-driven outreach and the use of multichannel communication to engage prospects meaningfully. The conversation also covers the necessity of a multi-step, personalized approach to outreach that resonates with prospects' needs. The episode wraps up with a call to action for listeners to access a free video training on effective deal-closing strategies.

The importance of purpose in cold outreach (00:00:00) Tiffany emphasizes the importance of purpose in cold outreach, stating that prospects deserve to know there's a solution to their problems.

Changes in cold outreach due to technical filtering (00:00:45) Discussing changes in cold outreach, including filtering emails by G Suite and Outlook, and the decreasing open rates of emails over the years.

Impact of G Suite changes on email volume and spam (00:01:14) Explaining the impact of G Suite changes on email volume and spam, and how it affects the effectiveness of cold outreach.

Multichannel approach in cold outreach (00:05:13) Highlighting the importance of a multichannel approach in cold outreach to demonstrate high value and reach prospects effectively.

The offer and its importance in cold outreach (00:12:13) Emphasizing the need for a compelling offer in cold outreach to entice prospects and make them willing to engage in a conversation.

Effective personalization in cold outreach (00:16:21) Discussing the significance of good personalization in cold outreach to demonstrate understanding and relevance to the recipient.

Segmentation in cold outreach (00:17:58) Explaining the importance of segmentation in cold outreach to narrow down the target audience and send more relevant messages.

Cold Outreach Strategies (00:20:14) Discussion on the impact of changes in cold outreach and the importance of narrowing down the target list for better resonance.

Tactical Advice (00:20:58) Promotion of free video training on a five-step formula for closing more deals without price pushback.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Handling "Think It Over" Objections

In this episode of Data-Driven Selling by the Sales Insights Lab, Coach Tiffany and I delve into the challenging world of handling "think it over" objections in sales. We start by acknowledging the potential confrontational nature of addressing objections and emphasize the importance of softening our approach.

The episode kicks off with a listener question from KC Carlyle, who expresses frustration with solid conversations with prospects that end in a "think it over" response. Coach Tiffany and I discuss the need to push prospects for clarity rather than accepting a soft rejection to avoid a hard no.

We explore the different types of objections, including cover, concern, condition, and complacency, and highlight the importance of understanding the underlying reasons behind a prospect's "think it over" response. By slowing down the conversation, acknowledging the objection, and helping the prospect clarify their thoughts and feelings, we aim to move towards a decision rather than leaving them in decision purgatory.

Throughout the episode, we stress the significance of creating a collaborative and supportive environment with prospects, rather than adopting a pushy or desperate sales approach. By focusing on building trust, understanding the prospect's concerns, and addressing objections with a structured process, sales professionals can navigate "think it over" objections effectively and ultimately drive towards a decision.

We conclude by emphasizing the importance of mindset in handling objections, highlighting the need for sales professionals to be willing to let go of a potential sale if it's not the right fit. By approaching objections with a strategic and empathetic mindset, sales professionals can enhance their sales process and increase their chances of closing deals successfully.

Join us in this insightful episode as we provide practical tips and strategies for handling "think it over" objections in sales and empowering sales professionals to navigate objections with confidence and clarity.

• "We can't take the soft rejection so that we don't get that hard no." - 00:01:15-00:01:25
• "The goal isn't at that moment to push the prospect across the finish line. The goal is to push them for the clarity to get them to want to voluntarily cross the finish line." - 00:02:24-00:02:34
• "Yeah, I mean, really all we want is a decision. Whether it's a yes or a no is OK. We just want to get to a decision." - 00:02:56-00:03:07
• "So we've got to really like soften it. To me, this is the most important part of handling any objection because like I think you always talk about is like this may be the end of the objection." - 00:13:13-00:13:23
• "Getting them to clarify sometimes like when people just articulate what they're thinking, that kind of solves their thing." - 00:14:47-00:14:58
• "You can't get to effective tactical implementation until the mindset's solid." - 00:18:35-00:18:45
• "You may need a sale, but you don't need this sale." - 00:18:35-00:18:45
• "You need to be willing to let somebody go. You can't try to hold onto them if that sale is not gonna happen." - 00:18:55-00:19:05
• "Once you just say like, hey, I'm okay with losing this, there's others out there, then all of a sudden that frees you up to really help them and help yourself to figure out, is this a." - 00:19:07-00:19:18
• "Thanks for listening. Want more tactical advice on selling? Register for our free video training on the five-step formula to closing more deals without price pushback, think-it-overs." - 00:19:19-00:19:29

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

KEY MOMENTS
1. Stop trying to mimic them.
2. Show that you're at ease.
3. Take a leadership role.
4. Limit your time on pleasantries.
5. Focus on their issues.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

KEY MOMENTS
 1. Recognize your number one asset.
 2. Find an offering that prospects want.
 3. Sell to prospects with money.
 4. Leverage automation to maximize your time.
 5. Don't quit the day job until you've got proof of concept.
 6. Replace the salary on the side.
 7. Once you're free, now it's time to scale.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Sales Secret #1: Know your lead gen math.

This sales secret often seems counterintuitive to salespeople. Why? Because few salespeople out there are focused on the math behind their success.

Instead, they’re focused on what they have to say, or do, to be successful. But knowing the math behind your lead generation efforts is absolutely critical, too.

This is one of those sales secrets that truly separates top performers from the rest of the pack. Assuming your lead generation processes are strong enough (you have a decent prospecting call, and you send out solid emails), knowing the math behind your lead generation is the next imperative for success.

Sales Secret #2: All that matters is what leads to sales.

When it comes to sales secrets that really make a difference, this one creates a tremendously important distinction. The vast majority of salespeople get so distracted throughout the day by tasks that are not sales-related. But in the end, all that matters is what leads to sales. 

Every single task you do that’s not helping you close more sales is ultimately a distraction. You need to become really, really strong at removing all that clutter from your day.

You only have so many hours in the day. Make sure those hours are spent toward generating sales, and nothing else.

Sales Secret #3: “No” isn’t bad.

There are three potential outcomes in any selling situation: yes, no, or some wishy-washy version of “I’ll get back to you” or “I need to think it over.” Getting a “yes” is great, of course. And getting a “no” is also a good thing. (The only outcome we want to avoid at all costs is the no-man’s-land “think it over” answer.)

There’s a simple reason why getting a “no” is good: You never want to be pushing your prospects to tell you “yes” because it will ultimately lead to way more “think it overs.” If a prospect doesn’t want to do business with you, then they’re not going to.

When you make “no” a viable option for prospects, they feel so much less pressure in the selling interaction. This is one of the few really powerful sales secrets that only the best salespeople know. Remember, “think it overs” are what you actually want to avoid. Getting a “no” is fine. 

Sales Secret #4: Don’t serve. Help people make the right decision.

Don’t be a doormat. This shouldn’t be one of the best-kept sales secrets out there, but unfortunately it is. Far too many salespeople are just glorified customer service reps who do whatever the prospect asks. That’s not your job. Your job is not to serve your prospects.

Your job is to serve your clients, sure—but your clients are those who are already doing business with you. Anyone who has not done business with you yet is not a client. They are prospects. And so, your goal is simply to help those people make the right decision.

If a prospect is a good fit, they should ultimately be making the right decision (with your help), which is to work with you. If they are not the right fit, move on. That's it. Don’t be a doormat.

Sales Secret #5: Great salespeople aren’t talkative.

As far as sales secrets go, this might be one of the most surprising to you. We’ve all been bombarded by the myth that effective salespeople are chatty, friendly, super-talkative people. But in reality, the data shows that great salespeople aren’t necessarily extroverts. In fact, most great salespeople fall right in the middle of the spectrum between extroverts and introverts.

Great salespeople are great listeners. They're great at engaging people in conversations. They're great at disarming prospects and making them feel comfortable to share what's going on in their world. That's what a great salesperson does. It's not about telling funny jokes. It's simply about being able to effectively engage prospects in the types of conversations that you want to have.

