Welcome to the Business Abundance Podcast, providing
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www .businessabundance .online. Hello and welcome
to the Business Abundance Podcast today. Hello.
I am with Rowan. Hi. And we're going to be chatting
about sales in small businesses. And I want to
start it off by going and discussing about what
a salesperson is. I mean, from my experience,
particularly when it comes to the role, I've
only like the you can sell ice to Eskimos, that
sort of thing. Like people kind of consider it
to be a bit of a dirty word. Definitely. So I
guess I'm sort of here to understand why. Why
that's the case, I mean, I've even got a question
here for you, like, are they frauds? Like, are
they selling something that actually matters?
So we're going to go into that and also discuss
how it's helpful for a small business or why
it's essential for a small business. So do you
want to give us your idea on what a salesperson
is? So any salespeople out there right now are
like, am I a fraud? Am I selling anything that
really matters? Yes. It's going to be rough.
I know a few people like selling toasters. Yeah.
Well, you're from a sales role. Yeah. I think
everyone's probably from a sales role when you
think about it. That's a good way to think about
it. Yeah. But, um, you know, does sales really
matter? Like it's for a small business. It definitely
does. No one's selling anything. Then there aren't
too many customers buying anything. I suppose
you can say a salesperson or an order taker.
An order taken. Yeah, but then you talk about
salvageable frauds. Well, hopefully not. It's
definitely some of them. Mm -hmm. Network marketing.
Mm -hmm. Pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes are
bad though, aren't they? People knocking on your
door and just saying, hey, buy this or the infomercial's
on TV that... All sales people. Yeah. So I guess
it comes down to your intention. Yeah. Yeah.
Because I was told once, never sell something
you don't believe in. Mm -hmm. which I think
makes you like or makes that product more valuable.
Yeah, it's definitely a good way to look at it.
If you believe in something, you're going to
be probably a bit more convincing, but it makes
you a bit more happy to do what you do. But what
happens if you've got the second best product
on the market and there's one that's slightly
better? Can you sell that? Figure out why it's
better? Yeah, but no, it's the second best. Like
another company sells the best one, but you work
for XYZ gadgets. I don't know. What do you do?
I, I, I'm a self identify. I just, I'm not good
at sales. I know you and I have worked on this
for years and years and years trying to like
improve my sales, but I, I really struggle with
it. I just, I feel awkward selling people a product.
Um, even though I love it and I believe in it
and it's like my job and everything like that,
but I just, I sometimes just don't feel it's
right to like change their mind. But then that's
why we have the perspective of like, we're fixing
problems. So we need to figure out that problem
and then go from there. Correct. But I mean,
if I was in retail and someone's like, Oh, I
love this shirt, but I can't afford it. And I'm
just sitting there like, Buy the shirt. What
are you doing? You don't need food. Just buy
the shirt. Exactly. I don't know. I think it's
a bit of a like, yeah, it feels funny. I think
there's two ways to look at sales. You can look
from a hunting approach, which is hey, buy the
shirt. I know you don't have any money, but what
have you got? You've got $42. Well, let's make
the shirt footage $42 and you just starve for
the rest of the week. The next person comes through
the door, get another sale, boom, boom, boom,
boom. But then eventually, With the hunting approach,
if you are hunting, you're finding the animal,
you're killing the animal, and then eventually
there's nothing left. So then the other approach
is the farming approach, which is you're trying
to sow crops, let them grow, nurture them, and
then, you know, harvest, grow again, harvest.
And when we're talking about people, that sounds
really rude. I didn't even think about that.
But yeah, it's like building that relationship.
So I can't afford it. I really love it. Okay.
Do you really love it? Yeah, I really love it.
I really want that shirt. Okay, well, we can
do a lay -by if you want. Just put down five
bucks and how long do you think you'd take? Oh,
that sounds great. Because they're their own
people. So if they want the shirt, they want
the shirt. They will end up getting it. Yeah.
