Jim Brown: Why Sales People Need a Process to Profit

Aug 15, 2017

Wes Schaeffer

Veteran The Sales Podcast David Sandler Marketing Automation Entrepreneur

Just because you know your product doesn't mean you can sell it

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Sandler Sales Tips you'll learn in The Sales Podcast...

Former Marine turned sales trainer
Grew up poor, so he had to sell to have money for hot dogs with his buddies
Was a bookie since 7th grade
Talked his best friend's dad into building a wrestling ring in his backyard
Got into the college of his dreams, but because they were poor, he joined the Marines
Took one company to Inc 58 status (from $1 million to $11 million in two years)
Grew Compendium and sold it to Oracle
Got too big for his own britches
Sought out to raise venture capital
- Raised $1 million for a B2C app
- It failed, and it crushed him
- Didn't pay himself for two years
The companies he interviewed all wanted a "good VP of Sales," but they were dreamers
- They thought they could raise money
- They thought they could bypass the basics of sales training
- He hit up five companies to train them, and all five took him up on it
10 years ago, he had a Sandler trainer who gave him a sales process
He landed his five clients before he had the Sandler franchise
His sweet spot is technology companies with 2-10 salespeople in technology
There has been an explosion of software tech companies...but not salespeople
- So they pay a lot of money to recruit these people
- Or they recruit young college kids and try to train them
- Product knowledge does not equal sales ability
Most companies are under-selling because you're focusing on features vs. the pain of the customer
Stats show that content is free but only if the prospect knows the right questions to ask
When prospects meet a professional salesperson, they know it because they ask questions the prospect can't answer
Give use cases
Negative Reverse Selling
- Be skeptical
- Talk you out of buying from me
Buyers will let a professional salesperson lead if you have a process
Buyers don't know how to buy
Consumers are always wary of snake oil salesman
Technology companies all have a big button "Request a Demo"
- Professional salespeople know they must learn something about them to do a proper demo
- Consumers think they want a demo
How do you treat a competitor?
What do you say about competitors?
How do you negate a competitor without talking badly about them?
Turn on your video and have your prospects see you and you need to see them
Match their body language
Watch your tonality, so you don't come across as condescending
Use your words carefully
Play the role of the dummy
Most sales managers believe they were hired to be a trainer, but they don't have time
- Product knowledge
- Deal cycles
- Etc
Sales reps are more open with an outside professional sales trainer
Most sales managers don't believe they need help
Usually, the CEO of the company hires professional sales trainers
You need to understand your buyer profile
- Acceptable clients
- Typical clients
- Ideal clients
- Why would you tell each one "no"?
- Tell the prospect that "at the end of this conversation I may have to tell you 'no.' Is that okay?"
- Own why you would tell a prospect "no"

Catch Up on Previous Episodes of The Sales Podcast

Links Mentioned In The Sales Podcast

Follow Jim Brown on Twitter
Visit Jim Brown's sales training home on the web
Listen to Jim Brown's podcast, Sales Tuners
Get his Sales Tuners Roadmap

Sales Growth Tools Mentioned In The Sales Podcast

Take The CRM Quiz: get a free consultation with me
Donate: Just because you like the show, the no-bullshit approach, and don't want to buy a book, software, or The Make Every Sale Program.
The Sales Agenda: take control of every sales opportunity like a pro.
Leadferno: Turn lurkers into leads
Founders Card: Get $20,000 in free processing from Stripe, save 15% on Bose, and save on hotels, travel, car rentals, you name it.
Send Drunk Emails: ...that get opened and get you paid!
Phone Burner: work the phone like a machine so you can be a human when you connect.
Apollo: Find targeted accounts and send cold email at scale to them and hit the inbox with Apollo