Sales Secret #6: Have a process. Don’t make it up.

I saved this for last on my list of top sales secrets, because it’s so important. Very few salespeople have a formalized sales process in place. Let me ask you a question: Do you have a formalized sales process where you know exactly what to do at every single phase of the sale? Do you know every question you're going to ask? Do you know exactly what you’re going to present to your prospects? And if so, is that process working to the degree that you want it to?

The truth is, the vast majority of salespeople don’t have a process in place at all. You must commit to having one. Don’t make it up. Use a data-driven approach to more effectively engage prospects in conversation, and ultimately present your solution to the challenges they have mentioned.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

KEY MOMENTS
1. Nail the first 17 seconds
2. Your tone...sets the tone
3. They can't hurt you
4. Lead with your best value
5. Get them talking
6. Make the meeting attractive
7. Find that balance between calm and pushy

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Basics of Sales

Tip #1: Trial and error isn’t a strategy.

I’ll repeat that: Trial and error is not a sales strategy.

If you compare sales as an industry to virtually any other profession—such as law, accounting, dentistry, medicine, etc.—it becomes apparent that sales is one of the only professional industries where there isn’t a governing body that regulates who gets to do that job, and what training they need to be able to do it.

Tip #2: Have a process.

We need to have a sales process that we can follow—a sales process that we know actually works.

When we use the sales process the same way every single time we sell, it makes it possible for us to diagnose exactly what went wrong when things don’t go as expected. Without a consistent sales process, it’s impossible to get useful feedback on what’s working and what’s not.

Tip #3: Bring insight to the table.

Now, demonstrating insight is the first part of any successful sales process. (At my firm, we teach this as the first component of our Sales Insights Methodology.) You must bring insight to the table up front, at the start of the sales interaction.

You need to engage your prospects with insight, demonstrating that you know what the heck you're talking about. And you can do that by giving them valuable industry information that provokes them or tells them something they hadn't thought of before.

Tip #4: Disqualify prospects.

This may feel counterintuitive if you haven't followed a lot of my content before. Disqualifying prospects is the opposite of what most salespeople are taught to do. Maybe you've been taught to qualify prospects, or that you need to convince or persuade them.

Instead, what you should be doing is determining whether each prospect is a fit—that’s it. If they’re not a fit, that’s cool. Focus on disqualifying people who aren’t a fit so you can move on and spend your time and energy on those who are.

Tip #5: Solve, don’t present.

The presentation phase of your sales process should demonstrate that you can solve your prospects’ challenges. When you take them through that disqualification process, you’re going ask them a lot of questions about what's going on in their world, so you can really understand their key challenges. Then, in the presentation phase, you should exclusively present to those challenges that the prospect mentioned. Leave out your features and benefits—your prospects don’t care. All they care about is whether you can actually solve their problems.

Tip #6: Be N.S.O.

N.S.O stands for Next Step Obsessed. Next steps are one of the most fundamental basics of sales. You want to be completely obsessed with next steps in your sales process.

One of the biggest reasons that sales fall apart is simply that the salesperson isn’t scheduling a clear next step.

And of course, the next step can be a sale. That's fine, too. But always have a next step in place, and be obsessive about scheduling next steps.

Tip #7: Use a prospecting blueprint.

The point is that your prospecting blueprint should be a prospecting campaign with a whole bunch of “touches” to the prospect over the course of a few weeks, so that even if they don’t respond to you, you get on their radar and demonstrate that you have valuable insight to share.

By the time you ultimately get them on the phone or you send them that fifth email, they remember who you are. They’ll think, “Oh yeah, that person left me a message on Monday. They tried me a couple of times last week. They just sent me a LinkedIn request. I’ll respond now.”

Remember that it can take more than 20 touches like this before the average prospect is going to respond. That's why we need that blueprint in place to keep us on track.

Tip #8: Think like a top performer.

Simply put, top performers have such great success in large part because of how they think. I challenge you to start thinking like a top performer. Top performers think confidently, calling as high up as possible at their prospect organization. They motivate themselves on a daily basis, getting up early and immediately doing their set sales activities. And they view sales as a game, so they aren’t afraid of getting no’s and they don’t take rejection personally.

Tip #9: Have a sales mentor.

Maybe you already have a sales mentor. If so, that’s awesome. But if you don't, you absolutely must get a sales mentor. If you’re just trying to figure out this whole sales thing on your own, it's going to be a very long and arduous road ahead. And there’s a good chance you’ll never make it to the end of the journey. Having a sales mentor who can guide you is so important.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Never Fear Rejection in Sales

Tip #1: They can't physically hurt you.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to fearing rejection in sales is that your prospects can’t actually hurt you physically. They can’t hit you. They can’t attack you. Most of the time, they’re just a voice on the phone (or words in an email, or a face on a video call). And even if you’re face-to-face with prospects, they aren’t going to physically hurt you because they don’t like what you have to say.

So why do so many salespeople have such intense fear of making their prospects angry or upset?

While it’s natural to genuinely feel stress around the idea of having someone dislike you, there’s never any risk of physical harm when selling. You’re not in a football or rugby game where you can actually get physically hurt if you do something wrong.

In the game of sales, the risk is only that you’ll make a prospect a little cranky, and they’ll hang up on you. Maybe they’ll tell you that they’re annoyed before they do so. But otherwise, the risks are very, very low.

Tip #2: Understand the evolutionary meaning of rejection.

Thousands of years ago, rejection meant death. But now, in today’s world, the consequences of rejection don’t align with our evolutionary fear. In other words, even though being rejected by a stranger no longer puts us in mortal peril, our evolutionary programming hasn’t changed to catch up to the realities of modern-day humanity.

And so, we live in fear of crossing lines, upsetting others, and saying the wrong thing. Our fear is intense, because it’s rooted in our evolutionary imperative to survive. But sales is not a fight to the death. We’re no longer in fear for our lives when we make someone feel cranky.

It’s critical that you understand this evolutionary meaning of rejection, so you can keep your fear of rejection in sales in perspective when you start to worry constantly about ticking off your prospects. No one is going to kill you for trespassing if you make an unsolicited phone call. All they can possibly do is hang up on you and make you feel a little embarrassed. So what?

Tip #3: Know the math on “no’s” in sales.

To effectively overcome your fear of rejection in sales, it’s key that you actually know the math on the “no's” that you’re likely to receive when selling. Let’s say you’re making cold dials to prospects. A strong cold dialer has a ratio of somewhere between 100–150 dials to one closed appointment. That’s a lot of unsuccessful dials. That’s a lot of “no’s” to get to one “yes”—and that’s perfectly normal.

If your fear of rejection in sales is more based around hearing “no” after having taken the prospect through your sales process, then you should know the math around those “no’s” too. Let’s say that you figure out that you end up closing 25% of all the discovery calls you complete with a prospect. Now you know that when you hear a “no” at the end of a discovery call, you’re that much closer to hearing a “yes.”

Tip #4: Know your “why.”

Why do you sell? Understanding why you’re a salesperson in the first place is crucial to ending your fear of rejection in sales. You could be working in a million other industries or job categories besides sales. You could be in operations, finance, or customer service, but you're not. You’re in sales. And sales can be tough sometimes.

That’s why understanding your “why” is so important. Chances are that you’re in sales because it’s a path for you to make a lot more money than you could in other jobs.

Tip #5: Celebrate big rejections.

This might seem counter-intuitive. But if you’ve been selling for long enough, then you know what it’s like to get a really big rejection in sales: the prospect gets angry, they blow up, they hang up the phone in anger, or they just get really cranky and frustrated with you. I’m encouraging you to celebrate these scenarios. That’s what we do in my own organization. When a prospect gives one of us a big rejection, we chat about it in our Slack group and in our sales meetings.