How can you help them get the shirt? Yeah, I
think it's a big thing. So if people people were
uncomfortable sales, it's it's what do they think
about the term being a salesperson? So you mentioned
convincing people to spend money They don't want
to spend or that have money or or getting to
do something They don't want to do or sort of
the undertones of what you're saying and on those
words But no, I don't mean it As in it's just
like from my discussions with people people go
like I just Even as they own their own business,
they're like they either want me or they don't
and so they're either gonna buy or not I I don't
feel comfortable doing that middle ground area
where it's like Don't get it. Yeah. Yeah. So
I think like I'm like you said I was in sales
back in the day and I'm in selling crazy big
things but you know some of the sales were 30
grand for you know just mums and dads and stuff
so pretty big but some were 10 bucks um but you
know my attitude was more like people coming
to the shop they obviously want something or
they're interested in something there so can
i help them find something that will work for
them um so you know there was xyz tv that was
the best like hands down the best but not everyone
wants the best it's the best for them so within
their budget or what they want to watch or you
know some most people blind anyway so they go,
oh, which is the best TV? Like it's going to
have the best picture quality. It's like, okay,
well, what do you think? Like, look, you know,
your eyes and they're like, oh, this one here
is like, well, why is it so much cheaper than
everything else? Probably you're blind, but if
that looks the best to you, like that's the best
looking one, isn't it? So, you know, it's turning
that around from, hey, we're selling, we're selling,
we're selling. We're just trying to, you know,
get money in the, in the bank to, well, my job
is people are here coming in or I've got to get
people to come to us. But I'm trying to change.
their situation for the better. Now, if that
means like it doesn't fit or it's someone else,
a different company or different products better,
then you can go two ways, hunting approach, sell
them something that doesn't work for them. And
yep, you get a sale, but they probably won't
be happy and probably won't come back. So that's
where the negative kind of connotation comes
from. Yeah. The reason why people feel uncomfortable
when it comes to sales. Yep. But then another
way to go there is go, okay, well, hey, this
one's, this is what we've got. this is what's
going to work well for you based on what we've
discussed. So we'll probably come back to that.
But there's also this one that we don't sell
that probably is a hundred percent perfect for
you. Now, if you said that to someone, they're
going to be like, Oh, what? You know, like, don't
you want to deal with me? It's like, Oh, just,
you know, this is why. So they can make a decision
then, Hey, we want to deal with you. We like
you, we like your company. So those features,
we prefer to deal with you over those features
or they can go elsewhere. But then who are they
going to come back to for the next purchase?
Yep. Um, it's probably not going to be the other
company. It's probably going to be you. Um, who
would they send their friends to? Um, who they
send their family to probably you. Um, so yeah,
talking about, look, I guess the, the fraud,
the word sales, sales person, people think it
would be dirty and, and let's bring it back to
small business. Um, you've got people in your
business that don't want to sell. They're not
comfortable selling. Um, well, the term is, well,
Hey, what we do can benefit people. You need
to. talk to potential clients and ask good questions
to figure out if there's a way we can help them.
Yeah, if they actually do need help. Yeah. Yeah.
So, um, you know, what are those questions that
identify or qualify that client to, Hey, you
know, is there something that we can fit in?
Um, if it's a business to business sales, Hey,
would you like a chat to see, you know, I'll
learn a bit about you. You'd learn a bit about
us. See if there's a way we can do business together.
Now, most people would be like, yeah, cool. There's
no next step there is there aside from have a
chat. So from that chat, it's either going to
be, hey, we can do something. Um, from what you've
said, we've got this service or this product
that might help you with that. Would you like
to know more? And you can say yes or no. So then
you're more in a process of helping them get
somewhere rather than saying, Hey, would you
like to catch up? I've got XYZ widget and it's
the best thing in the world. Like everyone loves
it. I want to sell it to you. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
So it's just the way you approach it. If you're
going from a helping mindset, then I think it's,
but maybe people of the people that I talked
to that do have those negative understandings
have just had experiences where they've just
put on the back foot because they're like, well,
I, this is out of the blue. I don't need it.
I don't want it, but they kept shoving it down
my throat and I don't want it. Correct. I said,
no. So it's fine. It's like, Hey, you know, do
you want to catch up and talk with me? No. Yeah,
cool. No worries. And then you move on. Maybe
they don't like your face, you remind them of
an ex -boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. No, serious.
Like some people just don't like, you know, or
maybe it's a bad day and bad timing, whatever.
