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April 26, 2018

How to REALLY sell what you're selling.

I need to tell you how to think about sales.

There aren't many people to whom sales come naturally, and that has a lot to do with our culture and environment.

Too many people think 'Salesman' and they envision someone pushy or sleazy and it simply doesn't have to be that way.

If you're in sales, you really should have a lot of pride in the fact because while everyone contributes to client retention, you're the one who actually gets people to come in. So it's not even the owner who pays everyone's bills, you are, so be proud.

Money isn't everything; the people in your life ARE.

It's an alarmingly common mistake that people make, but most people pick up on things like a dishonest sales person, and that will harm your bottom line.

That brings me to the first thing you need to know about selling: People aren't stupid.

Now, there are really only two sales strategies:

1) The statistical method of sales, using a one-size-fits-all sales pitch. I call this the statistical method because if you use any sales pitch enough times, someone will bite. This is why your email inbox has been getting so much spam since the 90's. You just keep on saying the same thing to more and more people, and you pay your bills until you give up.

2) The second method is what I call the adaptive method, which is to constantly adjust to increase the probability of closing per number of leads.

Both of these methods require confidence, and many people are shy, feeling that trying to catch a sale is no different from begging for change. Unless you're actually selling snake-oil as the saying goes, there's a huge difference between these two things.

Now some people can do sales out of Ignorance, which means that it doesn't even occur to the person to be self-conscious, so shyness isn't a factor, but regardless of if you're currently this type or if you're shy, you will always benefit by increasing your compassion, which means that you actually see how what you're offering can help and that's why you're sharing it with them.

When you buy anything from a meal to a book to a piece of software to a car, if you're pleased with it, you'll tell all of your friends and anyone who asks about it.

When you do this, you are being a salesman, the only difference is that you're not getting paid and someone else is. Maybe you realize this, and maybe you didn't, but right now I'm marketing two things to you, one is my way of thinking about sales and the other is my integrity and both are free to you. Hopefully this example shows you why you shouldn't feel bad or shy about marketing at all!

Now you can see an example of the main part of the adaptive method in the video 'What's a VA and how do I choose one' on this channel. Videos have the unfortunate flaw of being one-way communication, and to sell in a video you should systematically address Every Single Reason to say No and then prove that each reason is invalid, leaving you with one solution which is the one I offer. In that example, I show that getting an inexpensive friend to build your website can actually increase your website's final cost, getting a VA means risk of fraud and embezzlement, is too costly in my opinion, and filled with uncertainty,....choosing a big firm costs even more with little relief of those risks, and choosing a VA from overseas costs you even more in terms of time and mistakes due to communication errors.Fortunately, when you're selling in person, you don't have to go through all of the reasons to say No, you just have to know them by heart and answer the ones your lead mentions or seems to be thinking.

Of course, to figure out all of those reasons to say no is not as easy as it sounds, and experience will give you reasons to say no that will boggle your imagination.
The reasons people say no is because of the cost:

A) The cost in dollars and cents, and it might be because they've got or are getting something similar for a lower price OR because they simply don't have the money.

B) The cost in time, and that might apply to the time to listen to your pitch, or the after-purchase time to follow through with scheduling, using, or learning your service or product.

Time is the reason why you should do this preparation, and plan. The most important tool for planning is to plan the goal of any contact with a lead.

Think about what your lead is likely doing when you contact them, and based on how much time they'll have either aim for generating awareness, aim for an appointment, aim for more contact information, or aim for a sale.
If you are aiming for taking someone from 0 to a sale you should have your one-sentence hook. An example for a FunnelFixingTM Funnel Assessment would be asking, “Do you which part of your sales funnel is holding you back?”
You need to CRAFT a sentence where ANY response you get is something you can work with.

In mine, if they say yes, I'll tell them I'll look at that section, improve it and split test it. If they say no, I'll tell them I'll find which part.
If they ask, 'What's a funnel?' they'll fall in love with me before the end of the conversation.

Although sales are the ultimate goal, if you have something your lead needs and you can spot their pain, the aim to generate awareness and get off the phone is a great one, and that's why when I was starting AffordableVAs.com I would use that hook, and everything past getting them to know about my website was just icing on the cake.
Since cost=pain, when making your own one-sentence hook you should spot your lead's pain and show how you can reduce it and show that the cost that you introduce is worth it.
Next, you also need to know that when the person pulls out their cash, or their card, or whatever it is that you need to close, you just focus on getting that done.
Sorry to anyone I've sold something to who's watching this, but at this point in the sale, completion, I actually do everything I can to release the pressure. Specifically, this is a fantastic time to utilize your multitasking skills by punching in the card number while making small talk.

Get the credit card and start discussing the weather, if you see their birthday you can discuss their star sign, talk about a conversation you had with your kid or your wife or tell a joke you heard if it's appropriate. Just stop talking about what you're selling! Even silence is better than continuing!

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