We don’t hide big rejections from each other at my organization; rather, we celebrate them by giving all the details and making light of the situation. Why? Because celebrating big rejections helps to normalize rejection in sales, while reinforcing the idea that getting rejected is all part of the game. It’s no big deal. In fact, it can be a great source of learning, improvement, and even laughter and good-natured fun among our colleagues. When we celebrate those moments of rejection, we suddenly realize, "You know what, it's not that bad."

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

Biggest Sales Mistakes #1: Hoping for leads.

This is one of the most common—and obvious—mistakes that salespeople make over and over again. At the time of writing this, we’re in a particularly unstable market where there’s a lot of transition. Much of the business world is in upheaval. During times like these, the huge mistake of hoping for leads is more pronounced than at any other time.

You must have the entire process laid out, from start to finish, in an easily repeatable way. When are you making calls? What does your script look like? What do your emails say? How will you potentially automate your outreach? How ill you use social media? Your prospecting blueprint should answer all of these questions, taking the “hope” out of lead generation and replacing it with a real, hard strategy.

Biggest Sales Mistakes #2: Trying to educate your prospect.

There are a bunch of sales gurus out there who say salespeople should be educating their prospects. I want to be very clear: I strongly disagree with that.

In fact, trying to educate your prospect is one of the biggest sales mistakes you can make.

The best way to get prospects engaged in that conversation is by demonstrating some quick insight up front to get them thinking, “Oh, this person knows what they’re talking about, so I’m willing to talk with them and answer some of their questions.”

But we don’t want to educate.

When you try to educate your prospect, the conversation becomes all about you and what you know. That’s not the point. They are not yet a customer; they are a prospect. You can educate your customers, but you should focus on demonstrating insight with your prospects. No exceptions.

Biggest Sales Mistakes #3: Pitching your offering.

The idea of pitching your offering actually goes back to the year 1887, when National Cash Register (NCR) launched their initial sales training. That first training was all about pitching the NCR cash register—literally a manual cash register, which so few of us ever even see anymore.

However, in more recent years, buyers have become incredibly wary of the hardcore pitch. It’s an automatic red flag for most prospects. And for that reason, pitching is now one of the biggest sales mistakes you can make.

The goal is not to pitch your offering, but instead to demonstrate insight and then engage prospects in a conversation so you can understand what's going on in their world—and how your offering might actually be able to help them.

Biggest Sales Mistakes #4: Going for the close.

It’s crazy to me that there are still salespeople out there who are exclusively focused on how to close their prospects.

Those early sales mistakes are what cause you to fail to get commitment from prospects at the end of the conversation. Perhaps you’re not taking the time to really understand what’s going on in their world, or you’re pitching instead of focusing on engaging them in a conversation. Or maybe you’re failing to demonstrate insight that proves you can solve their problems.

Then when it comes time for you to try to close the sale, the prospect might say something like, "Oh, this was great, but I really need to think about it," or "I need to run this by my partner," or "I need to share this with my team before we can move forward."

Those excuses, and others like them, are really just lies. These objections at the end of the sale are merely proxies for what the prospect really thinks, which is: “I don’t want to do business with you. I don’t find this compelling and I don’t want to move forward.”

Old-school closing techniques that focus on getting the prospect to sign the dotted line at the end of the conversation are just putting tons of pressure on the prospect—and that will only further repel them from ever doing business with you.

Biggest Sales Mistakes #5: Blaming the marketplace for lost business.

Blaming the marketplace for lost business is another one of the biggest sales mistakes that salespeople make. I'm hearing this excuse from salespeople a lot right now, at a time when the market is unstable and there are some crazy disruptions going on in the world.

No matter what the circumstances in the marketplace, though, salespeople have one of two choices. They can either continue to blame the marketplace for lost sales, or they can take control over their financial and selling destiny. 

The salespeople who are blaming the marketplace right now are the same salespeople who will not be in sales one year from now. You must stop blaming external factors and instead focus on what you can control.

There are salespeople in every single industry who are crushing it right now. Don't give into the sorry excuse of blaming your lost business on what’s going on in the world. Focus on what you can control.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

I'm going to show you five revealing characteristics of a successful sales pitch.

Number one, there is no traditional sales pitch upfront. This is so key because I see it all the time. Salespeople are stuck in this old school traditional mindset that they need to have this fantastic sales pitch upfront. Now, of course, we want to be tight and concise in what we're saying to prospects, but we're not using the beginning of the conversation to pitch our product or service. We're not using that early part of the sale to focus on what it is that we do and all the ways that we're going to help them. It is a huge turn off to a buyer to immediately feel like you're being pitched hard upfront. Instead, great people save the sales pitch or that presentation for much later in the conversation. What they're using upfront is simply a means to engage prospects in a conversation. 

Number two, whiteboard pitch instead. So this builds on the last idea that I just shared with you, which is that most salespeople are focused on selling their products or services, sharing the features and benefits that their product has to offer upfront. Instead, what we want to do is share insight upfront, not about our product or service, but instead, insight about the prospect's world, and that's where a whiteboard pitch comes in. We use whiteboard pitches, which means having something that you can draw on. It could be a whiteboard; it could be on a Zoom. You can write directly on the screen using some stylus or a pen or an iPad, but you want to have some tool where you can map out some of the critical challenges that you see prospects facing in their particular world. 

Number three, disqualify before solve. This is a critical distinction that we are not presenting the solution early on in the conversation. Instead we're ultimately going to be giving our whiteboard pitch, engaging them in that conversation and then taking them through a disqualification conversation where we're asking a series of systematic questions that are going to help us determine whether someone is truly a fit, whether they're really dealing with the types of challenges that we solve and understanding how it's affecting their organization or their life. 

Number four, case study presentation. So this is the point at which we start to present our solutions and our product or service, but what we want to do is present that through a case study presentation. We want to have a series of stories or examples that demonstrate how our product or service helped other folks that are similar to them, and that's where we want to have an arsenal of case studies or just examples. 

Number five, let their questions drive the presentation. This is a massive change in the way most salespeople think. Most salespeople think I want to avoid getting questions during the presentation. Still, the latest data shows that salespeople that are most likely to close a sale are getting the most questions during the presentation. And think about it, it makes sense, right? If a prospect is asking you a lot of questions during the presentation phase of a sale, it means they're engaged; it means that they're interested. 

There are the five revealing characteristics of a successful sales pitch, and if you enjoyed this video, then I have an awesome free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals. Just click right here to get registered instantly.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

1. Map out the entire sale.

This is so important in the B2B selling space because if you don't know how your entire sales process is going to work, you're going to be winging it, you're going to be all over the place. And the data shows that today's prospects, in the B2B space, are so much savvier than they were just a few years ago. These are people that have multiple degrees often, and they're getting sold to all the time.

2. Attack your entry point.

We want to make sure that we know precisely how we're going to enter into a prospective company. And this is very specific to the B2B space. Because of course, when you're selling to consumers, there are only one or two consumers in a family realistically. But when you're talking about a large enterprise or even a small business, there are often a lot of different key actors that you can go into that company by starting that conversation with or engaging in a conversation.

3. Provide real value.

This is a huge distinction from today's world of selling to even just a few years ago. Nowadays, prospects expect salespeople in the B2B space to provide real value in the selling conversation. It's not enough to have a great product or service. And it's not enough to ask a couple of good questions. We need to be establishing authority and expertise. And the best way to mainly be providing value upfront is by providing prospects with insight. You as a salesperson, with your experience, having seen many different prospective company's in this particular space, have a fantastic bird's eye view of what's going on in the lives of your prospects.

4. Don't try to close.

This may go counter to a lot of what we've heard over the years and our careers, but in the B2B space, prospects are savvy. They've been sold to many, many times. And quite frankly they've probably been sold to many times just this past week. And so if we're using some cheesy, transparent closing technique, they're going to see that from a mile away. And so the high-pressure closing techniques don't work anymore. Particularly in the B2B space.

