Master Deal Maker Secrets: Recent Episodes
John Blake
A show that deconstructs world-class deal makers, digging deep to uncover the philosophies, tools, and tactics entrepreneurs can use to put together the biggest deals of their careers.
Want to know the 1 spark plug that will make your sales team engine perform better without doing anything else? In my experience it's helping them to become more confident. So the next question is of course, how do you do that? In this episode we break that down for you..I share with you 3 things you can do with your team to give them the rocket fuel that powers sales success. Tune in below to check it out.
Sometimes there are some very simple changes you can make to the sales process within a business can can cause really big changes. Today I am going to share one with you that will blow you away. It's a real life case study of a client I recently worked with with who increase their sales from 600K - 1 million per week in sales just by implementing one idea. Click the link below to listen in and learn exactly how they did it and the massive shift it cased in their results.
This week we caught up with tech sales expert Ricky Pearl. We covered a wide range of sales topics in our discussion including some of the most cutting edge strategies being deployed in the sales tech world today including... - AI (of course) and how every business needs to have a data strategy. - How automation fits into the sales process (I wasn't expecting Ricky's answer on this one) - Ricky's take on what a great CRM should do - What personality traits great sales people (still) need
Plus a stack of other timely information on how teach is being successfully blended to accelerate sales success in many markets.
This week, you're going to peek behind the scenes of exactly how I helped a remote high ticket sales rep increase his sales results by 58% in 12 months.
You'll learn how he went from falling way short each month to a consistent top performer with a repeatable high converting sales process.
We'll explore what was stopping this guy from earning the commission he deserved PLUS we'll break down step by step exactly how we got him firing on all cylinders.
You'll learn the mistakes he was making in his calls with potential clients plus exactly what we did to turn his performance around through coaching.
In business and certainly in sales, at the end of every month, even if we've had a great month we need to start again. And if you're good, and you have a great sales growth plan, you will be stringing together consistent months. But what happens when we have a down month? It's not if it's going to happen, it's when. Here's how to fix that - fast Listen in this week for my 7 minute sales reset - ideas to get sales and get you back on track fast...like today.
Could you be killing sales without knowing? Could there be subtle (and not so subtle) things you're doing that are stopping sales that would otherwise have converted? If you suspect that you are, then you need to listen to this week's episode. You'll learn 5 simple things to stop (and start) doing now that will help you make more sales today !
This week I had Will Wang back on for a conversation about direct marketing. Will, in fact. has just successfully sold his consulting business and was super generous with me asking him a stack of questions about a subject I have been fascinated with for a long time now... How do you get the attention of your ideal clients by going direct to them rather than spending a truck load on marketing and waiting for them to hopefully come to you? There's a stack of gold in Will's and My chat - I'm sure you'll get a heap out of it.
If you are noticing a reduction in the number of leads that you are getting that are converting into buyers is declining this weeks episode will be super helpful. Even if you are happy with your sales, it's important to be aware of where to look if things start to drift. In this week's episode we look at the 3 best places to look as well as some other places within each of the three main areas to work out what to fix. It will be really helpful if you are a sales leader or business owner or if you are in direct sales.
How do I get my sales team performing better with the time they have?
How can I manage my time better than I do?
I constantly get these get these questions...
In fact, in the 21 years I have been doing this, It would easily be the top question I get from business owners and sales reps alike.
Why?
We live in a world of distractions...
The better we manage our own energy and our own state the better we can extract the highest amount from ourselves and our teams.
This week you will learn 5 simple but powerful strategies to do just that.
In this week's episode we caught up with digital marketing strategic expert Marlon Lockyear.
In our conversation we cover some really interesting ground around...
How to best prepare for your transition into paid marketing How to get the most out of your investment in a digital agency How to know if you are being taken advantage of by your digital agency The current status of AI in automated appointment making and client re-engagement
Most businesses I talk to are not using a digital agency but at some point understand they will need to.
Regardless if you are working with a digital agency or not you will get a lot out of this week's episode.
I have coached a lot of sales people over the last 21 years.
In that time I’ve noticed 5 things that make the biggest difference in turning around sales people’s performance and results.
In this weeks episode we will cover…
3 ways to quickly work out if someone should stay in sales or do something else The simplest and fastest way to instantly improve results The most powerful tool for sustainable, long term shifts in sales performance The little known sales management strategy to motivate even the most underperforming sales people Tune in here to find out what it is.
Relax…mate ! have a beer !
This week I had a fascinating interview with James Swanwick who is a give up drinking coach.
In this fascinating conversation we cover…
What alcohol really is Both James’s and my journey to giving up alcohol How alcohol imbibes (sorry couldn’t help myself) itself into so many different cultures The million dollar business case for giving up alcohol (this blew my mind)
Even if you are not planning on giving up soon, I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode.
Tune in here to find out what it is.
There’s no denying…
Burnout in business is real
Recent data shows that 60% of people in business experience some sort of burnout at some point in their career.
And guess what ?
It’s actually worse for sales people
why?
because we experience more rejection than other people in business.
So how do we avoid it?
Well I’m glad you asked because that’s what we are talking about in today's podcast - the 5 ways you can avoid burnout in your sales role.
Tune in here to find out what it is.
Don’t make this deadly hiring mistake
Ok, that sounded a bit dramatic.
But I really can’t overstate how damaging hiring a salesperson without this one thing in place can be.
I mean, you could get everything else right and have the other 4 hiring pillars I talk about in place (Selection - Induction - Training and Management Systems) but if you’re missing this - you are toast.
Tune in here to find out what it is.
This week I outline the top 10 most watched and listened to podcasts for 2024.
Of all the podcasts released this year, these were the most listened to.
Counting down from 10 to 1.
Listen in to get a brief summary of the best episodes.
I have also listed the top 10 episode numbers below ranked from most popular down so you can check them out individually as well.
Episodes: 202 Increase your sales results in just 2 weeks 197 Interview with master copywriter Scott Bywater 207 Top Mindset shifting books with Lloyd Thompson 211 3 ways to lift yourself out of a sales rut 212 How to get the best out of every sales opportunity 209 The two types of businesses that invest in sales training 199 How to put your sales results on steroids by reviewing sales call recordings 208 5 Top time management tips for maximising productivity 205 Top mistakes businesses make in sales meetings 200 3 big warning signs a new sales team member is not going to make it
I love this time of the year. I love the way it has a natural ebb to it and how each year I am drawn to literally pull my business apart and look at how I can add more value to clients this year. (more on this soon)
One of the things I am super focused on right now is the concept of strategy and strategic planning.
In fact, I have 3 brand new clients who I am running strategic planning sessions within the next week to help them make 2025 their biggest year in business ever.
That’s what makes this week’s podcast so timely.
If you are doing some planning for 2025 you will love what we cover in this week’s episode.
