How To Think And Speak Like A Sales Rockstar With Andy Bounds [Episode 25]

As marketers, your mission is clear, communicate your message to the right audience in order to sell stuff and make some money!

But as marketers the thought of selling and being the ‘sales-guy' probably send shivers down your spine, right?

What if I told you that after listening to this episode you'll actually be raring to go, selling with confidence and closing those game-changing deals…

Author and Sales Training Superstar Andy Bounds is with us to share his insights on how small changes in how you communicate and think when selling can take you to the next level.

Take it away Andy…

 

 

 

• Most people hate being sold to by rubbish salespeople, but most people I know love being sold with, in a way they really like.
• The thing to remember when you’re selling is that your job isn’t to sell at people, your job is to help someone in such a way that they understand what you’re selling them will enhance their life somehow.

 

 

 

• The things that I find works best is the word afters.
• What I mean by this is that customers don't really care what you do, they care that they will be better off after you've done it.
• For example, when you go see a lawyer it’s not because you want to spend time with a lawyer, it’s because you maybe want to avoid a sticky legal situation.
• So, when people get in touch with me I always ask them a couple of questions so that I can get a clear understand of what their ‘afters’ are.
• A few questions down the line I can understand exactly what their end goal is, and I can work backward from there.
• Now the customer is way more likely to want to work with you because they can see that you’re both going to work towards the same outcome and success for them.

 

 

 

• Again, it’s all about the afters.
• But the key to this is how to find out what their afters are. Well, you have to ask really good questions.
• The best tip I could give is – prepare questions before you go into it. Nobody does it and it makes a massive difference!
• Don’t prepare what you’re going to say, instead prepare what you’re going to ask.

 

 

 

• One to one is easier in a way because you can ask direct questions like we just discussed.
• If you’re doing one to many on maybe a webinar it can be harder to ask questions. What you would do then is do plenty of research beforehand to work out what the main afters are likely to be, so you can address those.
• ResponseSuite tip: Running a survey before a webinar is a great way to find out what your audience afters might be.

 

 

 

The ABC method is what I use and teach and it works really well:

• Afters – always lead with something that addresses an after.
• Build certainty – make sure you build certainty throughout.
• Close – always have a call to action, it sounds obvious, but a lot of people actually don’t do it.

 

 

 

• If sales aren’t going as you would like it will be because of one of two things.
• You aren’t seeing enough potential customers, or you are seeing enough but you’re not good enough at closing them.
• So, in simple terms – you want to open more doors or close more sales.
• If you aren’t closing enough sales, then that’s when the ABC comes in from earlier. Work more on finding the afters, build more certainty and make sure you always have a call to action when you close.
• If you aren’t seeing enough potential customers, then the easiest way to improve this is to use your personal network. Selling to strangers is notoriously hard. A great way to do this is using LinkedIn and finding your perfect customer, then see who you have as a mutual connection. From there you can get in touch with your mutual connection and ask for an introduction.

 

 

 

A book that you would recommend…
This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay.

What is your top success habit?
At the end of every day, I write a diary entry that reminds me to follow up on all my actions from that day.

Who do you look up to?
My parents.

What is your favourite app right now?
I use Document Direct a lot, I talk into it and it goes away and types it all up for me!

Here the big one…who do you like more, Rob or Kennedy?
Kennedy!

Finally, where can folks go to find out more about you?
I love hearing from people and I reply to all my messages so you can email me at andy@andybounds.com if you have any questions or you can take a look at my online video training at andyboundsonline.com