by Mike Brunel | Aug 15, 2022 | Leadership, Sales
What makes great salespeople great? The common misconceptions about salespeople can be tough to overcome because they are ingrained in our culture. It helps to see what successful salespeople look like. Most great salespeople aren’t all that slick on the surface, but they are great at discovering and solving problems. What makes them different?
I think there are 12 traits that make a successful salesperson here, which are 4 from my book.
Beliefs, Traits, and Habits of the Best Salespeople:
Desire. The desire to be successful is the number one feature of excellent salespeople. Folks with a strong drive to succeed have built upon a history of success.
They may have been good at sports or bringing up a family.
They know what it means to care deeply about the goal and go for it.
Desire leads them to discover everything they can about their product and competitors’ products. Their knowledge is one of their strongest assets.
Motivated salespeople will compete against themselves, not others. They strive to beat their last target, cultivate additional clients, and achieve business.
2. Self Belief. Effective business people have a very strong self-belief. When they experience rejection, they understand that it is situational. A single loss does little or damages their core self-esteem.
Instead of getting down on themselves, people with high self-esteem draw on all their knowledge and past mistakes to correct their course and move on.
A salesperson can achieve strong self-belief by developing a passion for their product or service. If you can turn your passion for your business into a core belief, you can sell your product to anyone. That is a sales mindset guarantee.
3. Persistence. Persistent folks do not give up easily, if ever. They see problems not as dead ends but as surmountable obstacles. How many rejections can you weather?
Numbers coming out of the Dartnell Corp. in the United States show that a sale in today’s market often goes through only after the tenth “No.” You read that right. The tenth “No.” We are up against a tough economic environment, and unless we are persistent and believe in what we sell, we will give up after about the third time someone tells us “No.”
Learn when to back off and not overplay the persistence card, but do not ever roll over and give up. In this brave new world where the power is increasingly in the hands of the buyer, we must create marketing and sales strategies to overcome our reluctance to try one more time.
4. Purpose. Many great salespeople find greater purpose in their work than simply completing the job. They might want to help their clients, fellow workers, and teammates build a great business environment to work in, or they may find value in training others by passing on their knowledge to employees.
Motivations can be as basic as feeding the family, affording that extra vacation, or getting the kids through college.
To folks invested in these outcomes, money and success are by-products of their efforts.
This is an important distinction, for finding meaning in your work will keep you balanced in your business. Work cannot be your sole purpose.
We hear many stories about business people burning out by dedicating themselves solely to their businesses, day in and day out. In the long run, this approach provides diminishing returns. Remember why you are working so hard.
Take The Sales Mindset Challenge here and discover how you rate your sales mindset. You might be surprised. It’s a simple list of questions that rate your beliefs and traits. Have fun.
Good Selling.
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
- Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member? You get access to an exclusive coaching session with me and full access to my sales programme every month. Get the deets here.
- Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days—the framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework uses a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
- Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
- Could you work with me one-on-one? If you’re a small or large business owner or in professional services, you might have a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Please jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
by Mike Brunel | Aug 10, 2022 | Sales
Harnessing the power of Testimonials
At least once a month, at my place, on a Friday night, my family will have to make a major decision: ‘What takeaways are we going to have tonight’?
A third-world problem, right?
An old ritual from days gone by.
I am sure the Friday takeaway ritual came from my own family when all of us would pile down to the fish and chip shop, and get to choose between a sausage, hot dog and fish with a few chips thrown in, then wait in the car eating them, while Mum and Dad nipped off to the pub for a quick drink.
New experience
In our family now we might want to try something different and go out to a café or restaurant.
When that happens, the question always comes up ‘what’s new in town or ‘, what was the name of that place that my mate Dave was talking about last week’?
Following this, we’ll call or text Dave to ask him what the restaurant was called because we know he’s pretty reliable with good food!
Why we need assurance – Power of Testimonials
What people say about you is 10 times more powerful and believable than what you say about yourself.
Deep down, Dave would not recommend that restaurant unless he enjoyed it. He is telling you from his own experience, which is very powerful.
You have your interests at heart.
It’s much harder to sell something to someone because you naturally have your interests at heart.
What your clients may want is another way to make a decision. This is why an opinion from a third party could be very influential, just like Dave influenced my decision on a restaurant.
The point is that getting someone to recommend you helps a lot. If it does not work out, you can always blame Dave- no, just kidding!
Create and use testimonials
There are a few tips I’ve come across in my time about receiving great testimonials, but one stands out as pretty crucial; be specific.
