[650] Making Sales Simpler (Spearpoint Solutions)

Jason [00:00:00]: This is the authentic persuasion show. Jason [00:00:06]: Hey, what's going on there? Welcome to episode 650 of the Authentic Persuasion show. My name is Jason Cutter. So glad that you're here. Gonna do something different. I did this last Monday as well on episode 645. But I want to play for you the recording that I did of a guest blog article I wrote for Spear Solutions. So if you go to SpearPointsolutions online or spearpointonline.com, you can find out the article the site is Spearpoint solutions, but the website is Spearpoint online and this one is called making sales simpler. And I read the article because I wanted to stay with the content that I wrote because it was such good stuff. Jason [00:00:45]: And obviously that's different than when I'm just chatting and talking into the microphone and sharing my thoughts. One of the big things from this, and this is why I love this article and this concept so much, is that most people think sales is really hard. Think sales is difficult, make up excuses or there's the camp that feels like they're naturally gifted in sales, a natural born salesperson. They think sales is just easy, but they're not correct, because they're probably trying to do it an easy way or a simple way, and it's not in line with what people actually want. And so in this article, I talk about making sales simpler. If you have challenges in sales or you want to figure out how to make sales simple, then you're in the right place. And again, if you want to check out the article and find out more of the articles that I've written for them, make sure to go to spearpointonline.com. Jason [00:01:31]: Selling is hard. Ever heard someone complain about how hard it is to be in sales? To get someone else to buy, to make sales happen, to find the solution for no one ever calling back? Ever heard someone say how they would never want to be in sales because of how hard it is? Or that they don't want to have to push people into buying? Or that they just couldn't handle the rejection first. Being in sales is hard. When you are amazing at it, you are still only moving a small percentage of your prospective leads forward, which in doing the math means you're not moving most of your leads forward. Being a rock star in sales technically means you are losing more times at the plate than winning. And that is truly difficult for the self protective survival part of our brain to handle without completely melting down. Now imagine there was a way to make a sales role a whole lot simpler. Maybe not easier, but definitely simpler. Jason [00:02:29]: Well, if you have ever wondered how then you are in the right place? One warning, you might be the type of salesperson who is always looking for that one tactic, that magic bullet of a trick hack or a tip that will make prospective customers close themselves. A. This article will disappoint as I'm not going to share such hack. B. Even more important, no such thing exists. So stop looking for a shortcut. When you understand this aspect of every single one of your prospects and create a selling process around that, you will find sales so much simpler and easier than doing it the traditional way. Okay, here it is. Jason [00:03:08]: You have one job when persuading someone to take an action that will benefit them that they are resisting to do. Help them feel safe. Which stands for successful at fear elimination. Successful at fear elimination. That's it. End of lesson. All right, for those out there who need more, let's break down why that is the most important role you have in sales. We all have this part of our brain called the amygdala, which is focused on survival as the oldest part of our brain, it has kept us alive as a species for a very long time. Jason [00:03:44]: And not just alive and getting by, but thriving and even dominating for good and evil as a species. One reason we have done so well as a group is we work together in small and large tribes. In the next article, I will cover why this part of our brain is also responsible for most people's avoidance of rejection. The amygdala is on the constant lookout for danger and knows that the safest route through life, to stay alive long enough to procreate, is to stick with what we know. We call it our comfort zone. Everyone has a different boundary of comfort, and some people are risk takers in some aspects of life, like willing to travel to new places, but then might play it safe in others. When they get to that new city, they look for a familiar restaurant chain that they know. Why am I talking about this in sales? Well, here is one of the biggest light bulb moments I had early in my sales leadership career when trying to figure out why some sales processes worked better than others. Jason [00:04:43]: Because buying something new equals change. And change is dangerous to the primal part of our mind. Here is a formula for the people who like formulas and simple representations. Sales equals change equals danger. Danger equals death. Dramatic? Yes. Accurate? Yes. For people to buy your product or service means that they have to embrace the danger, risks, and hazards of stepping outside their comfort zone of what is known. Jason [00:05:12]: Even if they have bought something similar to what you sell. Carpet cleaning, a CRM bookkeeping services, a Toyota Camry. They haven't bought one from you and your company. They might know the product, but they don't know you. Stranger danger. If they've never bought a product like yours, then it will represent even more of an unknown, which, depending on their personality and the cost of the product or service relative to the financial situation. For example, a $10,000 watch could be a life savings to some and literally a rounding error to others. Well, will this cause them to hesitate in moving forward, even if it will benefit them? And it's what they say they want? Let me sum it up. Jason [00:05:54]: Every prospective customer of yours who is not yet a customer all have the same fear in common. The fear of change. Now how can I make such a claim? Everyone's different, right? Yes. But again, if they haven't bought from you, they are struggling with the risk of change that buying from you represents. The easy sales are because that person has come to full terms with the risk or their pain is much greater than their comfort zone. Early on in your conversation, they will say something like, I'm familiar with what you sell. What is the cost? And do you take credit cards or cash? They know what they want and they don't need a salesperson. They just need an order taker, which is great. Jason [00:06:34]: Swipe the card and move on for everyone else. They need your help. They need you to help them feel safe again, successful at fear elimination. At the moment you make them feel safe, they will embrace the risks involved. Large or small, perceived or actual, doesn't matter because it's all in their head. And you will close the deal. All the sales processes, strategies, tricks, tips, slick closing lines, gross manipulation tactics that focus on moving people forward no matter what won't work at scale. Jason [00:07:05]: You can manipulate some of the people. Jason [00:07:07]: Some of the time. Instead, build your sales process around what humans are afraid of, which is change, with the goal of moving them from their safe, cozy center of their comfort zone to the other side, where buying from you lies. Oh, and just so you know, the closed sale is just the beginning of selling that customer. Their mind will want to run back into their comfort zone. We call it buyer's remorse, which means the selling never stops in their mind or on your and your company's end.