How To Sell Show

HTSS28 - Focus in sales is your secret weapon for closing deals - Scott Sylvan Bell

Focus is your secret weapon in sales and business

There are plenty of actions that can pull you away from getting projects done. Most salespeople lose out on deals because they are not effective with their time.

You can lose out on deal because of a few items that you may not have thought of:

• Emails
• Got a minute meetings
• Phone calls
• Sport conversations
• Trash talking other people
• Water cooler talk

Losing momentum is time crushing by 20 – 30 minutes per interruption. If you are working on a task you do have to know that every interruption adds to the time to complete the project. This just isn’t in the interruption it is also in the time it takes to get momentum back again.

Putting out fires:

You do have to put out fires and problems or you will end up with more concerns down the road.  If you have a client that needs your help you may be able to schedule time to see them once your project is completed.

Inspect your time:

Where are you wasting time, if you want to see something telling keep a list of interruptions. You will be surprised at how many times people stop you.  

People want to tell you all about their problems:

• Bad clients
• Deals they closed
• Personal problems and issues
• Business problems and issues

You have to decide who you are going to be to people and when you will talk to them.  

You may have to treat friends differently than co workers. There will always be people in your life that you have to deal with but do not want to. When you set the rules early on this does help.

Your worst enemy is people who interrupt you and that do not value the time you have. If you give people time they will take it just about every time.  

Solutions short term and the long term and the long term for focus:

1. Set a schedule – don’t interrupt me have some powered focus – opera playing
2. Do a task until it is done “Do it until its done” – Dr Kevin Hogan
3. Know things will break, there will be problems – the bigger the problems the more the problems
4. Discouragement breaks most people – most calls I get are about discouragement and why closing isn’t happening
5. Say your problems out loud and get them off your chest
6. Hire a gate keeper so you don’t get distracted – Dan Kennedy
7. Use a digital calendar – Calendly is one service you could use
8. Charge people for your time
9. Put your phone on Airplane mode
10. Don’t react to the phone ringing
11. Check emails 2x per day
12. Check social media 2x per day
13. Wear headphones
14. Use otter.ai – talk through a problem or word track
15. Meditation
16. Exercise on a regular basis
17. Get enough sleep
18. Get out to nature
19. Map out what you are going to do an expectation
20. What will you do at a moment of failure – hap hazard list  

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scottsbell

#sales #focus #Hawaii #Podcast #howtosellshow

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii at Hale’iwa Ali’I Beach Park

HTSS27 - Sell me this pen answer and problems created - Scott Sylvan Bell

Sell me this pen and the common mistakes

Salespeople have various responses to sell me this pen. You will find those who request you to “Sell me this pen” believe in a whacky sales tradition that was started a long time ago. The aim is to get proof you know how to sell.

The tradition of sales has dicated that sales managers get you to sell a pen to them to show your skills.

You will find this is how the sales manager learned how to sell or what they were requested to do in a job interview.  

Salespeople think sales is one thing but it isn’t always what they think it is. Persuasion can be subtle and it isn’t always about features and benefits they way you see some people push training.  

Sales is like a religion so you may think how you sell is the only way to close deals. You may have been brought up with aggressive sales tactics from your coaches or mentors.  You may have had a passive coach or mentor first. What you need to know is whoever taught you in the beginning has influence on how you look at sales and being in sales.

When it comes to sell me this pen answers most sales managers or salespeople know what to look for. A good sales manager is looking for what actions are being taken:

• Enthusiasm
• Composure
• Nervous energy
• Asking questions

Plenty of sales managers come from not being able to close deals, they are a nice guy and so they judge sell me this pen answers on what they would do in a presentation.  

80% of sales managers are not good at what they do and they pass problems onto the world of sales.  They are looking for what they think sales is and not what it really is.

 

Asking questions in a sales presentation is always better than benefits being bombarded on a buyer without knowing where to start.  

Salespeople are ruined by thinking they are being trained the right way and that talking alone is the greatest way to sell.  

If you want to learn how to sell a pen you will want to start with questions instead of all of the cool things the pen can do. Asking great well thought out questions is how to close deals.  

 

The Wolf of Wall Street is a great movie but this is meant to be entertainment and not sales actual sales training.  

Glen Gary Glenn Ross is not sales training this movie is meant to be an idea of reality. Yes there are games played with leads but always be closing is dying on the vine.  

I have a few videos on YouTube about sell me this pen answers and people tell me I am doing it wrong.

As a salesperson you must understand the objection you are getting from your buyer not the one you think it could be. The challenge of Sell me this pen is a challenge to sell the pen. The challenge isn’t for how much, how many, what color or where to get a pen. Your only job is to get the other person to say I want one or I will buy it.

My version of Sell Me This Pen

What do you like about the pen?