5. Know their challenges.

This is so important in the B2B space. Again, buyers expect that you understand them. That you know what's going on. And so this is a two-part concept. One is that when we engage prospects in conversations, we need to show that we have some expertise. That we have some insight into what's going on in their world. But we also don't want to over assume that we know everything that's going on in their world. That's silly, of course, you don't know everything that's going on in their world.

6. Know everyone involved.

The latest data shows that the typical B2B, particularly enterprise-level sale, has about seven key decision-makers. And so we can't just expect that even if you're selling to the CEO of a company that that person is going to be able to pull the trigger, make the decision, and move on. It's not that simple anymore. Most even high-level executives are trying to get consensus around the decisions they make. They're trying to build that consensus so that way all the key people are on board, so that way when they move forward, they know that things are going to happen. And it's not just leadership by directive, by force. That's not how business works.

7. Always have clear next steps.

This is so important. That we are not walking away from any selling interaction without an obvious next step. A clear next step is that you get a scheduled call or a scheduled face-to-face meeting or a scheduled Zoom meeting on the books, in the calendar, a calendar invite goes out from you, and they positively reply to that calendar invite. That is a clear next step.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

In this episode, I'm going to share with you the nine qualities the best salespeople possess.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #1: They're learners.

Being a learner is so vital. My father used to always tell me, "Marc, when you graduate from school, never stop learning. "Make sure that you are consistently learning." And that mindset has always stuck with me. And what I've found is that, in my work, when I meet with hundreds of top-performing salespeople every single year, I find out that those are the people that are consistently learning. They love to learn.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #2: They're implementers.

Implementing is everything. So learning is one piece of it, but then the next piece is that we have to apply what we learn, and this is so important that we don't just learn, but we implement. Many people watch these videos every single week. We're putting out a new sales training video every single week. But they ultimately stay behind their computer, and we consider those people keyboard jockeys. They never actually implement the ideas.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #3: Perspective.

Sales is not war. It is not dangerous. There is no risk to your life. There is not even any risk to your self-esteem if you don't allow it. We need to have perspective, and the best salespeople have a great perspective. They tend to be highly competitive, but at the same time, when they lose an opportunity, they don't go home and pout and beat themselves up. Instead, they keep it in perspective and recognize that some will, some won't. So what? Next.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #4: They have self-worth.

This is a tough one because it's so intangible, yet I see, over and over again, that top salespeople, they don't look for self-worth in their selling careers. They get their self-worth from just having a great life and living the life that they want.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #5: They're risk-takers.

The top salespeople are like entrepreneurs. They're willing to take risks. They're eager to try things.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #6: They love the game.

I've already talked about this a little bit, but it's so important, so I'll repeat it. We need to think of selling as a game. The best salespeople see it as a game, and they love the game. And quite frankly, once you see it as a game, it's really fun.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #7: They don't need friends.

Let me clarify. I'm not saying that salespeople are weird and don't have friends at all. Of course, great salespeople have great relationships outside of sales. But they don't need to find friends with every single prospect. There is a myth that relationship-builders are the best salespeople, and that could not be further from the truth. The best salespeople don't need to make a friend every time they talk to a prospect.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #8: They're executors.

This is so key to understand. They're not just implementers, but they execute every single day. One thing that I see about the best salespeople is that they are so consistent, and they're so disciplined, day after day. Now, they might be creatives types, and they may be a little bit sporadic here and there, but ultimately, when it comes to the real blocking and tackling of selling, they are executing every single day.

9 Qualities The BEST Salespeople Possess #9: They're executors.

Yes, I'm repeating it because it's so important. It is the number one distinction between top performers and everyone else. They execute in every single way. They learn a new idea. They execute on it. They need to do something. 

There are nine qualities the best salespeople possess. And if you enjoyed this video, then I have excellent free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals. If you got some value, please like this video below on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking my face, which should be right about here, to get access to a new video, just like this one, each week.

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KEY MOMENTS
1. Bottle what works.
2. Make mistakes. 
3. Think big.
4. Ask ask ask 
5. Hold yourself accountable to activities. 
6. Know your weekly meeting goal. 
7. Don't play by the rules. 
8. Learn, study, read, refine.
9. S-W cubed N

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1. Doing what they expect.

What we want to start to do is avoid doing anything that they expect. If they are expecting us to do something, that's a mistake that we're making. We cannot be doing what they expect.

2. Pitching.

Most salespeople have been taught that when they get in front of what they believe is a qualified prospect, and that's, of course, a pretty low bar, but they believe that they need to be pitching that prospect. What we should be doing is engaging prospects in a conversation, to understand what's going on and determine whether there's a fit. And then ultimately down the road, we would give a presentation that's customized to the challenges that they have. But we need to stop that pitch right away.

3. Being excited.

"Hey, let me show you all the reasons that you need to business with me because we have the best service. We've got the best product, everything that we do is amazing!"

Many of us were taught to show high levels of enthusiasm, high levels of excitement about our product or our service. It's supposed to show somehow the prospect that we believe in what we're selling.

4. Persuading.

The problem is that sales are not about persuading people. And I know that goes counter to what most of us have been taught, but what we want to do is rather than trying to persuade anyone that's in front of us, we want to take a step back and understand what is most important to them? Understand what are those biggest challenges and determine whether their challenges and their needs align with what it is we have to offer.

5. Talking for more than 60 seconds straight.

This is one of the most common mistakes that I see salespeople making all the time. We get excited about what it is we're talking about, we feel like we're on a roll and we keep on going, and going and going and going. The problem is is that the data shows that prospects start to tune us out after close to 60 seconds, it's a little bit less.

6. Closing.

Modern selling is not about closing, but it's about taking prospects through a process that is going to both determine whether they're a fit and create value in that process so that way at the end, the only question we ever have to ask is, well, what would you like to do next?

7. Needing the sale.

When you need a sale, immediately the prospect can feel it. It's like it just oozes out of you and they feel it immediately.

8. Following up.

Instead what we want to do is always have clear and scheduled next steps so that way at the end of every selling interaction you are always scheduling a next step, always.

9. Letting them get back to you.

If you are ever in a situation where you're waiting for the prospect to get back to you, you're in trouble. Never, ever, ever let them get back to you. Always keep control of the selling interaction.

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7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #1: don't wing it.

The key to being successful in sales is to identify what is going to be your sales approach. Script out that process or at least really sharply outline exactly what that process looks like and then follow it every single time because when we win it, we don't know what we're doing right or wrong as opposed to when you follow a process now when you're repeating it every single time, you're like, oh, you know what when I asked the budget that way it didn't go as well, but when I tested this way, it went a lot better.

And so by having this process that's following every single time. You can really compare apples to apples and if you are winging it chances are you are in that intermediate level, and you're going to struggle to get to that top-level until you really have a stable sales process that's based on results based on the data and is based on what's working in today's Marketplace.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #2: make tons of mistakes.

Let's say the worst thing happens. But if you think about it, they can't shoot you they can't attack you they can't hurt you. There's nothing that they can do, and there's nothing that they want to do. So when you make mistakes who cares be willing to make those mistakes.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #3:  Remember they can't hurt you.

The worst that could happen is that you mess up an opportunity to the point where you know what you have to get a new job, but that's so unlikely. If you've got a good boss, who understands that things go wrong, it doesn't matter. They can't hurt you be willing to make mistakes willing to try new things.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #4: Your comfort zone is your enemy.

Are you calling low-level prospects? Are you calling people at the very top of the organization top performers are?  Even if you're not an entrepreneur think like an entrepreneur. Stretch that comfort zone, do more, be willing to take risks. It doesn't matter. Remember they can't hurt you.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #5: activity is all that matters.

Activity is all that matters in sales. Activity can be defined by the number of calls you make or the number of emails that you send or the number of meetings that you're conducting.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #6: find a great mentor.

