This week I wanted to share a question that one of my clients asked me in a call last week.
We were talking about ideas to motivate her team.
This was her question:
‘How do I get my team to think like me, or to at least follow some of my behaviours?’
We got talking about her love of reading; any books on business that she could get her hands on, she would read.
It was a habit she had learnt long ago, from one of her original managers.
She had discovered by reading these books, which shared successes in other companies, that she could apply many things she learned to her own business.
Start a library.
I said to her “why don’t you start a company library?”
She looked at me with a bit of a sideways glance, and said, “You aren’t serious?”
“Yes I am,” I said.
Not only start up a library but bribe them to read a book a month.
Tell them that you will pay a $50 bonus for every book report they submit each month.
It does not have to be a fifty-page novel, just a few pages on the key points they learnt from the book.
Whoever reads the most over the year, gets an iPad preloaded with a collection of both your, and their favourite books.
You will certainly notice a difference in their attitude.
It’s also a way to quietly bed down your culture.
The ones that you notice will go that extra mile and do the reading, are the people that you want in your organisation.
Have a great week.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
My favourite thing to do is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one.
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
My favourite thing to do is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one.
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then emailmike@mikebrunel.comand put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
Cheers, Mike
Cheers, Mike
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
Last week we talked about the promise and painting a picture of a product we were selling.
Now I want to discuss proof.
You have to show them PROOF.
You have to prove to your client that what you have just said is true and you have to prove it to their satisfaction.
How do you do that?
Well in a funny kind of way you go back to the features, you know the blah, blah, blah bit.
Let me tell you about this electric bike, it uses rechargeable batteries that can travel up to 25 to 45 km/h, low cost, energy–efficient, and is emission-free.
You do it in the way of a summary.
The promise you made
The benefit you promised
The Proof
It might go like this:
“Here are some facts about the bike that support the promise we talked about” or “Let me tell you about this electric bike, it uses rechargeable batteries that can travel up to 25 to 45 km/h, low cost, energy–efficient, and emission-free.“
Build-in facts about the bike.
Or introduce a third party.
A satisfied customer – A testimonial from a happy customer that bought that exact bike.
Or Creditability- Health benefits, or facts from a local sports medicine person.
The key with proof is to build as much creditability that all the bases are covered.
Real people are the best.
Whatever proof you can put forward helps the sale move forward.
So what is next?
It’s pinpointing why this product is unique. It’s time to tell your client why this is the bike for them.
If you know some of the features of the bike are unique and they may not get these with other bikes, then this is when you position the uniqueness.
It’s called a unique sell proposition or commonly known as a USP and sits inside my Pitch perfect Programme.
This is when you can get the client really excited about your product.
They are now ready to buy.
In our last blog in this series, we talk about the Offer and the Close.
It’s really what you are here for, TRUE?
See you next week with the last two elements of the Structure of a Sale.
Mike (nearly there) Brunel.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is to show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Cheers, Mike
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
In our last blog, we talked about the need to stop selling your stuff logically.
Too many salespeople get caught up in the features of a product vs the benefits.
The Promise.
Showing a client precisely what the benefits of the product are (in this case, an electric bike), is going to help him achieve what he wants.
Mr Client,
I’ve got some great news for you.
You can ride this bike, and you will never feel tired.
You will love riding this bike. It will feel like being a kid again.
You won’t have to worry about it breaking down.
It’s easy to go up those hills that you never thought you could do again; your experience will never be the same once you hop on this bike and go for your first ride.
You will be fitter, feel better and have lots of energy. It’s a fantastic bike.
This might seem a little over the top, but the message in your promise is to identify a fear or a desire and then tell them what it’s going to do for them – it’s about creating attention.
In this sales statement, you have created desire, and his or her life may never be the same. I know friends that have experienced this state of mind since owning an electric bike.
BUT right there is where the biggest mistake is made, the salesperson has created the desire and then BANG outcomes the close.
It’s often too early and does not follow the structure or the process. If you mention the price too soon, you may lose the sale, not all the time, but often.
There are always exceptions.
If the sale is being made off-site in advertising and promotion, then there is a real risk of losing the sale.
So, what do you do?
Create a picture.
You can do this in a couple of ways.
As the desire is met, you might get him or her to see the real picture. You might ask them to think of a place they would like to ride in the city they live in. Get them to imagine doing that, and paint a picture.