How would you use the pen?

What would you give me for it?

Once they give a price the pen is sold.

 

The Problem in the world of sales is you are creating the objections you are getting. You are assuming you need to be in one place when you need to be in another when dealing with your buyer.  You have to drag out the objection in a slow methodical method.

Can I trust you enough to buy from you is really what most buyers are saying with an objection. Will you take the time to work with me. Discounts and price matching is the go to answer for most salespeople and this leads to regret after the “decision to buy” has been made.  

The Key for sell me this pen answer is in what you do to find the answer

 

• Ask really good questions
• Reversing
• Tell me about
• What do you mean about
• When you say _________ do you mean ___________

 

Objections are where you need to slow down and be patient, Salespeople want to get to the end so they speed up the process and lose the deal.  Buyers don’t know what they get buyers remorse. Most objections are never answered and the buyer knows it once they sign on the dotted line. If you want to learn how to be a closer in sales you will need to role play and practice. You will also need to slow down at the end of your sales call and control the clock to close more deals. If you want the sell me this pen answer it is all about asking questions.

If you get objections when selling a pen you can use the objection destroyer created by Tom Vizzini 

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scotsbell

#sales #closer #success #Hawaii #sellmethispen 

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach Park

HTSS26 - The power of no in business and sales - Scott Sylvan Bell

The power of no in business is real and you can use it to your advantage. Telling people no is one of the best tools you can use to free up time and get projects done.

You will want to work on your time and not an emergency form someone else. To make this happen you will want to set clear boundaries.  

People will eat up your time if you don’t think your time is valuable with:

• Phone calls are interruptions
• Got a minute meetings
• General interruptions

The more you are interrupted, the more time it takes for you to get your momentum and complete tasks.

Here are a few tools that you can use to your advantage:

• Use air plane mode to help with momentum by not taking calls for a set time
• Limit social media usage
• Find a place where nobody will bother you so you can get stuff done
• Use technology to tell people no instead of saying it yourself by using online calendars

You will find there is a subset of wasted time you may not have thought of. Some people in your office or management may want you to do their projects and get on their teams. You have to be careful so you are not a pawn in someone’s time game.

When you are asked to join in on a project you will want to figure out the motive of the project, to do this you will have to ask questions.  Be willing to look for the conversation the person or group does not want to have.

There will be times where people want a quick answer and your best bet is to let them know you ae busy.

Momentum:  

Other peoples projects with pull you from your momentum. Every time you are stopped you don’t just have to get started again you have to get back into rhythm. A 30 minute interruption is closer to a 1 hour interruption.  

Drama

Cut people out of your business day that have drama, they will eat up your time. The story has new player but never really changes.  People who create drama destroy your momentum past the time you talk to them. People with drama dump their problems on you and walk away, this destroys your momentum in sales. The power of no in sales is real and it can help you close more deals and increase your income.

How to use statistics to your advantage

When you manage your time you can figure out what time are you most profitable for any aspect of your time. You may find you are better at follow up on a set night and time, do not schedule work for these times.

When you figure out how valuable your time is you will find that you can increase your closing rate, income and the time you spend with your projects

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scottsbell

#sales #timemanagement #closer #success #Hawaii

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawai’i at Hale’iwa Ali’I Beach Park

HTSS25 - Never hire another bad salesperson again - Scott Sylvan Bell

If you really want your organization to grow you will look to never hire a bad salesperson again.

There are multiple misconceptions about hiring salespeople. Most of the problems in sales is created how salespeople are found and hired.

Old school sales strategies are looked at as the way to close deals. Great salespeople are asked to be sales managers and that manager does not know what to look for.

Good salespeople are thought to be good at building rapport.

People pleasers are a problem in the world of sales causes

• No dealing with objections
• Price matching and discounting
• The fear of hurting feelings take over

This is a huge problem because the salesperson relies on price alone to close deals. Since the salesperson is a people pleaser they will go too far one way when working with a buyer.

Weak salespeople lower the price of a product being sold in a marketplace. When you follow the 80/20 rule in sales you will find that 80% of salespeople should not be in sales.

If you want to hire a good sales rep these are the traits top salespeople have:

1. They are good looking
2. They are funny
3. They don’t always understand social situations

When you combine 2 of these traits you have the ability to have a closer on your hands. When someone has 3 of 3 of the traits most of time that person is a fantastic closer.

Managers typically look for the traits of a people pleaser since they may not be able to build rapport with a closer the same way.

You will find the reasons people pleasers get into sales is they are talked into it and they cant say no. It may also be a significant other wanted them to sell for the income.  

The office staff tends to dislike salespeople because of the ability to sell the idea of doing things for them. Salespeople also have the better income and this makes the office staff mad as well. What will happen is a sales manager will look for the easy person to manage and skip over the closer so they can get the easy person to work with. Most companies do not know how to hire a good sales representative because they were not trained to do so.