Once I found a great mentor is when my selling wholly transformed. Finding that great mentor is so important. Now, this may be someone that you have access to and your professional life right now, but it's not just finding any Mentor but finding a great mentor someone who you look at, and you say I want to be where they are.

7 Keys To Successful Selling For Intermediate Salespeople #7: keep learning.

I am continually learning to hone in my craft. I'm continuously getting new ideas from new data from new books new experts just watching a top-performing salesperson in a new industry.

I'm always getting ideas. And that's what we all have to be doing. We never want to get to the point where saying I don't need to learn anymore. That's when you start to see people go into decline in their career. 

So keep on learning, keep on sharpening that saw and never stop the process of learning. So there are the 7 keys to successful selling for intermediate salespeople. And if you enjoyed this video, then I have excellent free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals.

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KEY MOMENTS
1. They need your help
2. They always want to end the call at first
3. Map out the most common objections
4. Get super-comfy being uncomfortable
5. Keep getting 30 more seconds
6. Lead with real value
7. Get them talking
8. Give them bait for the appointment 
9. Who cares...

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KEY MOMENTS
1. Don't Educate
2. Use Your Bird's-Eye View
3. They Don't Care About You
4. Script it Out
5. Know What You Solve For Prospects
6. Share Three Challenges That You Solve
7. Engage Them Back In

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KEY MOMENTS
1. You Must Have A Process
2. Fill Your Pipeline With Automation
3. Target Only Your IPP
4. Bring Insight At The Start
5. Pitching Is For Losers
6. Know Their Challenges
7. Solve Only Those Challenges
8. Lock In Next Steps
9. Keep Learning

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Every salesperson wants to set more sales meetings. Here are 7 simple ways to set more sales meetings than you ever have before.

Do you want more sales meetings? Of course you do! More qualified sales meetings mean more sales. And more sales mean more income. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. 

Unfortunately, most salespeople bang their heads against the wall trying to set meetings. Or, even worse, they simply don’t try at all. But I’m here to tell you: There are simple strategies out there that will help you set more sales meetings than ever before.

In this video, I’m going to share 7 incredibly easy ways for you to set more meetings in sales.

So, there you have it. Now you know 7 easy ways to set more meetings in sales. Have you used any of these strategies before? If so, what was the result? I’d love to hear from you. Be sure to share below in the comments section. I’ll respond to as many comments as possible.

If you enjoyed this episode, visit https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

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If your prospecting emails go largely ignored by your prospects, you’re not alone. The vast majority of salespeople send out sales emails that their prospects never even read. 

Why? Well, let’s take a second and put ourselves in the shoes of our prospects. If your prospects are decision makers, then they’re important people. They’re likely receiving hundreds of emails every single day. Truly important emails. 

This means that your prospects are constantly skimming through their inboxes to see what matter, because they’re so tight on time. If your email doesn’t make the cut, you’re dead in the water. But with the right sales approach, you can get your emails in front of any prospect.

In this video, I’m going to show you five down & dirty tips for sales emails that your prospects will actually read.

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Every salesperson knows how it feels to get stonewalled by a gatekeeper in sales. Gatekeepers keep many salespeople up at night, and for good reason: If you can’t get past the gatekeeper, then you can’t make the sale. It’s as simple as that.

Strangely, gatekeepers are usually the nicest people you’ll interact with at a company. They know how to innocently ask dreaded questions like, “May I ask what this call is about?” and “Is my boss expecting your call?” Then, they’ll sweetly tell you that your prospect isn’t available right now—but they’ll happily take a message.

Dead-end interactions like this are the bane of every salesperson’s existence. But, luckily, there are three proven ways to get past the gatekeeper—and through to your high-level prospect.

In this video, I’m going to show you exactly how to deal with a gatekeeper in sales.

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Want to close more sales? Implement these 11 insanely quick tips to close more sales, right now.

You want to close more sales, right? I know you do. We all do—but there are hard ways to close more sales, and then there are quick and easy ways. And, personally, I prefer the latter.

Given that I work with so many salespeople, I get to constantly see what’s really working in sales. I want to share with you what’s truly working in today’s fast-paced market. 

In this video, I’m going to show you 11 insanely quick tips to close more sales. Check it out!

So, there you have it. Now you know 11 insanely quick tips to close more sales. I want to hear from you. Which of these quick tips did you find most useful? Be sure to share below in the comments section. I’ll respond to as many comments as possible. 

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I'm going to show you seven ways to be a more confident salesperson.

Number one, stop needing the business. I had an amazing mentor early on in my selling career who used to tell me that Marc, I don't care if you need to close the sale to pay for gas to get home. Never need the business in your head. Any time you're in front of a prospect, you do not need the business. I don't care if you do need money. You do not need the business, and that is such an important mindset shift because what that's saying to the prospect and yourself mentally is because I don't need this business I can do anything that I want.

Number two, it's a game. Selling is not real life. They can't hurt us. They can't do anything to break us or to kill us or anything like that. All they can do is tell us to take a hike, and you know what? It's not that bad. It's happened to me many times. I've been kicked out of offices, and it's not a big deal. Selling is much more like a video game or a sport where you have two different sides playing different roles.

Number three, take risks. Now, this builds off of what I just said. They can never hurt us and what I find is that salespeople always ask me, they say oh, what if they kicked me out of their office or what if they yelled at me on that phone call? You know what? If they did which is pretty unlikely but if they did, so what, what's the worst thing that can happen? They hang up the phone, or they ask you to leave. It's not a big deal, and I find that so often salespeople aren't taking enough risks. The more risks we take, the better off we're going to be.

Number four, stop trying to fix situations gone wrong. This is probably the most common question that I get. I have a forum of people that are constantly asking me questions, and I'd say about 50% of the questions I get are trying to deal with a situation that has gone wrong. Instead, diagnose what maybe happened in that situation. Find out any feedback that you can get, and that's going to make you much stronger for the next time that you're in a selling situation, and that is what's going to build your confidence in sales ultimately.

Number five, learn every single time. My father used to always tell me that people who stop learning start dying and it's always stuck with me, and it's so true, and it is so true in sales. Salespeople who stop learning start dying. They do, right? I mean, the second we say to ourselves, oh, you know what, I know everything that I ever need to know from selling is the moment that we start to become worse at sales.

Number six, SW cubed N. Yep, you heard me right. SW cubed N. You may have heard this put differently, but SW cubed N stands for some will, some won't, so what, next. Now, it sounds trite and ridiculous but it's something that I learned many, many years ago and it will always be true in selling that some will, some won't, so what, next. We need to stop taking ourselves so seriously in sales.

Number seven quit making friends. This is I think a really old school mentality to selling, this idea that we should be making friends with our prospects, and you see it particularly in certain industries that are pretty insular, that are smaller industries, and you've got these really schmoozy sales guys or sales gals that are just chumming up to every prospect. 

There are the seven ways to be a more confident salesperson and if you enjoyed this video then have an awesome free online training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales. Just click right here to get registered instantly. Seriously, click right here. This is an in-depth training that will help you close more sales at higher prices while generating more meetings. Also, if you got some value, please like this video below on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my channel by clicking my face right here to get access to a new video just like this one each week.

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Advanced Sales training For Business Professionals
I'm going to show you advance sales techniques for business professionals.

Number one distinction is everything. We need to be distinct. We need to have that mindset where whatever everyone else is doing we are doing the exact opposite. We need to be a complete opposite of what that prospect expects and then suddenly it's amazing how that distinction makes you seem so much more high value in the eyes of the.

Number two: you don't need the business. When you're talking to prospects, say things like you know what I want to determine whether this is a fit both ways because I'll tell you right now not everyone is a fit for what we do you start sprinkling in Concepts and lines like that. Your prospects are going to be like, wow. I am interested in this person because they don't seem to need my business

Number three: it's not about friendships. Let go of the idea that we need to be having friendships and instead focus much more on being willing to end a relationship if it's not a fit and then move on and go on to the next.

