Sales 101: A Sales Beginner's Guide to Closing the Deal

Summary

This video script offers a Sales 101 guide for beginners, emphasizing the importance of embracing a structured sales process from the start. It advises new salespeople to stay calm, be open to making mistakes as part of the learning curve, and to drop the traditional enthusiasm in favor of authenticity. The script also highlights the value of scripting conversations, disqualifying unfit prospects, and keeping presentations concise to focus on the customer's needs. Above all, it encourages modeling successful sales strategies rather than reinventing the wheel.

Takeaways

• 😌 Take a breath: Embrace the stress of sales and establish a clear process for success.
• 🤔 Be willing to screw up: Accept that mistakes are part of the learning process in sales.
• 🔄 Follow a process from day one: Adopt a successful sales process immediately to avoid years of trial and error.
• 🚫 Drop the enthusiasm: Traditional high-energy selling can be off-putting; be real instead.
• 💪 Be firm and real: Present as a leader by being genuine and firm in your sales approach.
• 📝 Script out everything: Use scripts to stay on track and eliminate unnecessary conversational tangents.
• ❌ Disqualify: Efficiently identify and dismiss prospects who are not a good fit early in the process.
• 🔪 Cut your presentation in half: Keep presentations concise and focused on addressing the prospect's needs.
• 📈 Model success: Learn from proven processes rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
• 🤝 Focus on building value: Understand the prospect's challenges deeply to demonstrate how you can help.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the 'Sales 101: A Sales Beginner's Guide to Closing the Deal' video?

The main theme of the video is to provide a guide for beginners in sales, highlighting the importance of having a process, being willing to make mistakes, and learning from them to close deals effectively.

Why is it important for new salespeople to take a breath and clarify their process?

Taking a breath and clarifying their process is important for new salespeople to reduce anxiety and stress, and to establish a clear path to success, which helps in modeling success and shortening the learning curve.

What does the video suggest about the willingness to make mistakes in sales?

The video suggests that being willing to make mistakes is crucial for salespeople as it relieves pressure, allows for learning from failures, and enables a faster learning process by embracing the concept of 'failing fast'.

How does following a process from day one help in sales?

Following a process from day one helps in sales by providing a roadmap to success, reducing the time spent on trial and error, and allowing salespeople to model and incorporate successful strategies immediately.

What is the video's stance on traditional enthusiasm in sales?

The video advises against traditional enthusiasm in sales, suggesting that it can make salespeople sound like every other salesperson and instead recommends being real and focusing on the process.

Why should salespeople be firm and real instead of overly enthusiastic?

Being firm and real allows salespeople to present themselves as leaders, which is what prospects are looking for, as they need someone to take charge of the process and help them find a solution.

What role does scripting play in the sales process according to the video?

Scripting plays a key role in the sales process as it helps salespeople stay on track, eliminate excess, and ensure they use the right process, ultimately leading to more effective communication and higher success rates.

What is the significance of the disqualification process in sales?

The disqualification process is significant as it helps salespeople determine if prospects are a good fit for their product or service, and it builds real value by understanding the prospects' challenges deeply.

Why should sales presentations be kept short according to the video?

Sales presentations should be kept short to focus on the prospects' needs and challenges, allowing their questions to drive the conversation, which is more effective than a traditional show-and-tell approach.

What advice does the video give for new salespeople regarding modeling success?

The video advises new salespeople to model success by identifying and following a proven process, rather than trying to figure things out on their own, which can lead to more consistent success.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Embracing the Sales Profession

The video script introduces the sales profession as a rewarding, exciting, and flexible career path suitable for both new sales representatives and business owners transitioning into sales. It acknowledges the inherent challenges and stresses of the role and proposes a beginner's guide to closing deals. The speaker encourages viewers to take a breath, clarify their process, and model success to shorten the learning curve in sales.

05:02

🔄 Willingness to Make Mistakes

This paragraph emphasizes the importance of being willing to make mistakes as a crucial part of the learning process in sales. It suggests that fear of failure can hinder progress and that embracing mistakes allows for faster learning and adaptation. The speaker advises viewers to 'fail fast' to accelerate their growth and to adopt a learning mindset rather than selling from a place of fear.

