You're Going To Be Great At This!

One of the biggest problems in sales is when a prospect gives you a reason why they can't, or won't, buy. Some of the more common objections are "I don't have any money" or "I need some time to think about it", but there are some others that can be used as well.  One of the craziest ones I had was someone who tried to tell me he was dead. He literally said, "I can't talk, I'm deceased," right before he hung up the phone. I applauded his creativity and nerve, but I wasn't sure if he was dumb or thought I was.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, my first paying sales job was selling accident insurance plans door-to-door in rural areas. Being a new college graduate I was eager to learn all the tricks of the trade. In our sales class we were given a large 3-ring binder filled with rebuttals to a wide variety of objections.  For instance, if someone said that they didn't have money or could not afford it, we had about 25 response...

A few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast about business people who have overcome various obstacles in their lives. The guest was Danny Meyer, founder and head of Shake Shack. He talked about when he was younger and his parents wanted him to pursue a career as an attorney. Deep down he wasn't interested in law because his real passion was food. One day, he was discussing all this with his uncle, who could see that young Meyer was torn. The uncle asked him, "How long will you be dead?" Meyer didn't know what to say. His uncle answered for him and said, "A lot longer than you'll be alive. Do what you want to be happy." This struck a chord in me. We only have one life and so many of us try to make other people happy by living a life that conflicts with our own goals. Of course, this doesn't mean you should sit on the couch all day eating bon bons and watching Porky Pig cartoons (which is possibly the goal of certain people I know). It's also incr...

In the previous post we looked at sales organizations who train their teams in a "proven" system. As mentioned, those systems are good if someone is new to sales, but there is plenty of room to make adjustments when the failure rate of the sales team is high. So I wondered why trained sales people fail and what can be done about it? Probably the biggest reason sales people don't succeed is that their expectations of success are not realistic. I lay the blame for this squarely at the feet of the person hiring them. As mentioned in previous posts, I truly think someone should enact a "truth in hiring" law. And not just concerning the pay, but the work conditions and expectations too. Over the years various companies have tried to recruit me with their "proven system of success". If I just follow directions I will be happy and exceeding wealthy working for them. Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but if that was the case, they wouldn't need to recruit so ma...

In all the years I've been in sales I have managed to learn a few things. For instance, many companies have a "proven" sales system and they don't want you to try anything else. I'm not sure what the logic behind this is but I think it has something to do with the time and money invested in creating these sales systems. And I think there's also an emotional investment, as these companies and their sales managers don't want to be told that another way may work better. I do understand that if someone is brand new to sales, or has sales experience but new to an industry, that they may need a track to run on until they fill comfortable. But what about those who know how to sell, aren't rookies and are still successful? If one were to take a good look at the high amount of turnover in the sales industry one would easily figure out that those sales systems aren't as awesome as the managers would like you to think. Making a list of your warm market, calli...

With the pandemic upon us businesses have had to find new ways to market themselves. My insurance agency, Surf Financial Brokers, is no different. Social media and a web presence are one of the many ways we are trying to get the word out about the products we sell and the services we provide. And regardless of what you sell, looking for new, more efficient ways to market is something we should all look for. Actually, we were already changing the way we were marketing pre-Covid. I had been discussing with several of my co-workers new ways of selling insurance. The traditional route of asking for referrals and mingling at networking events, was still working for us, but only in a limited capacity. And to be honest, agents can get burnt out quickly that way. My agents and I had some conversations as to what changes we could make to expand our messaging. We also asked for feedback from our clients.   Social media can be a rabbit hole for a growing insurance agency like ours. It ca...

I got a new phone plan about a month ago and while I was at it I got a muchly needed new phone. Still trying to learn all the features I decided to make a couple of short videos. As a joke, I made what I thought was a completely amateurish looking "commercial" for a friend's business, with me giving a testimonial. I sent it to his wife via text thinking they would say something like, "Please delete that!" or "Thanks but no thanks." Instead she laughed and posted it on Facebook, saying they appreciated it.  Here's the video I made.  That's when things got weird. Later that evening, her husband posted a video talking up my business. They posted it on Facebook. By sheer goofiness on my part, we were now exchanging testimonials and endorsing each other to our followers.  The point of this story is to show how giving an unsolicited referral can come back to you in spades. For all of us who are spending the bulk of our time prospecting for clients a ...

In my book I have a chapter titled "You Are Your Brand". In it I discuss how your name, as well as your reputation, is just as important as what you sell. When people hear your name, what do you think they comes to mind first? Find out by asking some of your most objective friends. Protecting and carefully extending your brand is the basic premise behind all of our marketing. If you are a mortgage broker and known in the community as a such, it makes sense for you to expand into business (if you want) related to other financial tools. A friend of mine in the Charleston, SC area is a mortgage broker, but also a financial advisor and an insurance agent. That makes sense. But what if our mortgage broker decided to start selling ornamental jewelry? That would seem like an odd fit and would water down their brand.  NOTE: Having a side hustle isn't horrible, but it helps if you can do it under a different name. That way it stays separate from your brand.  On the other hand, if...

If you were to meet someone new at a networking event and they asked you what kind of work you did, how would you respond? "I'm in sales," or "I own my own business," may be your response. You may talk about your product, its benefits and such. But you would not be describing the kind of work you do. If you are in sales, an entrepreneur, a business owner or otherwise self-employed, the product we sell is just a small part of the work we do.  I have previously mentioned my old sales manager who would say that "between 10-4 you should either be seeing a client or fighting to see a client." In other words, concentrate on the work, and that work is your business. In my business, prospecting for insurance clients can take up to 75% of an agent's time, and maybe more than that when they are just getting started in the business.  The insurance business isn't the only industry like that. Realtors, chiropractors, financial professionals and artisans are...

When I give talks to groups, I like to explain how basic sales techniques are used by people all the time, whether they know it or not. You see, my definition of sales is a bit broader than most people would have. The majority of people think that sales or selling is a transaction. You give me money and I give you a product or service.  In my world, that "sale" is a transaction, but everything leading up to that transaction is "sales" or "selling". Think of a sale as a noun. It's a thing that happens as a result of selling. So what is "sales" then? It is the process of trying to convince someone to do something they may or may not normally do, and to take action now . That sounds confusing at first, but break it down.  Sales is a process . It's a series of steps, which can have a beginning and an end. The beginning may start with getting a referral or meeting someone at a networking event. The end will hopefully be a sale. All of that in...