Number four: cold calling won't get you there. If you are a seasoned advance sales professional, you should not be making cold calls every single day. It's just not the best use of your time. You can be doing other things like using a sales prospecting campaign.

Number five: it's all about them. Not you now. This is a fundamental idea that as we become more expert in our field, we start to feel like we have the answers.
And sometimes it can turn a selling situation into a place where it's more about us than it is about them.

Number six: not all questions are created equal. We need to be recognizing that not all questions are good. A lot of questions in sales are bad. What we want to do is dig deep and go. Further down understanding what the prospect cares about

Number seven: get them to articulate value. They can't argue with that number that's their number they own it. So now they believe it as fact, and this is so key because now that they have shared that number that's what the value of your offering brings assuming you can solve the challenges that they've talked about they have now told you what the value of your offering is to.

Number eight: quit talking about price. When we focus on budget, it's a conversation around them and what they're willing and able to invest to solve these challenges that they've discussed when you talk about price.

Number nine: jealously guard your time. You are an advanced sales professional you're looking for advanced sales training the most scarce asset that any advanced salesperson has is their time.

There is advanced sales training for business professionals. And if you enjoyed this video that an awesome free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals.

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In this video, I'm going to show you exactly how you get around those key problems. I'm going to show you the three keys to sales conversations that close deals, check it out.

3 Keys To Sales Conversations To Close More Deals #1: insight

Showing that you have insight to offer is so crucial to getting that conversation in the first place. We need to establish as salespeople that we have the authority, that we have the value, and that we're not just going to be taking, taking, taking, from prospects by asking them tons of questions, but instead we're going to be offering them some value at the beginning. This is a crucial distinction, and it's really about the early part of the conversation.

Whether it's on the phone or face-to-face at the beginning of the meeting, we want to start by kicking off the discussion with something different than, so what are your biggest challenges, or what's keeping you up at night? But instead, it is really focused on their world, on solving their challenges. So step number one within that is about your opening play. How are you opening that conversation? Having an opening play is not about using your value proposition but instead, using an approach that is talking about some of the critical challenges that they see in their world.

3 Keys To Sales Conversations To Close More Deals #2: disqualify

If you've ever followed any of my stuff before, you'll know that disqualification is such a big part of a high-quality sales conversation. The typical idea that most of us have been taught is that we need to persuade prospects to do business with us. This idea takes that idea and flips it right on its head. We don't need to convince people to do business with us. Instead, what we want to do is not even qualify prospects. But instead, we want to disqualify. We want to come in with that doctor's mindset, we want our salespeople, or just ourselves, to come in with that doctor's mindset, where we're saying to ourselves, is this a fit?

That starts with the first piece, which is, understanding their challenges. You've shown some insight, you've brought some value to the conversation, and now you want to dig into those key challenges that the prospect is facing around the areas that you focus on, of course. You want to understand exactly what those challenges are, and this where we kind of get into our psychologist armchair mode, right, where we're just slowing down the conversation, and we're just letting them tell us about some of the key challenges that they're facing at the moment. So there are a lot of questions like, help me understand why you say that? Or tell me a little bit more about that? Or can you give me an example of that? Right, so you're just some basic questions that are going to open up the prospect and getting them talking about their key challenges.

3 Keys To Sales Conversations To Close More Deals #3: solve

To have productive conversations, you need to show the prospect that you can solve their problems. This is really important to understand where we are in the sales process, right. We've already shown insight, we've disqualified people to the point where we know that this person at this point is a good fit, and now we're demonstrating that we can solve their problems. And that's where a case study presentation comes in. 

People are persuaded so much more by stories. If you start to throw out tons of facts, or features and benefits, or you're trying to tell them the solution, they're much more likely to resist. But when you tell them a case study, or a story, where maybe there were results as a result of that story, now they're engaged in the conversation. They can't fight with the facts of the story, so we want to be using case studies in our presentation, particularly at the early part of the presentation as a way to demonstrate how our solution will help their organization. 

There are the three keys to sales conversations that close deals. And if you enjoyed this video, then I have an awesome free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals.

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7 Most common Sales Objections (And How To Overcome Them)

There are so many things that we can be doing both at the beginning, and the end of sales calls to both avoid these situations and to help overcome them.  What this video is going to do is I'm going to show you the seven most common sales objections and how to overcome them.

Objection one: your price is too high. If you've been in sales for any length of time and you're not the Walmart of organizations, you've probably heard this objection for, and the price is all about perceived value. So the way we avoid this objection in the first place is by focusing on the real value that our service provides to the prospect, so that way price is some.

Objection two: I need to think about it. This is an easy objection to avoid in the first place by merely again making sure that you're establishing enough value and also that you are understanding their decision-making process when you're creating enough value in the sale.

Objection three: I need to run this by so and so. I need to run this by my partner. I need to run this by my wife. I need to run this by my team. Anytime you hear I need to run this by and you weren't expecting it you have done something wrong in the sale because you absolutely should have understood this when you were in the discovery phase.

Objection four: I can't afford it. I can't afford it. We've probably all heard this before again if we've been in selling for long enough, we've heard this button enough times before you're going to see this pattern over and over again. First of all, if you hear that and that's surprising you; it means that you didn't do a good enough job up front to create the value in the sale.

Objection five: we're already working with someone else. This now is a little bit different from some of the other objections. Presumably, this would have come pretty early in the sales conversation as opposed to a lot of these objections which we talked about which are a little bit later right so early on we've all probably heard this before, you know, we're working with someone else, and they're doing your job.

Objection six: we don't have the budget. Now again, we've talked about that. I can't afford it conversation. We don't have the budget is a more beta be specific kind of objection. But again, this should be something that we should be dealing with up front. If you have presented Your solution and you're getting two we don't have the budget you've done something wrong. Period we should always know that this is coming and so during the budget phase of Discovery. We should be talking about budget asking questions like Gary tell me do you have a budget for this kind of a project and if they say no we don't have the budget and you say okay.

Objection seven: I'm too busy right now. This is a widespread objection again; you should be dealing with this early on in the conversation that should never be happening after we have to be showing the value throughout the sale.

There are the seven most common sales objections and how to overcome them and if you enjoyed this video that an awesome free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals click right here to get registered instantly. Seriously. Just click right here. This is an in-depth training that will help you close more sales at higher prices while generating more meetings.

Also, if you got some value out of this episode, please to subscribe to podcast to get access to a new episodes just like this one each week.

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9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #1: drop the enthusiasm.

I cannot say this enough, but enthusiastic selling does not work.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #2: pitching is old school.

I can't tell you the number of times that I cringe when I hear the word pitch. You're not there to pitch your there to engage in a conversation to understand what's going on.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #3: no need to persuade.

It's not about persuading but instead engaging them in conversation and asking questions that are going to help you understand precisely where they are hurting what's going on and what they care about.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #4: don't focus on the close.

All you need is to be stronger early on, and then the close is inconsequential. Next step clarifying the next steps? So don't focus on the close as much as what you're doing.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #5: know your discovery questions.

Know your discovery questions every single time. And by the way, these really shouldn't change. Knowing those questions every time is so important because then it allows you to go from focusing on yourself and what you're saying and what you're going to say next and instead focusing on what the prospect is saying.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #6: establish a budget.

What we ultimately want to do is make sure that we're on the same page with money before we present. So you literally might say that George before I go back to my office and put together a proposal I want to have a quick conversation about money to make sure that we're on the same page.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #7: learn their decision-making process.

In an organization, even if you're selling to the CEO often, they have a team that they want to get buy-in. They want to have a collaborative process. And so you want to learn that decision-making process early on in the conversation not after you've presented.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #8: Always have the next step.