🛠️ Following a Process from the Start

The speaker advocates for following a proven sales process from the very beginning to avoid the pitfalls of trial-and-error learning. They contrast the slow and potentially ineffective self-discovery method with adopting a successful process immediately, which can lead to quicker success and reduced frustration. The challenge is set to viewers to model and incorporate an existing successful sales process into their approach.

🚫 Dropping Traditional Enthusiasm

Here, the script challenges the traditional approach of high enthusiasm in sales, suggesting that it can come across as inauthentic and similar to other sales pitches. Instead, the speaker recommends being real and focusing on the sales process rather than on the excitement for the product or service. This authenticity is posited as a way to stand out from other salespeople.

💬 Being Firm and Genuine

The paragraph discusses the counterpoint to the enthusiastic approach, which is to be firm and genuine in the sales process. The speaker advises against using a fake or overly excited tone, and instead suggests being straightforward and firm to present as a leader. This approach is said to resonate more with prospects who are looking for guidance and solutions to their challenges.

📝 Scripting for Success

The speaker highlights the importance of scripting in every aspect of the sales process. They refute the common belief that scripts sound unnatural, arguing that the issue lies with poor script usage rather than the concept of scripting itself. The paragraph suggests that a well-used script can eliminate unnecessary information and keep the sales conversation focused and on track.

❌ Disqualifying Prospects

This section introduces the concept of disqualification in sales, where the salesperson determines if a prospect is a good fit for the product or service. The speaker argues against traditional persuasion tactics, stating that modern prospects require a different approach. The focus should be on identifying and eliminating unsuitable prospects and deeply understanding the needs of those who are a good fit.

⏱️ Cutting Presentations Short

The speaker identifies lengthy presentations as a common mistake among sales beginners. They advise cutting the presentation time in half as a starting point, emphasizing that brevity is key. The ideal presentation should be based on the specific needs and challenges of the prospect, as identified during the disqualification process, and should be driven by their questions rather than a pre-planned script.

🌟 Modeling Success in Sales

The final paragraph of the script stresses the importance of modeling successful sales processes rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel. The speaker encourages viewers to identify and follow a proven process, sharing their own experience at the Sales Insights Lab where a successful process has been modeled and replicated. This approach is presented as a way to ensure consistent success in sales.

Keywords

💡Sales

Sales is the process of selling goods or services to customers in exchange for money. It is the core activity of the video's theme, focusing on the strategies and mindset needed to excel in this profession. The script emphasizes that sales can be a rewarding and flexible career, but also requires a structured approach to succeed.

💡Learning Process

The learning process in the context of the video refers to the journey of acquiring knowledge and skills necessary to become a successful salesperson. It is highlighted as an essential part of sales, where making mistakes is seen as a natural and valuable way to learn and grow, as exemplified by the advice to 'be willing to screw up'.

💡Process

A process in sales is a systematic series of steps or actions taken to achieve a particular outcome, such as closing a deal. The video stresses the importance of following a proven process from the beginning to accelerate success in sales, rather than trying to figure it out through trial and error.

💡Mistakes

Mistakes are errors or faults made in the course of attempting a task. In the video, the willingness to make mistakes is portrayed as a critical component of the learning process in sales. It encourages beginners to embrace the possibility of making errors as a means to learn quickly and effectively.

💡Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm in the script is discussed as a common but potentially ineffective approach in sales. It contrasts the traditional advice of being passionate and excited about the product with the suggestion to 'drop the enthusiasm' and instead focus on a genuine and process-driven interaction with prospects.

💡Firm and Real

Being 'firm and real' in the video refers to a confident and authentic communication style that is recommended over an overly enthusiastic one. It suggests that prospects are more likely to respond positively to a salesperson who is genuine, direct, and demonstrates leadership in guiding them through the sales process.

💡Script

A script in the context of sales is a pre-planned sequence of words or actions designed to guide a sales conversation. The video advises using scripts for every aspect of sales to ensure consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness in communication, despite the common misconception that scripts make interactions sound unnatural.

