I had heard his name banded around but until I read his book Enchantment I didn’t really get Guy Kawasaki.
‘Chief Evangelist at Apple’? What the hell kind of job title is that?
However the more of Guy’s work I began to read, the clearer I became on his message. It’s applicable to sales people and it has massive power to increase your commission pay checks.
If you can create ‘Evangelists’ of your product or service then you can start leveraging them as a tool. Simply, if you can get your customers to believe in what you do in a massive way then they will try and convince others to use it too.
Building a tribe of evangelistic customers is powerful but it takes time. It’s what we’re hoping to do with Salesman.Red and it’s why so many of you share these articles (hint, hint…).
For those of you who want some immediate sales skill upgrades check out this video where Guy shares 3 more sales lessons that every salesman can implement right away.
1) Give value to potential customers before you pitch them
Prospects are tired of being asked for business. I get pitched all the time with services that will apparently increase my traffic or double my social shares. I delete every email that asks me to give someone money.
Want to grab my attention? Increase my internet traffic for a few days, cut it off and then enjoy me running to you, dripping with sweat, begging for you to turn it back on. If it’s as simple as you’re pitching me then this shouldn’t be much effort at your end.
To get a reaction in a crowded market place, with a product that likely has a tonne of competition and so is commoditized, add value first then pitch.
2) Find out who the real decision maker is
The person who signs the paperwork might not always be the real decision maker. You don’t always need to suck up to the C-Suit which is what your sales managers will likely pressure you to do.
Find the person who’s life you’re going to improve. Help them become your ‘Chief Evangelist’ within that company and they will sell everyone else on your behalf.
3) Embrace the competition (then crush them)
I’m a competitive guy, it drives me to improve and I take great pleasure in beating others (is that wrong? Should it be encouraged?).
Use the competitions lack of hustle, knowledge and relationships to make them look bad and in turn to make you look good.
There are far to many soft salespeople. I believe in abundance, I believe that there will always be enough business to go around and make everyone rich. I also believe that the motivated like me will take more than their fair share and the unmotivated will sit and cry about losing customers rather than doing something about it.
Is that my fault or theirs?