But it's just a matter of going from a place,
like a positive place, good place, trying to
help people. And so within a business then, team
members, getting them comfortable with it. It's
going, okay, well, what's the process we can
use that where? Helping people. Mm -hmm, or we're
contacting people. Yeah Cold -calling is probably
the hardest one. Yeah, I was gonna I was gonna
touch on cold -calling like what's your Yeah,
it's got its place because if it didn't work
then no one's gonna be cold -calling anyone and
we all get them so Obviously has its place in
the world. I don't know if I've ever been cold
-called Oh, you're lucky. We need to get your
phone number. Just check the comments on the
podcast. Um, no, just joking. Um, but cold calling.
Yeah. Like it's, it's going, well, what's the
process that we can not waste people's time,
not offend them, not annoy them, but start a
conversation. Yeah. Um, so there's gotta be,
you know, you've got a script, you can change
it. You can have steps that people can go along
the way. Um, You know, for example, a call yesterday,
um, I'm calling for, is this Rowan? Yep. This
is Rowan. Um, so -and -so from so -and -so blah,
blah, blah. Cool. What can I do for you? Oh,
and then boom script starts. So I'm calling from
so -and -so we do IPOs and at the moment we've
got this, this exciting one, this exciting one.
Cool. Hey, and I'm trying to just interrupt them.
They keep rolling through the script. I'm not
going to waste your time. Just have a nice day.
Catch you later. Then you hang up and you feel
horrible. No, I didn't. Don't hang out. Cause
normally they stop the script and they're like,
Oh, okay. Yep. Then they've got another script
to whip out. Yeah, this guy, so he's gone straight
to the objection of piss off. And he's gone,
oh no, sir, sir, sir, I'm not asking for a commitment
right now. I'm just wanting to, you know, gauge
your interest. So from their process there, aside
from how they do the, the first call is to gauge
interest. And would you be interested in talking
further? So it's a bit of a smaller step. So
your call calling, you've got to start with something
really small and then build, build, build, build,
build. And for businesses that don't have a way
to get clients in or Have a network word of mouth.
It's definitely helps. That just makes me uncomfortable
Yeah, so you've got to then go. Okay. What's
it? What's a way we can do that? Mm -hmm. That's
giving value to people not annoying them Because
you have a hunting approach which is says guys
golf said, you know, have a nice day. Good luck
But sir, you know, he's kept going like oh my
you know, it's something I'll just hang up on
him. Yeah When I hang up on someone I feel bad.
That's a honey approach. He doesn't care care
that he's annoyed me. I'm not going to, I don't
even remember his company name, so I'm not going
to believe in bad review or anything like that.
Um, but yeah, if we were doing cold calling,
it's going, well, how can we positively impact
someone? So, Hey, you know, I'm calling from
so -and -so. Um, we support businesses like yourself
to do this. Um, just wondering if you'd love,
like to have a chat. Um, and people would be
like, no, go away. Cool. Okay. Yeah, I guess
my, like my question is if. Well, you could argue
that they don't know they need it, but like most
people are aware of their deficiencies when it
comes to a business. Not necessarily. Like everyone's
got problems in their businesses and they've
got problems because they cause them through,
you know, lack of skills or, you know, unintentional
decisions, whatever. If we're going to be calling
and be like, Hey, we've got marketing. Like,
do you need, and they're like, well, we've got
social media, so we don't need anyone to do it.
Yeah. Well, that's it. That's, we don't need
marketing. We've got a market. We're really happy
with them. Cool. No worries. Have a great day.
That's cold calling. Very low conversion rate.
It's just a lack of experience for me, I think.
Don't put me in the cold calling role. Horses
for courses is the word, is the phrase. So, you
know, you want to, if you, someone's doing 200
calls a day and they're going to get rejected
195 times. Do you know anyone that like loves
having a chat and doesn't mind getting rejected
and still chats to everyone? Knows they're annoying?
That's just not me. No, not you, but do you know
anyone was the question? Yes. Yeah. So that's
probably going to be great at cold calling. Okay.
That is having to have a chat like, yeah, no
worries. No skit off my nose. Have a great day.
Whatever. Blah, blah, blah. It was great chanting.