In any sales or organization 1/10 salespeople will be a closer. The next 3 people should be in the office and the other 6 should be trained or let go. Weak salespeople are tougher to manage since they leave a wake of destruction behind them and they have lower margins over the long run. Good salespeople may be a challenging to work with but they bring in money or revenue.

People pleasers are nice but they are not closers.

Salespeople get frustrated with the churn in the world of sales.

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scottsbell

#sales #success #closer #80/20sales

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawai’i at Hale’iwa Ali’I beach park

HTSS24 - No Rain No Rainbow How this Hawaiian Proverb can help you out - Scott Sylvan Bell

The Hawaiians have a proverb and it is No Rain No Rainbow. This means that if you dont have to go through adversity or problems there is no win for you later. You need the struggles to get better. The struggles and tribulations you go through and you deal with do make you better. 

Its easy to get caught up with what other people have done or are doing. Sometimes these events look easy to them. Most people who you see have it easy have had it tough somewhere else. Not everyone is naturally talented at something. Most endeavors will take hard work and effort. 

One way to make events easier is to look for small victories instead of the huge trophy. Where is the line in the sand with people who give up. Can you make it to that point instead of the finish line and then move the goal post? Where is the point where 80% quit, when you line this out you can find where your dash to achievement is.

Layer the point where the next 10% give up, figure out where the next 5% give up and then keep moving forward. 

We all have something that we gave up on for whatever reason and look back with regret. I gave up on playing the guitar in 3rd grade. There are times where I wish I would have stick with it. 

People look to you at a hero for the steps you have taken. Plenty of people will not event try but they still look to you for inspiration. You have people cheering for you that you don’t see. Look for the person silently cheering for you. If you cant do it for yourself do it  for someone else, what would they say or they do to encourage you to get there?

Be willing to ask for help, the fear of looking dumb will stop you sometimes but a good coach or mentor has heard it before. 

Instead of looking for all of the reasons to quit, look for all of the reasons to keep going. You may even get some advice from a coach or mentor will hurt your feelings. A coach or mentor is supposed to tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear. 

Look for small victories and memorialize them. I was able to speak back to back at Kevin Hogan Influence Boot camp. Both my parents were in the front row cheering me on. I have a picture of that in my phone when I struggle. 

On my YouTube channel scottbellconsutant  I shoot anniversary videos every 50^th videos to prove a small victory.

Memorialize and celebrate all victories since we get torn down significantly in business. This is your chance to build a file for the hard work you have done. You can learn this tip from Copywriters, they will put celebrations in a folder for when they struggle. 

Find someone who will cheer for you and maybe you need to cheer for them. 

A rainbow is a reward for weathering the storm

You can do it, keep going

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scottsbell

#sales #encouragement #Hawaii #Norainnorainbow #success  

This episode was recorded on The North Shore of Oahu Hawai'i at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach Park 

HTSS23 - Sales training without accountability and consequences is worthless - Scott Sylvan Bell

Training or coaching without accountability and consequences is absolutely worthless.

You will find that most training or coaching goes unused. Salespeople and even sales managers will pick and choose what part of a program they think will work. By not using a full process the training madness circle begins. A trainer is brought in to teach a process that is supposed to work. The team picks what they want to use. The team makes a Frankenstein presentation based upon multiple sources and the deals are not closed.

The company says “hey the deals are not being closed, we need to find another sales trainer”. What it came down to is:

• No expectations are set with the company or the employees
• No consequences were set from not closing deals
• No accountability was put in place or executed upon

The sales team has not other reason to look at the training as full on entertainment. The sales team says “Oh I like that word track, I am going to use that”. The circle ends with another trainer brought in and the cycle starts all over again. The numbers go up and the number go down.  

Once the excitement wears off from the trainer the team pulls back. This is poor management all of the way around.   

Keys to success with a coach or trainer

1. Set expectations for the team and numbers
2. A good coach or mentor can lay out a plan or recipe
3. The accountability conversation needs to be had
4. What does success or failure look like
5. The team must understand what is expected of them
6. The introduction needs to happen and the team needs to be there for the roll out
7. Accountability must happen with the team and it has to be used

Poor salespeople blow the lead because they were not prepared to make the sale. They were allowed to take a lead or an up they never should have been on.

Most managers are scared to offend a salesperson. Managers may not have ever been taught how to have the tough conversation. Salespeople are told to fix the problem but they have too many Frankenstein lessons to learn from.  