What you are doing for your client is showing what the bike will do for him/her and then getting them to see themselves reaping the benefits of your promise.
The next step is proof.
Like in any copywriting lesson, I have learnt proof plays a big part in the sale.
It’s often missing from the salespeople I come across, and sales are lost. They simply do not have proof in any form.
I can explain how to do that in the next blog next week.
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 and 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 making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to learn 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.
See you then,
Mike
Cheers, Mike
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
It was essential to set the scene that desire and discovery are crucial to the first part of any sale.
We talked about selling a bike and the importance of not selling a bike but one that people might have more of an interest in.
We do that by talking about the desire and the result they want by buying that bike.
Figuring out the feelings and desires of any product is indeed challenging.
In this blog, we want to give you some tips so you can maybe, just maybe, learn to stop selling the features of a product and instead sell the benefits.
Okay, now let’s get back to your person who wants to buy an electric bike.
Every retailer will tell you, that phrases like “Can I help you?” does anyone’s head in.
It’s a closed question.
Same with a salesperson out in the field. They will fail if they are not armed with a mindset to be curious or have a list of questions to ask to get the sales moving.
I say that because the structure of a sale follows a specific process.
In this case, is our prospect after a bike? Or are they after a specific cycle?
Our job is to find that out.
It’s called discovery.
When I train and hire salespeople, I give them this advice.
“I give you permission to ask a client as many questions as you want to ask to see if they fit your product.”
This, however, is often not the case.
Many salespeople try to convince a client how fantastic their product is.
“Let me tell you about this electric bike; it uses rechargeable batteries that can travel up to 25 to 45 km/h, is low cost, energy-efficient, and emission-free.“
(blah, blah, blah)…
Wrong.
What is going on here? The salesperson is telling the customer that the electric bike is so great.
And it probably is.
The salesperson is trying to argue the client into a sale with too many facts and figures.
He’s appealing to his client’s sense of reason.
We talked about this in the secrets to selling anything. Sell to the heart first, then the head.
So, what’s the secret here? Here’s how you do it. Ready?
Listen closely…
You tell your client what the bike is going to do for him or her.
Make them a promise.
The Promise.
In our next blog we are going to go more in-depth on the promise.
See you soon, promise. Mike (Promise) Brunel.
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.
The funny thing about sales is that it looks so simple when you watch the successful salespeople.
I remember when I first started out selling, I used to watch the veterans, the guys and girls that had been in the business for ages; they looked so relaxed and confident. I dreamed of being like them.
Why can’t I do that? I used to ask; it looks so easy.
The truth was when I started, it was not easy, but I learned over time that there is a secret way of selling.
A lot of it is in my book, but an underground structure holds every sale together.
If you think about it, there are secrets everywhere; the person that can turn a piece of furniture over time into a beautiful product has a secret.
We see those how-to videos where a master artisan will take an old clock with patience and experience and turn it back to its original look as if it’s brand new. They have a secret.
The masters know little secrets that they have learned over time, making the clockwork and furniture look extraordinary—masters at work.
In sales, it’s the same; it isn’t just the product; it’s the hidden structure.
It’s how you lead your client through the product benefits and get them excited about your product or service.
What I want to teach here is a secret to a sale. I have adapted this structure from some of my copywriting experience and lessons I have learnt in my marketing days.
These principles apply to selling a product face-to-face or online.
Now, let’s build a sales principle or two.
Remember back in the other articles we wrote about the secret to selling, and finding out who your customer is?
I want to use some of those tips to sell a real-life product.
Let’s say you are selling bicycles.
Specifically electric bikes.
First of all, you have to know exactly who you are selling to.
You are not selling to all people that ride a bike.
You are selling to people who want to ride an electric bike.
Does that mean you yell at the top of your voice, “Who wants to buy an electric bike?”
Of course not.
You have to hook the prospect with an idea to bring them to you, a magic button to activate a feeling.
You then create images in their mind about the desire they are after.
Here is another secret, too many salespeople get caught up in the bike and its features.
What you want to do is sell the benefits of the bike.
The emotional desire for your prospect to see themselves riding that bike, freedom of the road, easy to navigate the rugged hills and relax on the flat, wind in their hair.
Going places they would love to have gone in the neighborhood, that having an electric bike will give them.
How do you create that desire?
It’s harder to sell – we will explore that in the next article coming up next week.
Until then, Happy biking.
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.