Yeah. I know you're not interested. Do you know
anyone I should call? Yeah. And then we're like,
you know, they're having a laugh. You're having
a laugh now. So then, yeah, no. We're not interested,
but yeah, you say more, right? So please people
So you just got to find the right person for
those roles, but it's having a good script having
a good process baby steps It's a longer process
But yeah, if it's talking like sales, let's go
business to business. So and let's say it's an
incoming inquiry Where the incoming means that
they're contacting the businesses not like cold
calling or reaching out then it's more just making
it easy for them, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, cool.
You want to talk to us about this? What's your
problem? You know, let's... Tell me, why'd you
call us today? Why are you talking to us? What
happened? What made you, you know, oh, we've
got this problem. How long have you had this
problem? Two years. What happened to mean that
you've got to change it today? Like, it's gone
two years. And then ask, okay, why is that a
problem? You know, just find out. Boom, boom,
boom. What are you after? What are you trying
to solve? Like, you know, if you're selling a
car. What do you want this car? I just like the
look of it. Cool, okay. What makes you like the
look of it? And then it's helping them make sure
that they get what they want. Are they aware
of the extras they can get? It's not selling
them the extra. Hey, do you want a sunroof? No,
I'll get sunburn. Okay, well the sunroof, everyone
loves the sunroof. that's probably not the process.
I don't want a sudden roof though, but do you
want extra tinted windows with this special UV
protection? Oh yeah. Yeah. I can't afford that,
but I really love it. No worries. Yeah. Yeah.
So like that's probably more, more the way when
you've got an incoming one, but it's just looking
at how can you make the process easy? Going back
to people feeling uncomfortable with it. It's
probably communicating what is the process? How
are we helping people and then letting them actually
do it. So it's scary cause you don't do it and
it's scary cause you haven't done it before,
but. anyone that's dealt with more than a thousand
clients in like a year, it's not going to be
scared of it. Like they get it. People were there,
they wanted to have a chat or they're not happy
to have a chat. Just talking to a normal human
being about anything else. If they don't want
to talk to you, don't talk to them. Yeah. So
it's just to do with like, just approaching the
person as if they're a human and solving problems.
I know that sounds very simple, but like, I guess
I'm trying to figure out where this negative
connotation has kind of come from. And that's
just people. People knocking on the door and
ringing you up and pushing people into things
that they don't want to do. Yeah. Think of fundraisers.
Or the people that stand outside the supermarket,
and you like actively avoid them to try and just
get into the supermarket. Yeah, so people are
like, oh, that's sales, you know, and those negative
experience, but that's not how it should be.
You know, people are like, oh, I don't have enough
money, I don't have enough clients coming in,
whatever. For us, for example, oh, that's no
good. So we don't want to sell and be like, oh,
that's rough, you know, you must be really struggling.
Yeah, no, I wish I could get someone to help
with that. Yeah, no. Good luck finding someone.
Yeah. Cool, goodbye. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay.
So that's what I was saying. I was going, oh,
well, that's terrible. But, you know, do you
want to have a chat about like what we might
be able to do to fix it? Oh no, I don't want
to help one. I just want to complain. Okay, sweet.
No worries. Yeah. I might know if someone don't
get to do that. Yeah. Oh, that would be great.
I'd love some help there. But so if it business
to business, like business owners are used to
spending money just like yourself. So, you know,
I think that's just. People put that in their
own head. They don't want to spend money. They
love spending money. Everyone loves spending
money. But households love spending money as
well. It's what they want to spend money on.
Going back to if you've got the second best product
on the market, how are you comfortable selling
that? Build relationship, transparency, and just
help a need. That's correct. And even in the
thing comes back to it, even if it's not you.
Yeah, it's true. Well, you could like, I guess
approach it from like, yeah, we are the second
best, but there's this price difference and also
more expensive actually more expensive. Oh no.
Now you've got me stunned. But if you hate people,
the best, like if you didn't, you know, there's
people that just walk around falling the best
of everything. Did you always come second in
the race? Well, so did we. No one likes a winner.
Yeah, but that's it. You know, because people
identify. So it's going back to that person and
what they're after. Yeah. You know, I really
just like the obscure brands that no one gets.
Like how many car brands are there? Are they
all the best? No. People buy all the different
ones, you know. So it's just identifying what's
important to that person and then trying to match
them up with the best solution. Yeah. And just
accepting that not everyone needs your product.
