019 – Sales Skills 101: How to Go From Zero to Hero in the Art of Persuasion
You’ve got a great idea, a great service, a great product. Now, the only thing that’s missing is sales.
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How would you like us to teach you how to sell your product or service to the masses?
Bedros: When I started selling, it was awful. It was horrific. I was that guy that would just vomit up so much information on people that I would overwhelm them with all the benefits and features of my services. Little did I know, I overwhelmed them.
Craig: Once you were told, “You didn’t sell me. You were the order taker.”
That might have hurt you a bit, but it put you on the path to becoming an amazing salesperson.
Bedros: The guy who said that to me, who later became my mentor, his name is Jim Franco, but he was a personal training client of mine. I asked him. I said, “Hey, Jim, how can I be successful?”
He said, “You have to sell your services and you didn’t sell me anything. You took my order.”
He said, “You took my order. All I wanted to do was sign up for personal training, and you just fulfilled my order. You’re no different than a waiter or a waitress.”
And when he said that to me, I said, “Jim, I beg to differ. You signed up for a six-month program.”
He said, “I have every intention to sign up for a six-month program.” And he said, “Well, what percentage of people do you close?”
And sadly, I didn’t even have that number. I said, “Give me an example. What is close?”
He said, “If 10 people sit across from you, how many of them convert into an actual paying client?” Not, “I’ll go back and bring money.” Not “I’ll call you with the credit card information because ‘be backs’ never come back. Actually paying client.”
I said, “Maybe about three, four out of ten?”
He goes, “Yeah, I told you. You’re an order taker.”
- One-third of the people will buy no matter what and those are the ones where you’re taking orders.
- One-third of the people are undecided and if you have any sales skills, you will be able to convert them.
- The other final one-third are people who were not going to buy, but a closer can convert some of those people into paying clients or customers.
That’s where 75, 85, 90% closing ratios come from.
Sales is Really Persuasion and People are Really Selling All the Time
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Bedros: I mean we’re selling right now. We’re selling the message that sales is nothing more than influence and persuasion and really the transference of feelings.
Let’s give an example, you are the king of these Perfect Life Workshops that you’re running. You sold me on it because you have so much conviction about the system that you have, you believe in the process that you’ve created, and all you did was transfer those feelings to me. That’s all selling is, is transferring of feelings.
Craig: You tell people it is your obligation. You have a product. You have a service. Especially when you’re working with your coaching clients who help people lose weight, get back in shape, and feel great again through Fit Body Bootcamp. We do have an obligation to go there and help these people who are hurting and every time you don’t sell somebody, they’re going home frustrated and they’re probably spending the money on something else.
They’re not spending the money. They are spending it, wasting it in most cases, on something else.
You also were able to do that for me. You helped me become a better salesperson because I didn’t know what I was doing. So why don’t you walk us through how you sold me.
Bedros: Well I mean selling you, to be honest, was easy simply because we spent enough time together where you’ve seen my ability that once I lock onto something that person is going to buy what I’m selling.
And I think that’s what I was able to transfer to you is that you knew you got something so good with the Perfect Life Workshops that you do that you had an obligation and duty to sell it. Everyone’s got problems, you have to figure out what problems they have in their life, agitate those problems, and then be the solution.
Problem. Agitation. Solution. And you’ve gotten to become a master at that, so explain that.
Craig: When I first started, I was like most people watching, “Oh man I don’t want to get on the phone with people.” And I’m naturally introverted. I don’t want to get on the phone with anybody in the first place, but now I just welcome those calls. I’m going to get on the call and say, “Hey, tell me about what you’ve got going on, your opportunity, your business all these things.”
- The Problem – I’m going to pump them up and say, “That’s amazing, but I bet you that brings some anxiety in your life. Why don’t you tell me about that?”
- The Agitation – “Well what is that stop you from doing? How does that stop and impair you with your family time?”
- The Solution “You know what? I’ve got to solve this problem. I have an obligation to this. Can I tell you about the workshop and how it’s going to help you?”
Everybody has a problem in their life.
Maybe you’ve got a product or a service and you’re looking for someone like myself to help you become a better closer of that service. Well, you’ve got a problem. My job is to agitate that problem. What is it costing you every time you don’t sell enough of your products or services, right? What are you missing out on?
Craig: You taught me 4-5 questions that I ask people to talk themselves into the sale and then when you have their conviction, commitment, and you have them saying, “There is no other person here that is going to get in the way,” then you have the sale.
Bedros: Yeah. Yeah really as simple as that.
You have diarrhea of the mouth because you don’t believe in your product so much that you’re afraid to ask for the sale. So go improve your product, build your confidence in your belief system in your product, and then go ask for the sale with confidence knowing that if they don’t give you the money, they’re going to waste it elsewhere.
Craig: You can talk so much that you can actually take one of those three people that were just there to have you take their order. You can talk them out of a sale and that’s when you are really really bad.
Craig: Why don’t we flip the script on that then and tell us when was the last time that someone sold you…
Bedros: The last time someone sold me was Guitar Center about two weeks ago and I went in to buy a Cajon. The guy who sold me goes, “Have you seen this?” And he pointed to this other Cajon that had an electric cord attached to it. He sits on top of it and he turns on a button and this thing starts so as you’re hitting it, it makes the thuds and all the sounds of a drum, but it also has cymbals and snares built in depending on where you hit it. It’s got little triggers almost like a drum pad.
So I went from a $110 Cajon I went there with the purpose to buy, I walked out of there with a $400 electronic cajon and I love it to pieces. Only because he decided to sell me through demonstration.
Alright so. Problem, agitation, solution. We’re going to show the value. We’re going to demonstrate the proof. Is there anything else?
Bedros: The only other thing is you have got to believe in your product and know that if you don’t make the sale, then someone else is going to sell them something else that they don’t need and so you’ve got that obligation and duty to make it happen.
Craig: That’s how you build your empire one sale at a time.
Hi, this is Craig Ballantyne, host of Early To Rise Radio. Have you ever wanted to become wealthier, healthier, wiser, or just have more time to appreciate the finer things in life? On this show, we reveal what high performers are doing every day to be more successful WITHOUT sacrificing their personal lives. Early To Rise Radio is sponsored by The Perfect Day Formula. Get your free copy of this game-changing success guide at FreePerfectDayBook.com.
Craig Ballantyne
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