💡Disqualification

Disqualification in sales is the process of determining whether a prospect is a suitable fit for the product or service being offered. The video emphasizes the importance of this process to filter out unsuitable prospects and focus on building value with those who are a good match.

💡Presentation

A presentation in the video refers to the act of demonstrating or explaining the features and benefits of a product or service to a prospect. It suggests that beginners often make the mistake of creating overly long presentations, and advises to cut them in half to focus on the prospect's needs and questions.

💡Modeling Success

Modeling success in the video is the strategy of emulating proven successful sales processes or behaviors. It is presented as a way for new salespeople to avoid reinventing the wheel and to increase their chances of success by following the footsteps of those who have already found a winning formula.

Highlights

Sales is a rewarding, exciting, and flexible career path.

Beginner salespeople often feel like a gazelle in the wilderness with constant anxiety.

Clarify your process and path to success to model success and shorten the learning curve.

Be willing to make mistakes as it is part of the learning process in sales.

Making mistakes allows you to learn quickly by failing fast.

Follow a proven process from day one to shortcut success in sales.

Avoid the common beginner mistake of excessive enthusiasm in sales.

Instead of enthusiasm, be firm and real to present as a leader.

Use a script for every aspect of sales to stay on track and eliminate excess.

Disqualify prospects who are not a fit early in the sales process.

Focus on asking questions to determine fit and build value, rather than persuading.

Cut your presentation time in half to avoid being too long and unfocused.

A great presentation should be based on the specific challenges of the prospect.

Let prospect questions drive the conversation to focus on what they care about.

Model success by following a proven process rather than trying to figure it out on your own.

Sales Insights Lab has had success with a specific process that can be modeled for success.

Transcripts

If you are relatively new to sales,

welcome sales can be one of the most rewarding, exciting,

and flexible career paths that we can possibly have.

Whether you are a sales rep at a company,

or you're a business owner who is just stepped

into the role of salesperson, making sales is super fun,

but it is also an incredibly challenging profession.

And so in this video, I'm going to show you Sales 101:

A Sales Beginner's Guide to Closing the Deal.

Check it out.

(ethereal music)

Number One- Take a breath.

You're in sales.

Welcome.

It's great.

It's a great career path, but it can be super stressful.

And what I find is that particularly

beginner salespeople are very likely

to be like a gazelle in the wilderness,

where there's just constant anxiety.

They're looking over their shoulder.

You've got to just take a breath and really

clarify what's going to be your process,

what's going to be your path to success,

and how can I really model success and short

circuit that learning curve.

Number Two- Be willing to screw up.

You are going to make mistakes.

You are going to piss people off.

You are going to frustrate people.

You are going to lose sales.

That's just part of the learning process of

becoming a successful salesperson.

You must be willing to screw up because if you're not,

you will not last in sales.

By being willing to make mistakes, it does two things.

One, is it just takes that pressure off and it allows us

to have the permission to

just learn.

Because if you're constantly afraid of making mistakes,

you're going to be selling from a place of fear.

Two, is that it allows us to learn much more quickly

because by being willing to make mistakes, you can,

as they say in Google, fail fast, right?

The faster you fail, the faster you make those mistakes,

the more you're going to learn.

So just be willing to screw up.

Number Three- Follow a process from day one.

The absolute best way

to short circuit success is to follow a process

from your first day of selling.

Hey, there's basically two ways to learn this.

One is you can go out

and you can spend years trying to learn.

You're going to make tons of mistakes.

You're going to screw up.

You're going to just try to throw a big pot

of spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

And maybe at the end

of years of struggle, you'll have a process,

but there's also a good chance you'll never

have a good process as a result of learning that way.

The other way is to just from day one,

learn a process that is already successful,

that already works from day one.

Model it, learn it, incorporate it into what you do,

and be successful right away.

So my challenge to you is follow that process from day one.

Don't try to figure it out the hard way.

Number Four- Drop the enthusiasm.

One of the biggest beginner mistakes that I see

time and time again is

this enthusiasm.