If you want some help with your own planning, click here - https://johnblake.wufoo.com/forms/s1e2bc6q1sw4zyn/
I am working on something that will be incredibly helpful if you’re serious about growth for 2025.
Listen to this week’s podcast.
If you are like the majority of clients I speak to, you may not be working with a digital agency yet, but it’s probably on your radar to do at some point.
If you are paying a digital agency to generate leads for you, then this week's episode will be a super important one for you.
This week we are going to talk about what you should expect from a digital agency in terms of performance but just as importantly, how to spot it early if they are not doing the right thing.
Paid lead generation is so important and can literally make or break a business. (new enquiries are like oxygen for most businesses)
I have seen and had first hand experience with a number of my clients who stayed way too long with digital agencies who were underperforming.
Here’s how to spot the warning signs early so you can get out fast and stop the bleeding before the rot sets in.
Are you only getting low-level buying motivators in your client discovery before you make an offer?
If you are, you’re probably not converting a lot of sales. Today we spend a whole episode talking about how to uncover the core buying motivators BEFORE you make an offer.
Failure to do this will leave you with very low conversion rates.
Listening to this episode will give you a number of ways you can go way deeper with clients in terms of uncovering their motivators to buy.
Your clients will feel way more “heard” and have so much more trust in you when you get this right.
How are your sales tracking for the year?
More importantly, how is your planning for the last quarter of the year looking?
What about the first quarter of next year?
In this week's episode, we will cover the 8 keys to planning an insanely successful quarter of sales.
What you will learn in this episode will help you get crystal clear at the planning stage on precisely what you want to achieve.
Getting the planning part right will make the deployment of your strategy way more smoother.
It will also make hitting your key outcomes way more likely.
After all, you can’t hit a target you don’t aim for.
Are you thinking about investing in paid leads?
Even if you already are, this will be a super important episode.
Digital agencies are happy to take your money to generate enquiries for you but in my experience, they will never tell you what you’ll learn in this week’s podcast.
After you have listened to today’s podcast, you’ll know…
The 1 strategy that separates paid lead gen working and not working
The massive difference between referred and repeat business versus paid lead generation
A 60-day plan to optimize every cent you spend online
The 6 numbers to track to make sure your digital ad spend will give you a great ROI.
Do you just send them your monthly newsletter or EDM?
That’s what most clients say when I ask them how they keep in touch with past clients.
This week, I’m not only showing you what the data tells us about precisely why clients leave…
I’m also showing you exactly how to stay in touch with clients and what to say when you call so they find value in the contact.
After all, if your clients get value each time you contact them they will stay a client longer.
This is a much overlooked area in business that can make a massive difference to both the short-term profitability and the long-term value of your business.
Want to know if you’re maximizing every potential sale?
Today I am going to ask you 11 questions about your sales process.
I have noticed recently talking to clients there’s been a bit of a dip in the economy so the timing on this should be spot on right now.
As you listen and answer each question, giving yourself a mark out of 10,
you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly where your sales opportunity system needs work.
These 11 questions form part of a 21-point checklist I have been working through with clients to know what they need to fix next.
Addressing any one of them can easily add another 5 - 30% to your conversion rate from lead to sale.
Which could easily add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your monthly, quarterly or yearly sales figures.
If you’d like me to send you the whole checklist, simply reply and I will email it to you (no opt-in).
Are you taking responsibility for your sales results?
It’s going to happen…
At some point, you will find yourself blaming your lack of results on things you have no control over.
And you’ll be right. And you’ll know you’re right…
And your righteousness won’t change one…single…thing
It’s only when you deliberately shift your focus onto what you CAN control that your situation will change.
I know about this because I have been the complainer
I have also been the complainee (the one people complain to)
This is a powerful episode on how to fix this in your business…for good.
Are you trying to convert every prospect you talk to into a client?
There are some clients you shouldn’t deal with. Today we talk about why and the three filters you should be applying to every client call you have.
I know most of my content is about converting as many leads as possible into paying clients so this week I thought I would briefly break away from that.
In this episode, you’ll learn…
- The three reasons you should not accept a new client and why.
- Why a large percentage of clients might think they need your help but they actually need something totally different.
- Why saying no can benefit you in the medium to long term.
- How to say no in a way that still serves your potential client.
Plus I share a few of my own examples where I have had clients who really wanted to work with me and why (and how) I politely said no.
This will be a very actionable episode for anyone who is speaking to potential clients.
Are you investing in sales training?
Want to know how to get 400% better results as a result of doing it?
In this week’s podcast, we talk about some little known strategies to get way more out of training your team…
- The two schools of thought when investing in sales training
- How one approach to sales training will give you a 400% better result
- How to guarantee your training investment continues to pay dividends for years to come
- How implementing 2 other simple strategies after training will ensure you get the single best results possible
Companies spend billions on sales training every year - very few of them implement and benefit from what you will learn in this week's podcast.
Are you as productive with your time as you’d like?
This week we are talking about a super simple method for getting the most out of your time.
After listening to this week's episode you’ll learn a simple and fast 5 step approach to getting the most out of your work hours.
I have read dozens of books and taken a bunch of courses on time management and this is the summary of the single most practical ideas I have learned.
Listen to this episode, put those 5 principles into play and let me know how you go.
In this week’s episode, I invited Lloyd Thompson back to nerd out again on books.
But this time we talked about the top 3 books that changed each of our lives.
Having both literally read hundreds of books, I know you will get a stack out of this week’s episode.
Regardless of what your main focus in your life is right now, be it work or personal, one of these books is bound to be of massive value.
I have constantly found specific books at specific times to be life changing and that’s what this week’s episode is all about, to get you to the next level, or to the other side of whatever you are dealing with right now.
I’m sure you’ll get a heap of value from listening to our chat.
Did you think I’d keep my promise?
In this week's episode, we go through an example of a template you can use to run a sales meeting. This template has built-in accountability, structure and that moves opportunities through your sales process once clients are in contact with you.
This is a template I have perfected with multiple companies I have worked with.
It will be easy to adapt to your business so I encourage you to take notes as you go,
I also offered to send you a sales meeting template, so if you’d like me to, email me at john@john-blake.com.au and I will get back to you.
PS
This is the LAST week you can get access to the Sales Mastery Certification at the special initial price.
Learn more and get the training here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zg1O76xIwDz43nrobR8rhKo1APDd0DoXGa-JahzZzCo/edit?usp=sharing
Then simply email and tell me at john@john-blake.com.au if you are in, out or have any questions.
Do you run or sit in on sales opportunity meetings with your sales team?
Do they run on time?
Do they get off track?
Do you think they are actually productive?
Chances are you are making at least 1 or more of the top 10 mistakes I see when business owners or sales managers run sales opportunity meetings.
In this episode we go over all 10 and most importantly how you can fix them…forever.
You’ll not only identify where you are going wrong but precisely what you need to do to keep your sales meetings efficient, effective and productive.