Yeah, correct. Yeah. So if you're going out there
going, hey, I need to say, I need you to buy
this now. That's desperation and that's where
it goes wrong. Yeah. Well, there's a big market
for that too. Like there's a lot of businesses,
I'm afraid that way successfully, but you need
the right person to do it in the right way. And
that business model has got to be a hunting one.
So clear out an area, then go to the next area
kind of thing. So door knock and then move on.
But yeah, if you're a smaller business, you want
to grow, you want the clients. So it's about
nurturing the client. giving them a good result
because then they'll come back to tell their
friends, good word of mouth, good reviews. So
that's the selling side that I think most people
are a lot more comfortable with. Into the day
though, if people just really can't get into
selling, they're not a salesperson, then they
don't want to learn. They won't try it. And they're
really uncomfortable with it, full stop, just
not in sales. But if you listen to this and you're
not a business owner, then if you want to learn
how to sell your... Have a much better career.
It's true, which is why we've been working on
it. I mean, like, yeah, I think our approach
together has been asking questions and figuring
out exactly what we've been talking about, asking
the right questions and figuring out if it is
a need and not just shoving it down your throat,
being like, if they mentioned something and go,
Oh yeah, I like, don't have good cashflow. Well,
have you thought about this? Have you thought
about this? Why is that? Why have you got that
problem? It's not just giving them answers, but
why have you got that problem? That's the step
I keep forgetting. Why have you got that problem?
I'm learning everyone, I'm learning. I don't
know. I don't know why I've got that problem.
Yeah. Okay. Well, what do you know? Yeah. Well,
I know there's no money in my bank. Is that it?
Do you just look at your bank account? Yeah.
Okay. What about your assets? Yeah, like what
makes you money? I have no idea. Yeah, so I just
go straight to solution. I'm like, how do I fix
it? Okay, so then like, you know, help them figure
out what their actual problem is. Okay, well,
we probably need to be working on that. Yeah,
that's just for us. Yeah, so I guess if there
are people who are looking to become better at
sales, they're a business owner. They are like
me not great not great at sales feel very uncomfortable
doing it But also know it's really important
and and it isn't it isn't a dirty word if you
do it Well, what are some skills that they need
to know or in confidence confidence is the first
one. Yeah So, you know the arrogance and calm
confidence Professional arrogance. I think someone's
told me something. We've got to be professionally
arrogant Which means arrogance, you know, it's
like confident, but you don't have the skills
to back it up. So like we're professionally,
we're tending to be arrogant. We don't have the
skills yet, but we're going to pretend we do,
you know, on purpose. And confident is you, you
know, you know you're good, you say you're good,
but you are good. So it's different. And no one
likes people being cocky, but that's probably
more the arrogant side, you know, but if you
can genuinely help people. So let's say maybe
you're a landscaper and you're new, you're just
starting out. Like how do you get a client? You
can do ads and wait for someone to ring you or
you can go walk around the neighborhood and drop
in things into postbox. What are they called?
Letterboxes, letterboxes. That's it. Even that
gives you the opportunity if someone's out of
the front of the yard to spark up the conversation.
Oh, what do you put in my letterbox? It's not
bad. Well, you can have fun with it, you know,
because they're a person, just remember people
are people. So, you know. you've got your little
flyer and the person's in the front yard. Hey,
I'm just going to put this in your letter box
or should I give it to you? I don't want junk
mail. Oh, it's just your garden's mess, you know?
That's why you're working on it right now. You
pick your person. For example, you say, oh, it
looks like your garden's pretty good. You probably
don't need it. Yeah. Oh, what's that about? I'm
just new to the area. Blah, blah, blah. That's
just having a conversation. Yeah. But yeah, you
do that. It's pretty low percentage of who's
going to call you back. But then it's giving
you a start. Oh, why should I use you and not
the best people in town? Well, I've got time.
Then I could come for three weeks. I'll be there
tomorrow. Yeah. Introduction you deal, you know,
you can have these sort of tools to help you
along the way. What was the question? Skills
of sales people. Yeah. So I think, yeah, confidence
is the first one. You just got to, you know,
get out there and an activity. So activities
are second. It's not really a skill, but it's
just doing stuff. Don't be introverted. You'd
be introverted and so that's fine. Just different,
different process, different client, I guess.
