I am going to teach you exactly what all you previous bosses royally screwed up on teaching you about sales. You may remember, “It’s all about the numbers.” or “Always be closing.” or in my case, “Get them to by the dang shoe cleaner.” You want to sell, right? Not make a little, but a whole lot of cash? Selling is cake. Actually when I first learned how to sell it was a disaster. My first “official sales training” was when I was 16 working in the mall at the shoe store Finish Line. I was so nervous to offer people shoes that they came in the store to buy in the first place. I ended up riding on the selling emotional roller coaster.
First, I was horrible and scared to death to talk to people. Then, I got confident and knowledgeable about my products. Then, I became a bulldog marketer who could “close anyone”. And then, I became very unhappy being a smooth talker. And then after that, I started listening to my prospects. Now people ask permission to buy from me.
I want you to skip all the way to the last one. I am assuming the good majority of you suck at selling or you wouldn’t be reading this because I can’t be that entertaining.
My Sales Formula
You want to know why most people suck at selling? Because they don’t know how to shut up. Yes, you must know your product. Yes, you must be passionate. Yes, you must show a good physical appearance. Yes, sales is a numbers game. But, here is how you skew those numbers impeccably. Before I tell you how to skyrocket your numbers, I want to preface by saying there is a good chance you will think this is stupid. That’s okay. I did too. It took me years of getting it wrong enough, long enough until I finally got it right. Here is my formula to become legendary:
CARE, LISTEN, SERVE and BE REMARKABLE
You may say “Yah-huh I get it. Just be a good person.” and walk away from this post forgetting everything your read. There is more to it. Before we go anywhere, I want to take these next two concepts and memorize them. You will probably be teaching it to someone in the near future.
Trust and Value
1. People buy from people they know, like and trust. The exception is if it’s their idea to buy.
2. The more valuable you become in this world, the more you will be sought out.
The way you build a trust with people is to continually serve them with value. You think I don’t know that spending 4 hours a day on this blog won’t come back to me? Aha! You may think you’ve caught me because I make a few bucks in ad income. But, that is not why I do it. I understand on how the law of reciprocity works. It does not mean give to receive. It means the universe rewards givers when they give without want.
Caring is cool. It really is. It is so much fun to just be able to you give business tips and stories and watch you make thousands, if not millions of dollars. You don’t even have to look back and give me a wink. That’s not what I am in the game for. I don’t give to receive. I give to give. I am selfish. I get so much pleasure out of helping people, it may appear sickening. And I just can’t go back to the way I used to be.
Start Giving
If you want to start taking an alternative approach to selling, here is where you start. Go to you Facebook or Twitter account and say, “Hey, you guys have been so good to me. Who would be interested in a free [insert what you can offer like coaching or a sample product here] ________ no strings attached.” Now, if you have no takers, here’s your problem. People don’t value what you have to offer. You need to start learning more. Go hang around with people that know more than you and then come back and teach it to your followers.
You May Be Thinking
Now I am going to address the first response that will come up in the comment section. “But Bradley, how do I make money if I spend my time just helping people. I am in business to make money.” Then your in it for the wrong reason. The money is a byproduct of your success. Do I want to be a billionaire? Of course. But, I won’t get there by cold calling people selling them products on the phone. I will get there through my passions. Can you immediately make money by a shift from talking to listening? Absolutely. For those who really care. For the rest of you, you will have some making up to do like I did. But, the long run is sweet though.
Love it or hate it, please leave a comment below. If you think that this makes sense and it can change your life, read this.
Photo cred: mk.carroll