In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lloyd Thompson from VirtualDOO.
Given we are both business growth book geeks, we decided to talk about each of our top 3 books for growing your business.
Lloyd’s business VirtualDOO specializes in putting in a “Director of Operations” service on a fractional basis to smaller non-corporate businesses. Because of Lloyd’s core area of focus, he had a different take on his top 3 books than what I did, which was all about revenue growth.
The result?
I’ll let you judge for yourself, but I think it provided a great balance of 6 battle-tested resources for growing a small to medium non-corporate style business.
You’ll hear why we picked each book and what our top takeout of each book was.
I’m sure you'll get a heap of value from this episode.
Today I am going to share a real-life case study about a client I worked with a few years ago in the online advertising space. They came to me desperately needing to increase their sales and nothing was working.
I remember walking into their office and the tension in there was palatable - you could literally feel the pressure and stress everyone was under.
Fast forward 4 weeks and they had increased their sales by 500% all by making one simple change in their approach.
You can apply this approach to almost any business so I’m sure you’ll get a stack out of listening to this week’s episode.
Everyone gets them…
Flat spots in your business revenue…
Maybe there’s been a change in the economy, maybe you are changing lead sources or maybe you’re getting back from a break and you simply need to rev things up again.
This week I wanted to give you 3 simple strategies you can do to crank things up FAST.
These three strategies, if you put some focus on them will cause an instant increase in your sales - right when you need them.
They are simple to implement and require no additional cost to get things rolling. I have used these myself and with my new and existing clients for years.
Have a listen here and get started today.
This is another big mistake I see business owners making over and over again.
It’s where they promote a great sales person into a sales manager position.
The instant problem this creates is the salesperson often has no idea how to be a great sales manager, and sadly being a great salesperson offers little or any advantage.
The upshot for the business is they lose a great salesperson (plus the revenue hole this creates) and they get a very average sales manager.
There is a way to do this though, so if you are a sales person wanting to make the switch to management or you are a business owner who wants to help a high performing sales person make the switch, this will be well worth a listen.
This week we are going to talk about another recurring conversation I have with clients.
It’s when they have just hired a new sales team member and they are trying to work out if the new guy or girl is going to cut it or if they should let them go.
Now, if you get the selection, induction, training and support systems right, this is way less likely to happen, but sadly, not many businesses have these systems in place.
Which puts them in a sink or swim type situation, and if that is you right now, then this episode is going to be super valuable.
We’ll cover the 3 big telltale warning signs that point to your salesperson sinking like a lead weight.
Knowing these warning signs will not only help you to get rid of someone as early as possible but also to avoid it happening in the future.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have.
This video is brought to you by John Blake Sales Breakthrough Solutions.
💻 Visit the website: https://john-blake.com.au/
Have you ever listened to yourself or your sales team on a sales call?
If you haven’t, you’re missing a massive opportunity to improve yours and your team's effectiveness on sales calls.
And therefore missing out on a massive opportunity to cause a big shift in your sales results.
Since phone and video sales calls were able to be recorded and reviewed in my coaching sessions, my ability to coach and improve sales results has gone up by at least a factor of 100!
I have now listened to 100’s of sales calls and I have noticed a pattern of incredible opportunities to help the clients I work with.
I even helped one sales person grow his sales by 58% simply by reviewing his sales recordings.
In this episode, we explore the 5 strategic advantages of listening to call recordings and why it put’s normal sales coaching on steroids…
💰 DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, click here: http://JohnBlakeAudio.com
Download your exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training, and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
🗓CONTACT ME: To book a time with me personally to design a business scale plan for your business click here: https://john-blake.com.au/contact-john/
📖FREE BOOK: To download my FREE Attract Dream Clients Book click here: https://lp.john-blake.com.au/attract-...
Attract dream clients on-demand using my unique direct-to-corporate strategy
📈MASTER CLASS: To attend the next Sales Mastery Certification click here: https://johnblake.wufoo.com/forms/s1e...
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have.
This video is brought to you by John Blake Sales Breakthrough Solutions.
💻 Visit the website: https://john-blake.com.au/
In episode 198 we cover two fast and highly effective ways you can maximise profit in your business by looking at both topline revenue and bottom line profit.
I have noticed some economic forecasts that predict a slowing in the economy due to increased interest rates, slower exports and lower consumer spending.
In these situations it’s tempting to simply blame our poor results on the economy, but you can take specific actions now to ensure this doesn’t disrupt your business.
So what I have covered here are the two best ways I have learned to make sure you are least and last affected by this IF it happens to your industry.
We talk about some specific places you can look on your balance sheet where you can cut expenses but also how you can optimise your top line revenue without increasing your spending on marketing.
These are easy wins that are super easy to implement, and if you haven’t looked at them in the last 12 months, I guarantee you will find some ways to put more profit straight into your bottom line.
💰 DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, click here: http://JohnBlakeAudio.com
Download your exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training, and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
🗓CONTACT ME: To book a time with me personally to design a business scale plan for your business click here: https://john-blake.com.au/contact-john/
📖FREE BOOK: To download my FREE Attract Dream Clients Book click here: https://lp.john-blake.com.au/attract-dream-clients
Attract dream clients on-demand using my unique direct-to-corporate strategy
📈UNLOCK SALES REVENUE CALL: To book a complimentary Unlock sales Revenue Call with John, simply follow the link below... https://johnblake.wufoo.com/forms/s1e2bc6q1sw4zyn/
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 197, we had an enlightening chat with copywriting expert Scott Bywater about leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT to improve email campaigns and sales messages. With over 20 years crafting high-converting copy, Scott provides thoughtful advice for harnessing AI without compromising quality.
While AI can generate text quickly, Scott explains it lacks real understanding. He uses ChatGPT to spark ideas but still relies on human editing and expertise. His process includes research, client interviews, developing a copy strategy, and writing a draft fast to get words down.
Scott then edits ruthlessly, cutting and refining to create tight, compelling copy. He says the real mastery lies in editing, not initial writing. Without foundational copywriting skills, AI output will be generic and ineffective.
To make AI more useful, Scott recommends feeding it transcripts from client calls along with clear instructions, samples from top copywriters, and specifics like "Write this as if you're _____." This structures the creativity.
We discuss the common mistake of writing headlines first, which constrains ideas. Scott advocates writing the full copy and creating headlines last when your subconscious has absorbed the content. This unlocks breakout headlines you'd never conceive otherwise.
For email subject lines, Scott often identifies the most powerful hook buried deep in his draft copy, then uses it as the subject and adjusts the opening accordingly. Writing this way leverages AI creatively while retaining human nuance.
Scott shares tactics for launching online courses, from drip-feeding teasers to special pre-launch incentives building scarcity and excitement. He structures launches like direct-response sales letters with compelling sequencing.
While AI has limitations, Scott sees its ability to enhance human creativity and productivity. But we must first dedicate ourselves to mastering foundational skills, from research to editing. AI augments human ingenuity rather than replacing it.