We always want to have a scheduled next step coming out of any interaction with a prospect, and you want to become just downright militant about this where you never let a prospect out of your site or off the phone without scheduling the next step.

9 Changes You Need To Make (NOW) To Become A Better Salesperson #9: Be willing to make mistakes.

The willingness to mess things up liberates you from doing timid things that are tentative. I want you to take risks next time you're in front of a prospect in the time to ask that budget question. Ask the question. Don't be worried about messing it up if you mess it up, so what you know what chances are they won't even notice be willing to make those mistakes and what you're going to find is you're going to be so much better than if you were afraid of making those mistakes.

Those are the nine changes you need to make right now to become a better salesperson. And if you enjoyed this episode, I have excellent free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals.

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

KEY MOMENTS
0:42 1. Don't Outsource Sales
1:42 2. Focus on Processes
2:44 3. Have a Repeatable Way to Get Cold Prospects
3:33 4. Leverage Sales Automation
4:21 5. Use VAs For The Research Of Prospects
5:11 6. Know Your Company's Real Value
6:05 7. Disqualify. Hard.
6:55 8. Focus on Larger Sales
7:43 9. Once You Have POC, Now Bring In Support

https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

KEY MOMENTS
0:40 1. Research Your Prospects Up Front
1:17 2. Use a Script
1:58 3. Leverage Video if Possible
2:32 4. Get Them Talking
3:02 5. Dig Deep
3:59 6. Disqualify
4:51 7. Get Their Drive
5:33 8. Solve Their Challenges
6:17 9. Keep The Presentation Short
6:43 10. Let Their Questions Drive the Rest
7:21 11. Hold Your Ground

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5 Steps to Building a Custom Sales Process #1: identify the core value proposition.

What do you or do your reps say when someone says why should I do business with you? Is there a consistent approach?
Is there a consistent way of approaching? Why should someone do business with you?

What is the value that you as an organization bring to your clients and say that in a way that's not just some cheesy old school? Yeah, we have the best service people love us. We've been around for 200 years all of that stuff that every single organization is out there saying get to the heart of the matter.

5 Steps to Building a Custom Sales Process #2: Map out the key steps of sales top performers.

Often some of the best ideas, the best practices are actually already happening within within the organization right now. What we do as a firm is we start to assess precisely what top sales performers in your organization are doing that is working compared to what the average reps are doing.

5 Steps to Building a Custom Sales Process #3: Script out sales tactics and strategies.

If you look at top performers, they so often are doing the same thing over and over. What we're often doing as an organization is scripting out precisely what those sales tactics and strategies look like so that way when you bring in a new person to your organization or someone who's maybe struggling a bit, and we want to move them up in terms of their selling ability.

5 Steps to Building a Custom Sales Process #4: Introduce the methodology to management.

What we've found is that we want to get buy-in and at the same time we want to train the sales management level on how to Implement these sales tactics.

For them to go through this process is both going to raise their game, but it's also setting them up to be the ones that are introducing the new sales methodology to the broader sales organization.

5 Steps to Building a Custom Sales Process #5: Launch to the broader sales organization with structured modules.

This is important to us. We're all about creating a structured approach when rolling out a sales process and this is important that we genuinely think about it in a way that is systematic and allows organizations to present it to sales reps in a very repeatable consistent way.

Here are the five steps to building a custom sales process for your organization. I want to hear from you. If you're a senior leader at a sales organization with over about a hundred salespeople, we would as an organization love to do a complimentary sales process audit where we will have a conversation with you, and we will talk to some folks in your organization to really understand where your organization is right now from a sales process perspective.

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Modern selling isn't actually about selling per se, at least, not in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, the focus is really on determining fit, and once we know there's a fit, then we can start to create value in that conversation. In this video, I'm going to show you how to stop selling and start closing sales. 

Number one, know your ideal prospect. This is really a mistake that so many salespeople make which is trying to do business with a broad group of people, when in fact, their ideal prospects are actually out there, and they're not in front of them because they're so focused on selling to a bigger audience as opposed to really narrowing down the ideal prospect. 

Number two, only focus on ideal prospects. I need to drive this point home because it's so key. This means that if you are dealing with someone who isn't an ideal prospect, stop dealing with them. Move on, refer them to someone else. Focus your time on only ideal prospects. 

Number three, get rid of the rabble. Now, this again builds on the earlier point, but getting rid of the rabble may sound kind of mean, but it is so true and so critical. As a top-performing salesperson, what we want to do is determine whether someone's a fit up front and if we determine that they're not, move on. Get rid of the rabble. Don be distracted by all of these different potential opportunities, most of which are junk. Get rid of the rabble and focus on those people that are truly ideal prospects that are going to be that good fit. 

Number four, disqualify prospects. Now if you've been in my world for some time, you've heard this term of disqualifying prospects. And what's amazing to me is even some of my best clients still come back to me and say, "Well, you know what Marc? "I used the disqualification process of trying to get rid "of those people that aren't a fit, but I'm still coming "across some of these people, and I'm keeping them along "in my process that may or may not be a fit." What we want to do is spend the early part of the sale disqualifying people that are not a good fit! 

Number five, the doctor's mindset. The doctor's mindset is so key and what this means is that when a prospect gets in front of us, we need to think like a doctor. We've got to stop thinking like a salesperson or a consultant. Instead, we want to think like a doctor. Think about going to the doctor's office. 

Number six, only present to their challenges. Have you ever been in a selling situation where it was going pretty well, and you're in this presentation, and they're like, "Oh yeah, "that makes a lot of sense." And "Oh, I can see how we could use that." And it just feels good and then you get excited, and you say, oh, and by the way, let me show you one other thing that we can do. 

Number seven, get tons of feedback. Feedback, feedback, feedback throughout the sale. From the beginning to the end. There is a tendency, especially by the way, for more seasoned salespeople to get on a roll. And we're like, oh yeah, I'm feelin' good. I'm killin' this one, and we start talkin' and talkin' and talkin', and we're not getting feedback from the prospect throughout this process. And so, even when we're presenting a solution, we're just talking for 10 minutes straight. What we want to be doing instead, is continually getting feedback throughout, anytime that we're talking.  

Number eight, drop the hard close. We need to drop that hard close. Selling is not about selling, and it's not about closing. Selling is about using a process by which we determine whether there's a fit and we're asking really powerful questions to create value, to engage them in that conversation, to understand exactly what's going on.

If you enjoyed this episode that had an awesome free online training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales, click right here to get registered instantly.

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My 8 Absolute Best Sales Tips For Closing Business

There are so many ideas out there, and it's so hard to boil it down to the absolute essence, the essential concepts. Recently someone asked me, Mark, what are your perfect best sales pitch for closing business and it challenged me to boil down all of the best ideas out there to just a couple of crucial concepts.

Number 1: the close doesn't matter. We spend so much time thinking about how am I going to close the sale? But actually, if you use a practical, systematic approach the close is the least important thing I once had a mentor who used to say, "Mark if you start a sale strong it ends strong naturally." Start strong; stay strong.

Be stronger upfront asking better questions being more effective using the tips. I'm about to share with you. So that way the clothes ultimately doesn't matter. The close is a natural outcome of the conversation that you have had. Don't worry about the clothes worry about what setting up that close.

Number 2: have a systematic approach for asking questions. Most salespeople are just asking questions are doing whatever is coming to their mind at that moment yet. The best salespeople have a systematic approach for asking questions of their prospect. They know precisely which questions to be asking at what time because asking good questions is all about asking the right sequence of questions.

Number 3: always ask about the math. Math is such a vital part of selling because ultimately we don't create value in the sale without there being math.

Number 4: value must come from them not you. This is an area where I think a lot of salespeople miss the boat. They want to talk about numbers, but they are the ones that are bringing the numbers to the table. They're talking about the value as opposed to letting the prospect create the value themselves.

