I like Jeffrey Gitomer because he doesn’t bullshit. He’s a straight talker who tells it like it is.
I feel like I could take him out for a few beers, grab some food and he wouldn’t be worried about telling me that I had salad stuck in-between my teeth.
We’d laugh it off and then go home. He’d check in with a quick phone call a few days later to make arrangements to go out again.
This time round, after a few pitchers of German beer he’d pitch me on a product and then wait… oh man that powerful silence… I’d have to say yes, I just would.
That slightly weird fantasy I just describe is a ‘people first’ way of selling and is exactly how we do business at Salesman.Red.
I started selling like this after devouring Jeff’s book ‘The Little Red Book of Selling’ and this is what I learnt from reading it and watching Jeff’s youtube videos –
1) Use your customers against the competition
Jeff explains that you shouldn’t be hiding your customers away from your competitors. You should be leveraging them as an asset and rubbing them all over the competitions faces.
If someone is willing to give you a testimonial (have you asked them for one?) then they’re likely going to be more than happy to help you scare off the competition.
2) How you should start every sales meeting
I’m sometimes guilty of doing this myself.
It’s getting late in the day, you know you’ve got another meeting lined up in 45 minutes which you’ve got to drive to in rush hour traffic. So you say hi and then throw you pitch down the prospects throat.
They reject you instantly.
Why? Because you have signalled to them that you’re only after their money, you value other peoples times more than theirs and that you don’t know how to build rapport with others.
I wouldn’t want to do business with me in that situation either.
Slow down! The first question you ask should always be an ‘off the record’ personal question that brings you an the prospect closer together.
There’s always plenty of time to close a deal (if someone likes you it only takes 1 minute for them to say yes).
3) Why you shouldn’t give up on prospects
“If clients want everything, then give them everything!”
It’s simple when you say it, but it’s your job not to give up! Your company isn’t paying you to have a nice time, they’re paying you to hustle, chase and hunt down business.
If you’re at the point of sending invoices or proposals you’ve already done the hard work. Now it’s time to be clear with the prospect and ask them what YOU need to do to HELP THEM close the deal today.
4) Why some companies don’t provide sales training
“Because that manager is an idiot who already knows everything”
There is no company on this planet who couldn’t improve the skill of their sales teams. If your sales manager just “doesn’t see the value” or “doesn’t have time to arrange sales training” then you need to move to a team that wants to support your personal development.
5) How to sell to a salesperson
You’re in luck if you’re in a position where you’re selling to other salespeople.
Just give them your insider knowledge and they will become your best friends. It’s free, they want it, you likely love will love speaking about it.
This is a perfect example of ‘adding value’ (which everyone tells you to do but no one explains what it means). You’re not discounting your price, you’re not giving a better product, you’re making the prospect want to deal with you personally in the future by making their lives easier.
This is exactly how you build up a team of evangelical customers that will go out and do the selling for you.
6) Why you shouldn’t use email to network
Email is convenient, quick and painless. These are the exact reasons why you don’t want to use it to build relationships and maintain a network.
They’re too easy to ignore (delete), it shows that you’re looking for shortcuts to communicate and so just don’t care about the other person.
Get on the phone with them, meet them in person for good food and a drink or don’t bother at all.
Business always has been and always will be done face to face.