We found Scott's balanced perspective on integrating AI into copywriting refreshing. Listen to this episode and embrace the possibilities while navigating the fine line of not leaning too heavily on the convenience of AI content creation.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we had an enlightening discussion with leadership coach Nicky VeenVliet about the insidious mindset traps that often prevent high achievers from reaching their full potential. With over 15 years of experience empowering executives, entrepreneurs, and teams, Nicky provides insightful examples of taking ownership, cultivating self-awareness, and developing emotional regulation.
We explore the tendency of successful people to hit an imaginary threshold where self-doubt and trauma surface, despite external success. Nicky emphasises accepting circumstances while taking action, rather than dwelling on "shoulds" and "fairness."
Another trap is an inaccurate self-assessment which affirms a distorted self-image. Nicky advocates getting frank feedback from a coach or therapist to reveal blind spots.
Nicky explores imposter syndrome in accomplished women who feel inadequate beneath external confidence. Childhood patterns drive these fears, requiring therapeutic work to overcome. She notes our inner dialogue is often far harsher than external feedback.
When staff constantly asks questions, sometimes we reinforce dependency by always providing solutions. Nicky suggests asking “What do you think?” instead, which empowers teams to self-manage and think independently. This parallels coaching children to solve issues themselves first before seeking help.
Nicky points to emotional addiction as another stealth obstacle. We unconsciously crave the thrill of conflict or victimhood. With awareness, we can pivot to more positive motivations and regulation. We share frameworks for setting boundaries, having difficult conversations and managing emotions productively.
In working with male clients, Nicky uncovers far more intense shame and reluctance to show vulnerability. Cultural norms discourage men from openly addressing fears and trauma, which builds huge pressure. Creating a safe space for men to confide without judgment is critical.
Nicky stresses the immense value of seeking outside perspectives to gain self-insight. We all have blind spots. Feedback requires courage but enables growth. You don’t need to wait until you hit rock bottom – continuous learning empowers progress. Listen to Nicky's enlightening insights in this episode. If you relate to the self-limiting patterns she described, don't despair. We all face doubts and struggles. But with self-awareness, responsibility, and support, we can overcome conditioning to achieve personal and professional aspirations.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In Episode 195, we're tallying down the top 10 episodes of 2023 on Master Dealmakers Secrets, sharing invaluable sales mastery secrets based on listener feedback.
Starting at number 10, we discuss considerations when changing industries, highlighting competition levels, ease of lead generation, and startup costs.
At number nine, we address the seven biggest revenue leaks hampering small business sales, offering actionable solutions for 2023.
Eighth place focuses on asking better questions in sales, emphasising the shift from transactional to trusted advisor status.
Seventh place reviews The Ultimate Sales Machine, applying concepts from large enterprises to small businesses.
Sixth place gives a transparent glimpse into sales struggles, highlighting key learnings for coaching through failures.
Fifth place honours 'Start With No,' transforming sales conversations with psychology and strategic questioning. Fourth place goes to digital marketer Will on email and lead gen case studies. We discussed types of email campaigns, including some results from my past client,s as well as Will’s expertise in generating leads. Lots of practical tips any business can apply immediately!
Bronze medalist is inspirational coach Nikki Thomas. Despite almost retreating corporate life after being told her idea was terrible, Nikki rebounded to lead thousands in personal growth workshops by persistently chasing her dream. Her tale offers motivation and guidance to keep chasing your big goals in 2023!
Snagging the silver medal is digital expert Eli Wild who shares wisdom from 20 years in sales and Silicon Valley by refining an automated inbound funnel system. He reveals pivotal mindset shifts separating six and seven-figure earners plus advanced techniques fusing neuroscience and psychology to influence buyers.
And our 2022 grand prize podcast guest is offers specialist Trevor Toe Cracker Crook, responsible for over $3 billion in sales. His four-phase system incorporates subtle psychological triggers that make even sceptics enrol. By knowing precisely who you help and enticing them into conversations, attracting clients becomes effortless rather than constant hustle.
We look forward to continuing the podcast journey in 2023, shattering revenue goals with more sales mastery secrets. Get out there, smash objectives, and catch us on the next episode!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today in Episode 194, we're going to talk about the three most important questions to ask when qualifying leads at the start of a sales conversation.
Okay, on to today's topic - the three key questions for qualifying leads upfront to avoid wasting time later. Talking to unqualified prospects costs you in multiple ways. For service businesses, you waste time and money sending technicians on-site. Plus you lose opportunity cost from not spending that time with qualified prospects more likely to buy.
You also waste backend time following up with poor prospects. The solution is properly qualifying upfront using these three simple but powerful questions:
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Why us? This reveals whether you're perceived as unique or commoditised. "You came up on Google" means you're seen as a commodity. If they say "My brother insisted I call only you," you have differentiation.
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Why now? This uncovers the prospect's sense of urgency and timing reasons. Needing work done by Christmas shows urgency making them more qualified. No plans until next year means don't invest much time now.
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Why this way? This lets you challenge assumptions and create differentiation. Most prospects don't professionally research your product. Gently probing their thinking often reveals gaps you can fill with your expertise, creating value.
Let me share an example of hot water systems. Most plumbers just quote what's requested. But say, "I'm curious why you want gas?" and "Do you have solar panels?" Now you can propose a heat pump system using their solar energy, differentiating you as the expert.
Asking these three simple questions prevents wasted effort on unqualified leads. You filter prospects appropriately and uncover opportunities to stand out. Your competitors commoditise themselves by answering superficial questions while you have meaningful conversations creating value.
I'm also excited to launch my 10-week Sales Mastery Certification training, bringing my elite consulting to small businesses and sales professionals. Stay tuned for details!
As always, listen to this episode to convert more prospects faster.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
People don't just invest money when buying your product. They invest time, identity, energy, and reputation too. Ignore this at your peril.
In episode 193, I explain why with an example. A Registered Training Organisation sells £6,000 courses, with most fees covered by government funding. Students pay little upfront, yet 50% drop out. Why?
The sales pitch takes 2-3 minutes. People enroll on a whim, not fully grasping the commitment. The RTO never engaged the other 4 "buying currencies" beyond the low cash price.
When you make a purchase, you invest 5 currencies, not just money:
Time – Willingness to spend hours learning, integrating, etc.
Identity – How owning this alters your self-image.
Energy – Motivation and effort in utilising the product.
Reputation – How this shapes what others think about you.
Money – The actual cash exchanged.
For the RTO, students invest little money so the sales pitch ignores the other currencies. However, completing the course takes real time, energy, and motivation. Dropping out suggests students lacked the willpower and habits needed to follow through.
The pitch should have asked questions about willingness to invest 10 hours weekly. It should have explored how having this professional qualification will change students' identity and reputation.