But look, if you are doing cold calls and only
0 .5 % of people are going to actually talk to
you, that means you've got to do 200 calls to
get one conversation. All right, you just got
to do 200 calls now. Just understand the statistics.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. I need to talk to five
people a week to get one quote out and I win
every quote. Okay. I've got to do a thousand
calls every week. Where's my list? Let's get
calling. Cause if you don't do a thousand calls,
you're not going to get the one. Um, but then
you get better at it and maybe you can get that
to 2%. And then you've got four sales a week.
So I think activity is a big one. If you're not
talking to people and you're not doing stuff,
you're not getting back to people, you're not
doing quotes, whatever, not following them up,
then you're going to get less sales. But I'm
just, just remembering that, yeah, it's not personal
and to keep going. Don't take it first. I think
that's like the thing I need to. Yes, that's
like where you're dealing with people from business
to business and reaching out, but if people are
walking into a store or coming into your business
to buy, it's still activity, isn't it? Like if
you're sitting behind the counter on your phone,
you're not really paying attention. No one's
really going to come and get you. If you, when
they come in, you run straight over and be like,
what do you want to buy? They're probably going
to, oh, just looking thanks. That's the standard
thing. But if you're out there, cleaning a shelf
or something, people like, and you're like, Oh,
hey, go on, but you clean a shelf. Like people
are like, Oh, good. Thanks. Yeah. Or just looking,
Oh, no, sorry. Yeah. Good. You know, so it's,
it's been active and you know, making sure things
are happening. Yeah. Um, and you know, it's not
a skill, but practice is just, just continually
getting better. So look at what you do. You can
say things the same way to everyone. Um, or phrase
slightly different, but you can. You can look
at what's working well, what's not working well,
what can you do better? And that just means if
you're looking at it from a point of view of
farming, helping people, that if you can communicate
better, if you can ask better questions and identify
what people's problems are, you can help them
and understand the person. Yeah, the more people
you can help, the better for everyone, right?
Whereas if you can't communicate what's good
or bad, or you can't figure out like, You're
saying, hey, I'm talking to a business owner.
You can see they need help, but they're just
like, oh yeah, I think so. Like they either have
no need, they have no time, they have no money.
So you can see there's a need, but they can't
see that they have a need for your service. So
you're not communicating or you're not getting
from them the real thing. People will say no
money most of the time because everyone talks
price, everyone understands price, and no one
wants to say like. don't like you. What you're
selling is crap. So sorry, just, you know, a
bit tired at the moment, go and do this and this.
There's always money, but it's just what they
spend it on. And even in households, if they've
got 30 bucks left for the week, if they, you
know, some of them on cigarettes, 30 bucks goes
to cigarettes, not food. So that's going right
to the bottom of the spectrum, but there's a
need for that, right? They need that. They need
that more than food, whatever. So it's just identifying.
which of those objections is that? So, um, not
really a skill, but, um, after, after just practicing,
it's just, yeah, making sure you understand people,
you know, listen. Yeah. Listening, listening,
I think is the important one. Yeah. So I guess,
um, is there, is there a most effective form
of sales? Um, look, I think there's heaps of
theories, there's heaps of different sales strategies.
We'll discuss them all today because I don't
know them all anyway. But you can get heaps of
different books and people and it's all over
YouTube and Facebook and everything now. But
I think it's just the process. You've got to
have the process. So there's four steps. One,
I think it's just like an introduction, just
meeting each other. It's figuring out, hey, do
we want to have a chat? Do we not? Are you the
right client? Blah, blah, blah. You know, not
a big thing, but that's first step. Second is
qualification, which is asking the questions,
having a good conversation, figuring out what's
going on, and make sure you understand, you know,
getting a real good picture of what they need
and what they don't need and what they like and
what they don't like, who they are, which is
pretty much most of the sales process. Cause
if you do that really well, then third step is
just being able to present. Yeah. So after qualification,
you realise whether they're your customer or
not. Well, step one, could that be a customer
introduction? So yeah, they fit our client profile.