Number 5: talk budget not price. This is everything bottom performing salespeople, in particular, are way too quick to talk about. They jump into a price conversation as opposed to a budget conversation, which should come at the end of Discovery. What this means is that you want to be going through a good discovery conversation. Establishing value that they're bringing to the table and then you have a discussion after you've done that around budget when you talk about budget or a range of budget that is realistic for them and get on the same page with the budget before you present your solution.

Number 6: learn the decision-making process. This is so big. It's so easy; prospects are happy to talk about their decision-making process.

Number 7: get constant feedback. It's so crucial that particularly once we're in the presentation phase of a sale that we are continually getting feedback from the prospect making sure that we're all on the same page that they're nodding their head or they're like, yeah, that makes sense.

Number 8: always have a clear and scheduled next step. I feel like I'm talking about a lot of the same ideas lately, but it's so important don't get mad at me don't write in the comments that oh, you've been talking about clearing scheduled Next Step a lot only do that.

There are my eight absolute best sales tips to closing business. And if you enjoyed this episode, hiit the subscribe button

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Today I'm going to show you the must-have mindset of a closer. This is all about sales motivation. Check it out.

Number one: motivation isn't about being excited. It's just about getting off your rear and doing it.  You have to get up you have to go and then you. To get going and then before, you know, it doesn't hurt as much anymore. It's not about being excited 

Number two: stop waiting for the feeling. Do it. Don't wait. Just do it. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't wait till 3 p.m. This afternoon. Don't wait until tonight. Don't wait till next week do it. There are a couple of key things that we must do in sales and quite frankly. They're often not the most fun things. Don't wait for that feeling to do it get in there and take action and do it 

Number three: small, consistent steps every single day. 
Whatever those Key activities are for you. They're just doing a couple every single day small; consistent steps are much more sustainable. 

Number four: They can't hurt you. 
Don't be afraid of what someone's going to do. Just get out there and do those things that you have to be doing and if by the way if someone does say or do something that kind of stings take it and move on. Move on 

Number five: sales is a sport. Sales is a sport. The prospect is playing a game. You're playing a game the part of the game that you're playing is that you're trying to sell the part of the game that they're trying to play is that they're trying to get the most advantageous purchase with their time and money.

Number six: focus on activity and pipeline, not sales numbers from a sales motivation perspective. This is one of the biggest takeaways that you can Implement right now, which is to stop worrying about what your sales numbers are right now.

Number seven: know exactly why you do. Why do you sell? Why do you need to close a sale tomorrow? You should know exactly why you're picking up the phone every single. 

Number eight: be smart, not hard-working. You want to be smart about how you're using your time. 

There is the must-have mindset of a closer, and if you enjoyed this video, then I have an awesome free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals.

Just click right here to get registered instantly. Seriously. Just click right here. This is an in-depth training that will help you close more sales at higher prices while generating more meetings. 

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Also, if you got some value out of this episode, please subscribe! 

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KEY MOMENTS
1. Take a Breath
2. Be Willing to Screw Up
3. Follow a Process From Day 1
4. Drop the Enthusiasm
5. Be Firm and Real
6. Script Out Everything
7. Disqualify
8. Cut Your Presentation in Half
9. Model Success

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“I Want to Think It Over” Tip #1: Avoid “think it overs” in the first place with value.

When a customer says, "I want to think it over," in many cases what they're really saying is, "I haven't seen enough value from this conversation to feel confident about moving forward right now."

While we can certainly deal with “think it over” objections once we hear them (more on that later), the most important part of the sale is to actually avoid hearing this phrase in the first place.

“I Want to Think It Over” Tip #2: Ask about decision-making up front.

One of the biggest mistakes that salespeople make is failing to discuss the prospect’s decision-making process early on in the sales conversation. Then, when they go for the close, they're caught completely off guard by some additional steps that the prospect wants to take before making a decision.

“I Want to Think It Over” Tip #3: Don’t react. Pause.

Let’s say you did a strong job up front and created lots of value for the prospect. You even discussed the decision-making process early on. But the prospect still says, “I want to think it over.”

Don’t react. Pause. Slow it down.

“I Want to Think It Over” Tip #4: Acknowledge with a softener.

When a prospect gives an objection like “I want to think it over,” they’re automatically expecting a salesperson to push back. They’ve been in enough sales situations to know how the conversation usually goes.

What we want to do is actually flip that entire expected interaction on its head. The first thing you should do after you pause is to acknowledge what they said with what I like to call a “softener”—basically a compliment. Simply say something that acknowledges what they just said in a really nice way. Convey to them that you think their objection is reasonable and that it’s OK.

“I Want to Think It Over” Tip #5: Clarify their why.

We want to understand why the prospect wants to think it over. Most salespeople are going to push back on “think it overs” with discounted pricing or by saying something really salesy and cheesy like, "Well, I can only hold the pricing for today" or, "I can only give you this great deal for the next few days."

It might sound something like this:

Pause. “That totally makes sense. Can you help me understand why you say that?”

Or you might say:

Pause. “Totally fair. Help me understand what your next steps are going to be to figure out whether this is a fit or not.”

Now you've taken all the pressure off them. They don't feel like they're in a confrontational situation. Give them an opportunity to explain why they want to think it over, and get some clarity into what their next steps might be.
           
Ask a number of follow-up questions here to really understand what their concerns are. Get all their worries on the table and really isolate them so you can either solve them, or at least hold the sale together with some clear next steps.

So, there you have it. Now you know how to deal with a customer who says “I want to think it over.” Which part of this approach did you find most useful for your own selling strategy? Be sure to share in the comments section to join the conversation.

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5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email

Are you one of the many sales reps using cold email to generate high-quality appointments? If you are a savvy sales rep chances are you are and more importantly with the tools that are available nowadays. We can be setting up automated cold email sequences that are high-quality emails with high-quality outreaches.

I'm talking with Ian Bloembergen, the founder of Pilot Now (https://pilotnow.com/). This guy is an absolute Ninja at Cold email as I go through the interview with him pay close attention to every single thing that he mentions because some of the things that he says are subtle, but I promise you if you implement some of these ideas you are going to absolutely crush your email sequences. 

5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email #1:
Take the time at the top of the funnel to get everything right in the beginning; then everything becomes a lot easier. 

Make sure you've got your details setup right by picking the right email provider depending on who you're going after.

Make sure your list is right using a useful tool because, in the end, you can need to get the right message to the right person if you're going to get anywhere.

5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email #2: Intentional content. 

What we found is cold outbound email is evolving. And the more people that do is the number of people get to it, just like any form of sales. No one picks up a telemarketer anymore because they get a hundred today. And so how do you stand out? 

5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email #3 Personalization

The key here is personalization right is to make sure that your message is geared to the individual or the account. No one wants to be automated. So if you have a sign that your message seems automated you're going to lose replies, even if the value prop is excellent, also if they have the pain because they feel like hey, you can't have the time to write email one by one to me. Why should I give you the time right and so how do you do that in a way in scale?

5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email #4: React with urgency. 

Make sure you set up alerts and make sure you react quickly.
And if you do that you're in the game and from there. 

The data is unequivocal. Companies that respond within six minutes the likelihood of converting that lead into an appointment is double. 

5 Keys to Setting More Appointments With Cold Email #5: Pair touches with other channels. Send a LinkedIn connection request and maybe reference the email exchange. 

There are five keys to setting more appointments with cold email. And if you enjoyed this video, then I have excellent free training on the data-driven approach to help you crush your sales goals. Just click right here to get registered instantly.

This is an in-depth training that will help you close more sales at higher prices while generating more meetings. Also, if you got some value, please like this video below on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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KEY MOMENTS

1. Bigger is Greater Than More
2. Target Prospects
3. Find Triggers That Suggest Pain
4. Prospect in Your Sleep
5. Know That You Bring Real Value
6. Offer Three Options
7. Identify Niches