When people visualise themselves investing in these currencies, they feel accountability. An engaged client becomes a motivated client.
Whether selling marketing services, websites, or training, applying this model creates loyal customers. They fulfill requests quickly, complete courses, and value what you provide.
So don't assume money is the only buying currency. Listen to this episode and dig deeper to really engage with your clients, considering the time, identity, energy, and reputation that’s been put into a purchase.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 192 of the Master Dealmaker Secrets podcast, I delve into the critical difference between aggressive, ego-driven sales tactics and creating a natural, consultative sales experience.
After investing over $500,000 in sales training and making every mistake imaginable, I've concluded aggressive methods are short-sighted. They're fuelled by a salesperson's ego and drive to hit their quota no matter what.
This philosophy says you must convince prospects they need your product, even if it's not the ideal fit. You should sell at all costs. But this approach has major downsides.
It breeds resistance because you push people into decisions they aren't ready to make. Even if you coerce a reluctant prospect into buying, they become a client from hell. They won't refer others and often cancel or complain down the road.
Jordan Belfort and others prove high-pressure tactics deliver short-term gains but inevitably backfire. Reputations and brands suffer.
The better philosophy creates a natural, tension-free sales conversation. You ask questions guiding prospects to sell themselves based on their needs and timing. This approach disqualifies wrong-fit clients upfront through qualification.
It invests the time needed to ensure customers buy what truly serves them. They become raving fans who refer others for years because the process never felt pushy.
While still driving urgency, you artfully help clients self-select your solution when the fit and timing are right. This earns loyalty and repeat business as you build for the long term.
I always aim to steer prospects to the best option, even if it's not my product. This breeds immense goodwill. When selling feels natural, not aggressive, sustainable success follows.
So think carefully about your sales philosophy. Avoid short-sighted methods harming your reputation down the road. Cultivate loyalty by taking the long view of doing what's right for clients.
Listen to this episode, embrace the consultative approach, and build lasting relationships with your clients.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 191 of the Master Dealmaker Secrets podcast, I share the three biggest red flags to watch for when reviewing sales resumes.
Over the last year, I've looked at over a thousand resumes for sales roles in my company. I've gotten really skilled at screening candidates efficiently. When reviewing resumes, I watch for three instant red flags that tell me a person isn't worth interviewing.
The first red flag is if they aren’t currently in a sales position. There’s a saying “If you’re not now, you never were.” Time away from sales causes those muscles to atrophy quickly. While not an automatic disqualifier, I want candidates selling now to hit the ground running.
The second red flag is short sales role tenure. As a profit center, companies work hard to retain top sales talent. If an applicant left a sales role fast, I probe for details. No legitimate reason is a warning sign.
The third red flag is exaggerated sales backgrounds. Some stretch retail or gig experience as formal sales roles. I verify claimed credentials before relying on them.
Once I screen resumes, interviews assess three key factors. First, does the person have industry knowledge from working in the field? Second, are they bought into my vision and culture? Third, can they sell? Ideal hires check at least two boxes.
I emphasise evaluating cultural fit beyond sales skills. Strong salespeople can still damage team dynamics. I involve colleagues from different roles in interviews to get balanced perspectives.
Everyone notices different things. Extra observers provide insights I may miss. I use a structured process with specific questions to thoroughly assess candidates.
In the last year, I’ve learned key lessons hiring over 10 salespeople. Careful resume vetting, interviews, and assessments are crucial to avoid costly hiring mistakes. I want to share my experience to help you build world-class sales teams.
Listen to this episode and be aware of these red flags when hiring new salespeople. You’ll have the tools to properly evaluate your candidates and make the best decision for your business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to the Master Dealmaker Secrets podcast! In this episode, we're exploring the five reasons why business owners often stumble when they decide to build a sales team.
For many entrepreneurs, the journey begins with the realisation that they no longer want to handle sales themselves. They've been the driving force behind their company's sales efforts and have decided it's time to bring in a salesperson. But how they go about it can make or break their success.
The first reason is a common mistake. Not profiling the role they're looking to fill properly. Just like creating a targeted advertisement, understanding the profile of the ideal salesperson is crucial. What's their demographic? What's their background? Do they have industry-specific knowledge or experience? Defining this profile sets the foundation for attracting the right candidate.
The second pitfall is the lack of a screening process. Hiring a salesperson isn't the same as hiring for other roles. To identify potential sales champions, business owners need to employ a sales-specific behavior profiling tool. This tool helps ensure that the person they bring on board is likely to succeed in the sales role.
Next up is the absence of a documented sales process. Many businesses simply throw their new hires into the deep end, hoping they'll figure it out. But this sink-or-swim approach often leads to failure.
To set salespeople up for success, businesses should have a clear, documented sales process in place that empowers new hires to hit the ground running and build their confidence.
Have you found yourself struggling with your team’s performance? Do you want to know what the 5 biggest reasons why business owners fail when building a sales team are? Listen to this episode to find out!
If you're a business owner and you are thinking about expanding your sales team, or you already have one but it’s not working as it should this episode will help you immensely. You are going to have the tools to know what to focus on so that you don’t make any of the common mistakes business owners make, and you are going to be able to get the most out of your sales team.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to the Master Dealmaker Secrets podcast. In today's episode, we're diving into some critical insights about sales conversations. Specifically, we'll explore the three worst questions you should never ask during the discovery phase of your sales process.
These questions can be detrimental to your sales success, but don’t worry, I'm not just going to give you the questions, I'm also going to give you more appropriate questions that would be a better thing to ask.
The first question you should steer clear of is, "What keeps you up at night?" It's an overused and insensitive query that often comes across as clichéd. Instead, a more effective approach is to start the conversation by asking, "What made you decide to get in touch with us?"
This opening question allows the potential client to share what's top of mind for them, whether it's a problem they need to solve or a desire to improve their situation.
That's a way better place to start. Because, first of all, there might not be anything that keeps them up at night. They might actually be somebody who doesn't have a problem. They just want to make things better.
About 72% of people are coming to you to solve a problem. But there is a relatively high number like about 28 to 30% of people that are simply coming to you because things are going well, but they want to go to the next level. So they are moving toward a better outcome rather than away from something that they're not happy with.
The second question to avoid is, "What are your biggest challenges?" This question can backfire because not everyone sees their issues as challenges.
The third question to skip is, "What would it take to win your business?" This question is outdated and can make the sales process feel adversarial. Instead, focus on building rapport and understanding the prospect's motivations. Avoid using combative language and strive to create a collaborative atmosphere during the conversation.
So, what should you ask instead? Listen to this episode to find out!
Learn to approach clients in a way that encourages the prospect to discuss their priorities and allows you to better understand their needs.
Additionally, in this episode, we are going to talk about the questions that allow the prospect to share their perspective and highlight the potential consequences of not addressing their needs.