Because you know what, traditional old school

selling has always told us you've got to be really

passionate and enthusiasm about what you're selling.

But the reality is is that your prospects

have heard that a million times.

All that does is makes you sound like every

other dope salesperson that your prospect has

met with in the past year.

Drop the enthusiasm, simply be real.

Focus on your process,

not your enthusiasm for your product or your service.

Number Five- Be firm and real.

So this is the counter to the enthusiastic approach, right?

The enthusiastic approach is, hey,

I'm so excited that you're here.

I'm having a great day.

How are you?

They're using that fake voice.

Instead, we just want to be firm and real.

George, let me share with you

exactly what we're going to be talking about today.

By being real and yet firm in our process,

suddenly we are presenting as a leader because

ultimately prospects want to be led through a process.

Even if they don't think they want that,

that is what they need because they're looking

for someone to just take charge

of the process and help them get to their solution.

So by being firm and real,

you're actually going to separate yourself from the hoards

of other goofballs out there, and at the same time,

you're going to be much more likely to close deals.

Number Six- Script out everything.

So one of the keys to short circuiting success

is to use a script for every aspect of sales.

Because I hear all the time people say, oh, well,

if I use a script, it makes me sound scripted.

Well, the reason you sound scripted when you use a script is

because you're bad at using your script, right?

I mean, if every actor said, oh,

I don't like to use a script, well,

there would be no movie or TV industry.

Great actors are by definition

good at following the script.

You can do the same.

Just get really good at using your script.

At the same time, having that script allows us

to cut out all the fat, all the excess,

because if we are not using a script

for those initial conversations,

whether it's a prospecting call, a discovery conversation,

or a presentation, we are going to be all over the place.

Having that script keeps us on track, and at the same time

it ensures that we use the right process.

Number Seven- Disqualify.

So as a beginner salesperson, many

of us have been told that we need to qualify

or we need to pitch, or we need to persuade,

or we need to convince prospects to do business with us.

All that stuff is ridiculous.

In this day and age,

your prospects don't need to be persuaded.

They don't need to be convinced to do business with you.

What they need is

for you to take them through a disqualification process

to A, determine if they're a fit.

Because let's face it, half

of your prospects are not a fit in the first place,

so disqualify them.

The other part that are a fit,

now we need to take them through

a process of asking them a specific set

of questions to really determine if they're a fit,

and at the same time, build real value.

Because ultimately, you're not going to be able to

convince your prospects to do business with you.

They have to believe

that you can help them solve their challenges,

and the way to do that is to really get deep

into their challenges.

Number Eight- Cut your presentation in half.

One of the biggest newbie mistakes that I see over

and over and over again is having a presentation

that is just way too long.

So as a starter plan, to cut your presentation time in half.

Whatever you think it should be right now,

cut it in half, and that will at least be a starting point.

Presentations should not be long.

You shouldn't have 30 slides in your presentation.

You shouldn't even have five slides in your presentation.

Ideally, you don't have any slides in your presentation,

because a great presentation is going to be based

on the disqualification conversation that you had just had.

It's based on the challenges that they have.

And so by cutting your presentation really short

and ultimately letting your prospects questions

drive the rest of the conversation,

now you're going to be focusing on what they care about.

Because the questions that your prospects have

are so much more important

than whatever it is that you wanted to say or share.

A presentation is not a show-and-tell time

like we did in elementary school.

Our presentation is simply to demonstrate

that we can solve their challenges, period.

Number Nine- Model success.

My biggest piece of advice

for anyone who is new in sales is to model success.

Don't try to figure this stuff out on your own.

Identify a process that you believe is good,

that is going to work, that is proven to work,

and follow that time and time again.

Model that process.

I mean, that's literally what we do

at the Sales Insights Lab.

We have had so much success

with our process that people don't have to

wing it on their own.

They literally know time and time again

that if they follow this process, it's going to work.

So model success.

Wherever you're going to model it, model it,

and don't try to figure it out on your own.

So there is Sales 101:

A Sales Beginner's Guide to Closing the Deal.

(ethereal melody)