Step two qualification is what they might be
interested in. Yeah, okay. So how can you shape
your product in a way that they see fit? Yeah,
probably quite particular scenario there, I guess.
But yeah, step one introduction is meeting. So
hey, if our target market is males 20 to 30,
that like extreme sports. Alright, so we're talking
to a guy, right, male, cool. This is some male
particular clothing, whatever. And hey, you know,
what do you do for fun? Oh, I just play the piano
and you know, don't leave the house pretty much.
Okay, probably not a client. Yeah. That's that
stage. Oh, I like going mountain bike riding
and I go snowboarding and, you know, do fun stuff
like that. Oh, sweet. Cool. Yeah. Ask them, well,
this is what we do. Just the introduction, blah,
blah, blah, that's cool, you know, sweet. Stage
one done. So stage two is just ask some questions.
What do you like doing? Blah, blah, blah, what's
that? Do, do, do, do, do, do, what do you like?
What do you like? And then from there, yeah,
that's you identify what service or product will
suit them or if there is one. They might have
everything. Oh, you've got everything. Well,
so sweet. We've qualified them, but there isn't
something for me to present. Yeah. Okay. Cool.
No worries. If I qualify them in this is something
hey, well, you know Did you want help with this
or did you want to help with this or did you
want to you know? Oh, yeah, that sounds cool.
Tell me about so then you're presenting Hey,
you've said boom boom boom boom boom. This will
do boom boom boom boom. How does that sound?
Oh, that's great Yeah, so the qualification stages
is huge stage lots of time lots of listening
some good questions And then presenting should
be again pretty short because it's just showing
them Here's what you want it. Here's what we've
got. Yeah, how does that sound? And then closing,
there's lots of different ways to do that. But
that's, again, pretty small. If you've got the
qualification right, and you've got the right
client for the introduction, and you've presented
correctly against their needs and wants and all
that sort of stuff from the qualification, closing
should be pretty easy. It's like, how do you
want to pay for that? And when did you want to
book that in? Do you want me to talk to my manager
and see if we can get the best price for you?
When did you want to pick it up? There's lots
of different ways to close, but that should be
pretty much a mere formality. Oh, I've got no
money though. Oh, cool. Did you want it though?
Yeah. Yeah, I really would want it. We do finance.
If you're interested. Oh no, I don't like finance.
Cool. No worries. Well, this will still be in
stock for the next year. Yeah. You know, do you
want to put one layer by or? No, no, no, that's
cool. I'll probably come back in a couple of
months and get some money. Yeah, sweet. Cool.
No worries. So yeah, that's probably just the
process. Yeah. And then there's lots of different
techniques and things you can learn, but that's
you just got to learn, you got to practice, you
got to talk to people, you got to read stuff.
But if you follow that process, then generally
that's how most sales constructed. And understand
that sales doesn't have to happen just on your
warehouse floor or in your shopfront, like happens
when you're out. Everyday life really. Correct.
So just relating back to businesses, then it's
a sales process. You've got to have something,
you know, clear, written that people understand.
We do this and then we do this and this is what
we do. So if we meet someone out on the road
that we're not in the office and they're interested,
well, grab their number, grab their email. Hey,
is that okay if I grab your email? I'll send
you some stuff. I'll get, I'll get so -and -so
from our office to give you a call. Oh, that's
great. You know, so that's, if this happens,
we can do this. If this happens, we can do this.
And then when a client actually wants something,
follow this process. So if that's clearly defined
and people know what it is, it makes it a lot
easier for everyone. Cause they're not trying
to make it up. They're not trying to convince
them. They're not trying to like, Oh, if I don't
get the sale, you know, it's bad for the business.
They're just following the process and they'll
practice it and talk about what went good and
what went bad and they'll get better. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. So, um, I guess in wrapping up what, what's
some key takeaway points that someone can take
when it comes to sales, like we've talked about,
I guess from my understanding, we're switching
that narrative because from the negative understanding
of what a salesperson is, because to be a good
and approachable salesperson, you just need to
understand the need. You need to understand the
person, which then comes with genuine conversation
and transparency. So I guess for me, that's probably
the most important part as I go out and tell
people about our services. So just being transparent,
being honest and being understanding is probably
the three things that I would take away. It's
not even going out and telling people about our
services. I don't tell people what we do, Chris.