So, don’t miss this episode, remember it's crucial to maintain a strong connection with your prospect throughout the conversation. Listen actively and respond empathetically to what they share. Don't rush through your questions; instead, create an environment where the prospect can explore their challenges and motivations openly.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to Master Dealmaker Secrets! Today, we're diving into the intriguing world of referrals. Buckle up as we unravel the secrets behind the seemingly baffling question: Why do only 11% of delighted customers who've had a positive experience with your product or service actually refer new business to you, despite a whopping 90% being more than willing to do so?
The statistics are astonishing: 90% of satisfied clients are primed to refer business your way, but only 10-11% actually follow through. Now, why is that? Well, the answer is simpler than you might think—most often, we just don't ask for referrals. People get busy, life happens, and your excellent service can fade into the background. Astonishingly, a whopping 90% of salespeople neglect reconnecting with their former clients for referrals, which directly translates to a referral drought.
But fear not! We’re about to unravel an elegantly simple framework to extract those elusive referrals without breaking a sweat.
In this episode, you'll discover the art of crafting a conversation that not only feels genuine but leads to referrals flowing in, as naturally as a river carving its path.
For instance, I’d like to emphasise the importance of describing your ideal buyer to your client, rather than throwing out a vague question like "Do you know anyone?" Be specific! Paint a vivid picture of your ideal customer so that they can't help but think of potential referrals fitting that description.
I don’t just theorise these techniques; I’ve seen them work wonders, and in this episode I also share a riveting example of a real estate scenario, effectively illustrating how you can have potential clients in the palm of your hand with the right approach.
So, here's the bottom line: Referrals are the lifeblood of any business, and they're yours for the taking. This episode equips you with the tools, techniques, and insights to transform your referral game. Whether you're a seasoned sales professional or just starting out, the strategies shared here can unlock a world of growth and success.
Listen to this episode to learn a very simple but hugely valuable strategy to get more referrals, and remember, the magic happens when you put these lessons into action.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome, listeners, to another insightful episode of Master Dealmaker Secrets. In this edition, we're diving into a fascinating client case study that's bound to captivate your attention. Picture this: a skilled carpenter, a modest yet growing business, and a transformative journey from 4 million to an impressive 10 million in just two years. The secret? Well, that's what we're here to unveil.
A man, an unassuming and reserved carpenter, approached us seeking growth beyond his 4-million-dollar mark. Despite his aversion to direct client interactions, he recognised that his current methods weren't scalable. His lack of a sales process and systems for business development were limiting his growth potential.
He was on the cusp of hiring an estimator, a pivotal step he acknowledged was essential for his expansion. What we did next was a game-changer. We identified his ideal clients and devised a strategy to connect with and convert them.
Do you want to know how we did it? Listen to this episode to find out.
This case is a great example of what can be accomplished if you have the right processes in place and if you work on them properly because, fast forward two years, his revenue had soared to an astounding 10 million. The highlight? At the 18-month mark, he'd already achieved remarkable growth, boasting new hires and additional divisions. He attributed much of his success to our collaboration and the systems we'd implemented.
One fascinating element of this story is how he seamlessly integrated new estimators into his team. Using our training videos, he effortlessly brought them up to speed. This technique isn't unique; it's a testament to the power of structured training. It also underscores the idea that sales can be taught, even to individuals who might not have a natural inclination toward it. But here's the catch: the willingness to learn and embrace the role is crucial.
Now, if you're wondering what we do at Master Dealmaker Secrets, let me break it down. We're in the business of driving sales growth for professionals and business owners worldwide. Our proven approach revolves around three key drivers. First, we guide you in crafting a compelling message that resonates with your target audience. Next, we help you establish a direct route to the 20% of clients responsible for 80% of your revenue. Finally, we unveil strategies to double your lead-to-client conversion rates. Curious?
If you're ready to level up, head to JohnBlakescall.com to explore how our application-based program could be your next game-changing move.
So, if you're facing reluctance within your organisation to step into sales roles, remember this: while not everyone may have an inherent talent for sales, with the right approach and training, competence can be cultivated. However, the desire to take on such a role must be present; trying to force it can lead to frustration and inefficiency.
This man’s transformation from a quiet carpenter to a savvy entrepreneur is a testament to this principle. If his journey intrigues you, if you're hungry for strategies to elevate your sales game, I invite you to stay tuned for our future episodes. Keep learning, keep evolving, and remember, the next big opportunity might be a conversation away.
Thank you for joining me on this episode. Until next time.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today's episode is packed with valuable insights on how you can generate cash right now by optimising your sales. I can't wait to share these strategies with you, so let's dive in.
First off, we'll explore three powerful ways to boost your revenue. The first method is straightforward and surprisingly effective: increase your prices. Many businesses fear raising prices, fearing it might impact sales negatively. But I'm here to tell you that a 10% price increase is unlikely to have any significant effect on your sales. Most businesses are likely not charging enough, so this simple adjustment can go straight to your bottom line, boosting your profits without much effort. We'll delve into the reasons why this works and how it can help your business thrive.
Next up is the art of following up. If you've sent quotes to potential clients who haven't made a decision yet or have leads that you haven't contacted, you might be leaving money on the table. I've developed a proven system that I'll share with you for following up with potential clients effectively. You'll be surprised to know that many businesses only contact a fraction of their leads, missing out on significant opportunities. I'll provide you with valuable tips on how to engage with potential clients multiple times without being pushy, ensuring you don't miss out on potential sales.
But that's not all; I have some exciting news for you! For the first time, I'm introducing the eight-week Sales Mastery Certification program. It's designed for sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to boost their sales skills and results. Whether you're an individual salesperson or running a business, this program can help you master the art of high-converting sales techniques that have generated millions in extra sales. Plus, it's perfect for those seeking to support premium pricing strategies. If you're interested, hit the contact form at john@john-blake.com.au to get more details.
The time to take action is now, and I'm confident these strategies will make a significant impact on your business's success.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode. Your success is my priority, and I'm thrilled to be your guide on this journey. Stay tuned for more valuable insights, and remember, the best deals are yet to come. Cheers!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, I have two special guests with me, Nicole Cox and Warrick Bidwell, who are experts in the world of trades and business. We're diving deep into the challenges and opportunities faced by trade businesses in today's ever-changing market.
Nicole, who is a builder's wife, a carpenter's mom, and a pastor's daughter, shares her personal journey of stepping in to run her husband's construction company after he experienced several breakdowns due to the stress of running the business.
This experience made her realise the immense pressure faced by trade business owners and inspired her to help others in similar situations.
Joined by Warrick, who has a background in finance and business coaching, they formed a partnership to create a community aimed at teaching trade business owners how to avoid stress and achieve a better work-life balance.
Warrick shares his journey from growing up in a blue-collar family to working in various industries before stumbling upon business coaching.
He realised early in his career that fixing the core issues in a business could lead to long-term wealth creation.