The more specific you are about the outcome you want, your endorsement will be targeted.
Let me give you an example. If you ask a client for a testimonial, ask this way.
‘Hi John, can you describe the one or two most important benefits you’ve gotten the most from working with us… please explain specifically what you’ve gained from the experience:
The second one I often ask is: ‘Describe in Detail What Part of Your Experience with us made you the happiest?’
This question taps into the emotional side of the experience, and that is where you will understand what drove your clients to use you in the first place.
In summary, be specific, and don’t forget to ask for their thoughts around the emotional experience..
Have a great week, see you soon.
Good selling.
Mike
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
- Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member? You get access to an exclusive coaching session with me and full access to my sales programme every month. Get the deets here.
- Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days—the framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework uses a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
- Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
- Could you work with me one-on-one? If you’re a small or large business owner or in professional services, you might have a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Please jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
by Mike Brunel | Aug 1, 2022 | Sales
Mindset can make all the difference in problem-solving.
Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, a leading expert in motivation and psychology and author of the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, discovered that everyone has one of two mindsets—fixed or growth.
Her work confirms what I have seen in sales over the years: people tend to have either a fixed or a growth mindset. Why is this an interesting finding? Which mindset do you think leads to more success in sales?
Is Your Sales Mindset Set in Stone?
Consider the fixed or closed mindset as it applies to sales. If you have a fixed mindset, you might say certain things to yourself that freeze your thinking in one position.
Some of these things I have heard repeatedly throughout my sales career. Do you ever hear yourself saying these things to yourself?
- Sales is hard.
- Salespeople are born.
- I can’t sell!
- I tried sales once, and it never worked.
- I will look stupid if a client says no.
- I have to win or lose.
- Will I succeed? Probably not.
- I hate sales and will never be any good at it.
Chances are you have thought about more than one of these things in your career. With a fixed mindset, you see things only in black and white. In your mind, you hear words like “win or lose,” “right or wrong.” You assume things have always been done one way and nothing will change. This mindset, while understandable, may not work well for you if you sell a product or service.
Growing your Business
On the other hand, you may think differently if you have a growth mindset. More and more often, you will catch yourself saying things like:
- Sales is easy.
- Salespeople are made, not born.
- I can’t sell . . . until the next opportunity.
- I tried sales once, but what did I learn while it was challenging?
- I need to make some more mistakes to learn.
- I win, lose, or get the opportunity to go back again.
- If I succeed—great! If I fail, what did I learn?
What if you could adopt this way of thinking, what Carol Dweck calls the “growth mindset” or “potential mindset”? It might help you push through limiting attitudes toward many things in your life or business. It might dramatically change your life. If you can catch yourself in your fixed mindset, you will start to get results much quicker. I promise.
It may be daunting to change the way you think about things. How can you do that?
- Look for opportunities to grow every day. When you begin to take up a growth mindset, you will find that you are failing if you are not learning new things. Challenging yourself to learn just one or two new things daily will build a growth mindset.
- Deal with failure and setbacks. Planning is an important part of growing. However, we do not always achieve all of our goals. Instead of beating ourselves up, look in a different direction and start again.
- Grow by doing. Ask yourself, what can I do differently? Apply a different approach to a problem and see what happens.
Download our free test- How’s my Mindset around Sales?
You will instantly discover how you rate your business’s sales and influencing department.
Good Selling.
Here is an audio extract from my book
by Mike Brunel | Jul 25, 2022 | Sales, Strategy
When I owned NRS Media, Michael Botta was one of the best sales guys.
Michael was one of our longest-standing staff members at NRS Media and was based in our Long Beach office in good ‘ole’ USA.
He was in front of thousands of media salespeople each year and travelled for weeks on end with our NRS Media message.
He understands the importance of work. Here is his definition of W-O-R-K:
W: Weighing
O: Opportunities
R: Repeatedly
(with)
K: Knowledge
We come to work, and what makes it frustrating for many of us at times is that we are challenged to continually Weigh (consider, ponder, create) the Opportunities (challenges, problems, setbacks) that are Repeatedly uncovered during our day, which then causes us to tap into our Knowledge (experience, success, etc.) to fix the problem.
This is a never-ending process.
Is work a gift?
Work should be viewed as an incredible gift that makes us more helpful to others. Businesses all over the world are happy to compensate you for your WORK.
Work is the giving of yourself to help another. Work is the best thing for us because, by its very nature, it brings out our best qualities, intentions, and solutions.