Here are a few ways to help a sales team:

• KPI’s (key performance indicators) must be looked at daily, weekly and monthly
• Poor performing salespeople need real training that is consistent
• There must be consequences for not doing the job, what happens next when deals are not closed?
• Coaching, mentoring, side by sides and ride alongs must be used to help salespeople learn how to close deals

Most companies carry way too much dead weight. Companies don’t know how to hire or help the salespeople who cant close. The 80/20 sales rule comes into play and weak salespeople are kept.

Scott Sylvan Bell

@scottsbell

#sales #closer #success #hawaii #accountability 

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach Park

HTSS22 - Adversity in life examples the 7 moves of discouragement - Scott Sylvan Bell

If you are looking for adversity in life examples there are only so many you can find. The 7 examples given are mostly the mental games played. There are the life issues where there is suppression by force and that list is not added for the business section. There are people that will hold you down physically. It is your job to find the mental toughness to beat the adversity.

When you group the list together you will find 7 areas of discouragement and then most of the other areas become a subset. 

You will find that in business in sales most problems faced are talked to you from someone. There are 7 main things they will tell you and a few you will tell yourself. 

1. This isn’t good enough / you are not good enough
2. Your idea wont work / your idea is stupid
3. Nobody will like this
4. You cant do this / I don’t believe in you
5. I will be made fun of or ridiculed
6. Looking dumb in front of peers
7. I am going to get rejected and I am going to be told no

Most of these fears are built around rejection or the fear of rejection. 

Sometimes you need to borrow the belief from others that everything is going to work out. Some of the people you can borrow the belief from you will never meet in real life. Plenty of people are cheering for you and you dont even know it. 

Keep going and putting in the effort. Everyone faces adversity whether physical or mental. You have this, you can do it ... Keep going!

Scott Sylvan Bell 

@scottsbell

#sales #closer #success #adversity #discouragement #youcandoit 

 

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawai'i at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach Park 

HTSS21 - Know when its time to leave a sales job - Scott Sylvan Bell

There are times where you are frustrated and hurt about the place you sell for. The question commonly comes up how do I know when its time to leave a sales job? There are a few reasons why you may be irritated at a job but there are also times when it is time to go. 

If you are upset your manager or business owner gave you a course correction and your feelings are hurt this is not a good reason to leave. Sales is meant for the tough. If you cant take some coaching or training it may not be the right industry for you. If you were just roughed up emotionally for sales then this is typically not the time to leave. 

There are some serious reasons why you need to look at leaving a sales job:

• The company is playing games with your commissions 
• There are people at your company harassing you 
• The belief about salespeople and their job is poor 
• The management or the ownership no longer cares about their client
• You don't like the product you sell or you don't believe in it. 

There are times where you should pack up and move on. You have to remember that companies will hold leads over your head. If you are the closer you are the prize and not the other way around. There are not enough good salespeople out there and someone will hire you for your skills. 

One of the reasons you should have the ability to acquire your own leads is because you will never be stuck waiting for an up or waiting to sell someone. You can have your own leads piggy bank. 

If you want to learn how to be a closer in sales you will want to learn lead generation. 

@scottsbell

Scott Sylvan Bell

This episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach park  

HTSS20 - What is free fall and how does it lead to failure in sales - Scott Sylvan Bell

Free fall in sales is the mix of panic in the sales presentation mixed with the feeling of loss. When a salesperson if is in free fall they will make mistakes, concessions, discounts and decisions they may not make if they were thinking clearly. Free fall can be created when salespeople have not prepared, need money or are in trouble with their job. 

One of the biggest forms of sales sabotage that a salesperson can create is not knowing that they are in free fall. One of the best things you can do when you struggle in sales is find someone to talk to as well as get some coaching from a pro. 

If you want to learn how to sell more and how to close more sales you will need to get free fall in control.

Scott Sylvan Bell 

@scottsbell

The episode was recorded on the North Shore of Oahu at Hale'iwa Ali'i beach park

#sales #success #freefall #howtosellshow #oahu #hawaii 

HTSS19 - The Squeeze and how to diagnose sales struggles - Scott Sylvan Bell

One of the things that lead to more sales struggles is the ability to explain what you are going through. When you meet with a coach or a trainer the ability to describe a problem leads to a better diagnosis. If you want to learn how to sell more and how to close more sales you will need to be able to self diagnose your problems. 

When you are struggling as a salesperson some of the problems you face come from external sources and some from internal sources. 

The people and events around you are the external issues and the internal ones are brought on by thoughts of where you think you should be and where you really are. Both the internal and external pressures will effect you differntly. 

When working through your problems the acronym TUBED FROGS helps work explain where you are at:

This episode was filmed on the North Shore of Oahu at Hale'iwa Ali"i Beach park. 

Scott Sylvan Bell 

#sales #closer #success

@scottsbell  

Here is the link for the free fall in sales video Free Fall in sales