In this episode we talk about the importance of running a business effectively and we highlight the struggle that many trade business owners suffer with the transition from being skilled workers to running a business.
We discuss the warning signs of business troubles and the importance of addressing them early on. We also stress the need for trade business owners to acquire business knowledge beyond their technical skills and to create a balance between work and personal life.
Nicole and Warrick express their passion for working with trade business owners, whom they describe as hardworking and salt-of-the-earth individuals.
By implementing a solid sales process, businesses can achieve high conversion rates and attract better-quality clients.
Employee certainty is another key focus. Nicole and Warrick stress the importance of supporting and reassuring employees during uncertain times. They discuss the impact of market changes on the labor market and how businesses can take advantage of the shifting landscape.
Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by trade business owners and the strategies Nicole and Warrick offer to help them thrive in uncertain economic times are incredibly useful. Listen to this episode and learn how to create profitable trades and construction businesses.
Remember to subscribe and stay tuned for more in-depth discussions with industry experts.
Thank you for listening, and until next time.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to another exciting episode of Master Dealmaker Secrets! Today we have an episode that is not to be missed. In this installment, we will be delving into the three keys to engaging web leads, a topic that is especially relevant in today's digital age.
With the increasing prevalence of web-generated business and the rise of digital advertising, it has become crucial for businesses to adapt their approach when it comes to engaging with web leads.
Engaging web leads can be a challenge, but with these three keys, you can unlock the potential of your online prospects.
As our attention spans continue to dwindle, contacting leads within five minutes of their inquiry can increase your conversion rate by a staggering eight times. Surprisingly, less than 1% of leads receive such a prompt response.
Also, we must respond to web leads in a manner that is easy to reply to. Remember, these prospects have likely reached out to multiple companies, and their initial engagement with us is just the tip of the iceberg.
So, how is it done? Listen to this episode to know how to create context and provide a reason for a telephone conversation before jumping the gun. You don’t want to overwhelm them with lengthy emails and complex requests for phone calls
There are some crucial elements that you cannot ignore if you are trying to establish a genuine connection with your web leads.
Learn to be adaptive, and use the preferred mode of contact for each individual. With a majority of people favoring text messages and avoiding phone calls, we need to adapt our communication methods accordingly. Gradually transitioning to a telephone conversation only when a valid reason has been established will yield better results.
So, listen to this episode to know what are the 3 pillars that form the foundation of successful web lead engagement. By implementing these strategies, you can significantly increase your chances of turning web leads into loyal customers.
I know you’ll find today's episode valuable and insightful. Your feedback is always appreciated, and I am so grateful for your continued support. If you want to delve deeper into this topic or catch up on previous episodes, make sure to tune in to the next podcast.
Until then, remember to engage, respond, and convert those web leads into thriving business relationships. Thank you for listening, and I look forward to our next conversation on Master Dealmaker Secrets!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we're going to delve into a topic that is crucial for anyone involved in sales: the 10 strategic advantages of presenting your proposals or quotes.
As a sales growth strategist who has worked with numerous clients and salespeople, I've noticed a common mistake—people often send proposals or quotes via email without truly presenting them. It's like throwing a grenade over the fence and hoping for the best.
However, there are significant benefits to taking the time to present your proposals effectively.
First and foremost, when you present your proposals, you regain control of the sales process. You get to direct your clients' attention to the most valuable aspects of your proposal, ensuring they understand the value you bring before revealing the price.
By doing so, you maintain control and increase the chances of closing the deal successfully.
On the other hand, if you merely email the proposal, you risk losing control and potentially the entire business, so, in this episode, we’re going to dive into the advantages of presenting proposals, how to do it properly and what outcome you are likely to get if you just email them.
Presenting your proposal empowers you to ask for the business directly. On the call or during the presentation, you can confirm your clients' choice and request their commitment to move forward. This personal touch and direct ask can significantly increase your conversion rates compared to a passive email exchange.
Listen to this episode to know what these 10 strategic advantages are so you can ensure that you stay in control of the sales process and maintain momentum with your prospects.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 182, I’m going to share with you seven tips for tripling your results over the phone.
We are going to talk about the importance of following up with leads who haven't yet made a purchase, and this is going to be big because many salespeople give up after just one follow-up attempt.
To begin, I advise you to prepare and make the process as easy as possible. Having a list of people to call and an open CRM system can greatly enhance results. And also, don’t underestimate the value of limiting distractions during phone calls; turning off notifications and notifying others of one's uninterrupted availability is very important.
This is only one of many things that can help you with your phone calls, but in this episode, I’m going to give you seven tips that work amazingly well, and also I’m going to provide a guideline that illustrates how to use your phone-call-time properly and what is the right process to follow.
I cannot stress it enough, you need to do the necessary repetitions to achieve the desired outcomes. Consistency is key.
Listen to this episode to know what these 7 tips are, they will prepare you for different scenarios you may face. You will learn how to handle rejection or disinterest; you will learn how to increase the number of potential clients and prevent desperate actions due to financial constraints, among many other useful things.
So, don’t miss this episode, I’m sure it’s going to help you improve your conversion rates ensuring both you and your clients feel comfortable with the process, and it will give you tools to dramatically increase your revenue.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In today's episode, we'll be discussing how to permanently plug the seven biggest sales revenue leaks in your business.
Let's address the issue at hand. Economic uncertainty and rising interest rates require us to optimise our businesses to ensure resilience. Cash flow is king, and not all businesses have unlimited resources.
If you're not optimising your business, you're ignoring potential waste and leaving money on the table.
In this episode, we are going to dive into seven areas of optimisation. From the moment someone enters your business ecosystem, you must maximise the opportunity while ensuring a positive client experience.
For instance, you can optimise your process by qualifying leads at the beginning and disqualifying those who don't represent an opportunity to save valuable time and resources.
Of course, there are a lot more things that should be optimised and in this episode, we are going to talk about them.
Listen to this episode to learn how to permanently plug the 7 biggest sales revenue leaks in your business by optimising specific areas. This will help you maximise your revenue, especially during times of economic uncertainty.
Remember, optimisation is key to success, and ignoring it is like leaving money on the table, so take action and implement these strategies to secure the financial resilience of your business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode of the Master Dealmaker Secrets Podcast, we are joined by Will Wang.
Will is the owner and CEO of Growth Labs, a digital agency that focuses on marketing strategy, messaging, copywriting, and advertising for its clients.
Will has a unique and highly effective process of researching and putting together campaigns for his clients.
He is well aware of the constant changes in the digital marketing world because some platforms have become more restrictive and it is harder to make money with ads and targeting hacks.
Social media is really good at bringing your message closer to your audience, but sometimes it can be hard to get the most out of those platforms, it gets even harder when the platform changes and that happens all the time, they are always changing.
Hopefully, Will knows all you need to know about social media and its constant changes, and in this episode, he is going to tell us how to get the most out of them.