What work isn’t:
If, on the other hand, one views’ W-O-R-K’ as: Wanting Others to Replace my Knowhow, then that individual is essentially holding back their unique gift and perspective and not giving of themselves to help another.
Work for some people is merely something they have to do and not something that provides them with an open the door to use their creativity – or is not viewed as a unique opportunity to share their creative insight for the benefit of another.
Fear, disappointment, rejection, anger, and blame keep one from doing their best WORK.
How we view WORK significantly impacts ourselves, our families, and the benefit of others. By doing our best WORK, we can change lives for the better.
A great reason to get up and work every day, make sure you do something you love.
Thanks, Mr Botta!
Whatever career you choose in sales, getting help is always good.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for 7 days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Good selling.
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
- Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member. You get access to an exclusive coaching session with me and full access to my sales programme every month. Get the deets here.
- Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days—the framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework uses a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
- Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
- Could you work with me one-on-one? If you’re a small or large business owner or in professional services, you might have a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Please jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
by Mike Brunel | Jul 18, 2022 | Sales, Strategy
In Dan Kennedy’s book ‘No BS Sales Success’, he talks about a real estate agent called Pebby B.
Here is an abridged version…
“Peggy B gets 70% of her listings from referrals and 30% from advertising. When someone wants to list with Peggy, they get put onto one of her three assistants. The assistants vet the clients to see if they fulfil Peggy’s requirements for listing. If they do not, they are passed on to other real estate agents.
If they do, a DVD on Peggy’s successes is sent directly that day to the potential listed property owner.
An appointment is made, but the assistant arrives first (Peggy comes 20 minutes later). While the assistant is there, they go over the data of similar sales in the area, how long sales have taken, price expectations, etc.
Peggy then calls to let the client know she is on the way, arrives, and listens to her assistant’s overview of the property. Next, while they talk, Peggy asks if it is okay for the assistant to take a few photos of the house. (This is a trial close)
Why would they let her go ahead if they were not interested in listing the house?
Peggy then uses her flip book and goes over the ten steps they will operate together to get the best price for the house. An agreement is produced that has been partially completed by the assistant from the information obtained over the phone.
Last year Peggy listed 92% of the homes where she presented this listing immediately, without delay.”
I highly recommend you buy this book to get hundreds of ideas for your sales presentations. I fight for every referral I can get; I have a system in my book to tease up clients before you present your offering.
Any agent in real estate can execute this process with some planning and understanding of what and how essential referrals and structured presentations are.
Please share your ideas on what you do when you first meet a client.
Good selling.
Mike
Whatever career you choose in sales, getting help is always good.
That’s why you can get FREE in your inbox every morning for seven days; the 7 Day Sale Challenge.
Hop on over here and subscribe.
For more content like this, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Good selling.
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
- Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member. You get access to an exclusive coaching session with me and full access to my sales programme every month. Get the deets here.
- Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days—the framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
- Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
- Could you work with me one-on-one? If you’re a small or large business owner or in professional services, you might have a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Please jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
by Mike Brunel | Jul 11, 2022 | Sales, Strategy, Uncategorized
I am always being asked what makes good sales training and coaching? Here are five tips I hope can help you make the right decision when it comes to hiring any sales trainer or sales coach.
1. The sales team don’t see the sales training as relevant to them.
Usually what happens is that a salesperson will be sent on a sales training course and they get there and it’s straight out of a manual. Taught to them by rote and disappointing.
2. The ‘one size fits all approach doesn’t suit their business situation.
The trainer has not spent the time to evaluate the sales persons’ needs. Tailor making specific programmes work better. Before any training ask the sales trainer to work with you on YOUR outcomes for the training programme.
3. Lack of Outcomes once at the course.
This is similar to point two, salespeople have different needs, just like their clients, many times salespeople arrive at the course and at are never asked what their specific outcomes today for this course.
4. Sales trainer, not a salesperson.
In this case, it’s more about creditability, if the trainer has no experience selling in any form, it’s difficult to build rapport with the audience you are training. The theory is fine, but not realistic. Sales experience is a must for a trainer.
5. Learning as you go.
If the training is not carried out in an environment of learning and facilitation it’s seen as boring and lacking in depth. In the ever-increasing world of soft skills training involving your participants in ‘learning by doing is a must.
These tips have certainly helped my clients and may help you.
Good selling.
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
- Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member. Every month you get access to an exclusive coaching session with me as well as full access to my sales programme. Get the deets here.
- Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days. The framework of everything you need to get started in making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
- Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
- Work with me one-on-one. If you’re a business owner, small or large or in the professional services you might just be a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