I think someone said to me the other day, they're
like, oh, you did this, this and this. I'm like,
yeah, I'm like, wow, that's seriously good. So
how do you tell people what you do? He's like,
is that why you don't say anything? I'm like,
yeah, pretty much. He doesn't know what to say.
I'm like, oh, you do this? I'm like, yeah, that's
one bit of what we do. So it's not going out
and telling people's services, but it's relationship
building. It's just understanding that, hey,
you know, we were out there and it's fine that
people are interested to know what you do. So
then tell them what you do or the stuff that
you've got. But it's identifying who's a client,
who's not, you know, who might have a need, who
might not. So, you know, ask good questions,
listen. Just be a genuine person in that conversation.
Yeah. So I think, yeah, it's just changing around
from when you're selling, selling, selling to,
you know, you're there. I'm just talking to people,
helping people, even if that's not you. Um, and
then pretty much as a person that used to work
for me, he wasn't in sales. He was like doing
accounting, I think, um, been to university.
It was a terrible accountant, like horrid, um,
nice, nice fella. Got along well with everyone.
Um, and. Anyway, he got sacked, which is probably
fair. This guy would be great in sales. He'd
be awesome in sales. I think he'd enjoy it. So
I said, come work for me for a little bit. We'll
give you a bit of training. If you get a sale,
it'll be great. If you don't, whatever. But I
reckon you might like this sort of career. It's
like, oh, well, I don't have too much choice.
I need a job. So cool. And he had to do calls.
talked to business owners and there was a bit
of a process we had as a, you know, do this and
do this and this and out he went. Didn't get
his sales, nearly got a couple in a few months.
But he was listening to Grant Cardone who's a,
you know, one of the sales trainers in the car
on the way to meetings with people. So he was
like reading all the books, he was just living
the life of how much can I learn about sales?
And just following the process, we're tweaking
a little bit, you know, so he got better and
better first month horror, second month horror,
third month, you know, he's getting a fair few
proposals out there and didn't close any. But,
you know, definitely improving. And then he rang
me, he's like, oh, I want to move to Melbourne.
So, you know, it's a really appreciated opportunity,
but you might give me a good reference. I was
like, yep, what are you applying for? I was a
salesperson at MYOB, which is a large accounting
company, everyone would know. And I'm like, okay,
well, that's a pretty cool job. Like you get
some good coin for that. Probably double what
you're getting as an accountant. And he was anyway.
And I was like, yeah, I can do that. I can't
say you've sold anything, obviously, but you
know. You yourself becomes a salesperson. I've
got some good things to say about you. And he's
like, yeah, no worries. Anyway, got a call from
them. They're like, oh, you know. How's he going?
He's followed the sales process. He's developed
it. He's listening to Grant Cardone, sales trainer,
by the way, in the car on the way to meet his
prospects. He's lapping it up. He's learning
this, he's learning that, and his clients like
him, blah, blah, blah, blah. They didn't ask
what he sold, so that was good. And then I think
a year and a half later I saw him working somewhere
else. I think he'd gone to zero. And then he
went somewhere else selling. big systems to big
companies. And he was earning 250 ,000 or something
after a year and a half. So I think it was that
he enjoyed having conversations with people.
He got on well with people and then just learning
there's a certain process to follow and the helping.
So just refining his own. And then he was learning.
So like anything, if you learn and you practice,
you'll get better. So he like fully absorbed
it. I don't know where he works now, but I think
he was selling SAP, which is massive company.
to be pretty big deals like in the US. So it
just comes back to helping people, talking to
people, enjoying it, being confident and like
anything else, just practice and learn. Yeah,
that's pretty good. I don't have anything to
add unless you do, but yeah, in ending this podcast,
I think it's just important to know that if you're
going to go out and sell, Just be honest, understand
your product and get to know the person that
you're talking to. Only thing to add though,
doesn't matter how bad your sales pitch is, just
ask for the sale. Just to be brutally honest.
Look mate, I'm here to sell it. Hey, did you
want to buy it? Yeah. Yeah, always do that. That's
pretty much it. Very nice. All right. Well, we
will see you in the next podcast. Bye everyone!
Bye!