Will is going to explain his in-depth research process, which goes from researching their client's industry and competitors, their client's customers, to the client themselves.
At Growth Labs, they want to understand what their client is good at and what they're not good at, as well as their unique selling proposition. From there, they work on the messaging, copywriting, funnel, and advertising strategy.
Their process is also adaptable. They are always looking for new trends and opportunities and they are willing to adjust their process to fit the needs of their clients.
So, in this episode, we are going to dive into the importance of copywriting for this process and why it's not just about writing persuasive copy. We are going to talk about creating an emotional connection with your audience and making them feel like you are solving their problems, the importance of funnels in digital marketing, among other interesting topics.
We also had a very enjoyable conversation about the future of digital marketing and where it might go next, the role of AI and machine learning, and the greater emphasis that’s been put on privacy and data protection.
Listen to this episode to have a closer look into the world of digital marketing, specifically on how to adapt to changes in the industry and the importance of an in-depth research process, copywriting, and funnels. We’re sure you’re going to get a stack from it!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 179, we are joined by Trevor Toe-Cracker Crook.
Trevor Crook is a world-class, in demand – direct response copywriter, mentor to entrepreneurs, writers, business owners, author, and international speaker, who helps business owners and entrepreneurs to ignite their sales and profits fast, using sizzling sales copy for online and offline marketing strategies.
Trevor Crook has personally interviewed over 10,000 business owners and entrepreneurs, dealt with over 300 industries, and spoken to audiences all over the world in America, London, Canada, Australia, and Scotland.
Trevor has written simple 1–2-page letters, and several have achieved a staggering 8% responses or more, just from one letter! A simple letter which cost his client $1,650 in advertising costs, generated approx. $200,000 the very first time he used it.
He is joining us today to talk about copywriting and how you can make use of it to win big and keep your business relevant.
The world of sales is everchanging and the economy is fluctuating all the time so it is important to know what actions to take to move accordingly with those changes so that your business doesn’t end up underwater.
Trevor has huge experience in the marketing field and he knows what to do in any circumstance to make sure your business can thrive.
We had a fantastic, far-reaching conversation that touched on offer formulas as well as AI and how it will change the advertising world.
Listen to this incredible conversation to learn how to use copywriting to your advantage, to understand how to adapt to changes, and to be able to present yourself in a way that allows you to convert at high prices. There are going to be many other relevant topics in this conversation so, don’t miss it, we’re sure you’re going to get a lot from it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
I’m really stoked because, in this episode, we are joined by Nicky Thomas to talk about empowerment and the different processes that go along with it.
Nicky and I have known each other for a while, we met doing a panel some years ago, I don't even know how many but I do know I’m really impressed by her evolution and the things she has accomplished in these years.
Nicky's had a really interesting journey; she currently works with many women (and men) on empowerment and the different processes that go along with it.
She is an ex-boss lady in the Army, former retail queen, FIFO wife and mother, and leadership development coach for people who need part gutsy-action-catalyst combined with an impassioned hand holder.
Nicky teaches people how to build and be functioning members of a team, how to follow orders at the same time taking initiative, and how to be strategic in assessing a situation and choosing an appropriate response.
One of her most important goals when working with clients is to give them the tools to solve their own problems without needing anyone’s help. She’ll be there to teach them up until they don’t need her anymore.
I believe that is such a great value. Especially for what we do, because we're working with people and we're trying to help them to get past the things that we've encountered in our careers, or, in our journeys.
So, in episode 178, we share with you some of our knowledge, and experience in working with clients, empowerment, building relationships, and setting standards, among many other things. There is definitely going to be something for everyone in this episode so, don’t miss it!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
A couple of days ago, I had a shopping experience that made me think about how we use questions as salespeople.
I have had a very cool guitar for about six or seven years, and I recently booked myself a recurrent gig at a local restaurant so, I went to the music store to buy myself some new strings.
When I got there, I asked the guy at the store for the same strings the guitar came out of the store with, it was the same shop my wife bought the guitar from.
He told to me what the strings were and I bought them, but I was very curious about some of the other stuff they sell. I was asking the guy about some of those things but I felt like he didn’t really want to spend more time with me, I felt rushed.
And that’s when it hit me, that guy just missed on a great opportunity because I was eager to buy some more stuff, but I ended up not doing it.
What could he have done differently to make me spend a lot more money in their shop? Listen to this episode to find out.
It’s all about how we use questions in sales conversations and what opportunities we can miss if we don’t try to find out more about the buyer.
This is a very powerful lesson so, don’t miss this episode, I’m sure you’ll understand the importance questions have in such situations and you will be able to seize every opportunity with your clients in the most profitable way possible.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 176, we continue with our Best Book Series. On this occasion, we are going to be discussing yet another book that has had a big influence on me, my business, my sales career, my coaching business, and my ability to help other clients.
Last week, we talked about the Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. Today we're going to be talking about Start with No, which was written by Jim Camp who sadly passed away a few years ago.
The thing that I liked the most about this book is that it talks about focusing on your behavior and your actions.
Jim talks about the fact that you actually don't have control over the outcome of the actual conversation, the sales conversation, or the negotiation.
You don't know who's going to say yes, and who's going to say no, and there's evidence of this, where you've had sales, where you thought that it was an absolute no-brainer, and the person didn't buy.
And you've also had sales when you thought that there was no way in hell that the person was going to buy and that they ended up buying anyway.
Ultimately you don’t have control over whether they say yes or no, so what should you focus on instead?
The idea is to concentrate on what you can control, and what is that? Listen to this episode to find out.
The thing is if you do something often and consistently enough, after a while, a pattern will appear. So, if you get better at this, ultimately, you will get more people that will say yes, but you are never going to know which ones they’re going to be.
Tune in for this episode to learn what to do and what not to do in sales conversations so you can make better use of your skills and your time by focusing on things that will actually help you become more and more successful, and of course, if you hadn’t had the chance to read this book, I strongly encourage you to do so.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
If you want to be successful at sales, you have to be well aware of a lot of things. You have to know about the product or service you are selling, how it does what it does, you have to know how you can effectively provide solutions for your clients, etc.
Of course, there is a huge plethora of ways you can approach sales, some may teach a more personal and engaging way of doing things, some may be greedier about it, and some may be more ethical than others, however, they all need to follow a certain logic able to withstand the principles that are been taught to salespeople.
So, there are a lot of things that can be taught about sales, and today I’m really excited because I was thinking about what lessons, and books have made the biggest difference for me in my personal development, and in my business.
I've been coaching now for nearly 20 years, and I've been in sales for over 35 years. And there have been a handful of books that have had a massive influence on me, and my ability to grow my own business, but also my ability to grow my client's business.
So today I’m going to share with you one of those books and we are going to talk about it, this one is an absolute gem, it is called The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes.
Sadly, Chet Holmes passed away a few years ago, but there is so much in this particular book that you can apply.
This book really changed the way I thought about sales. After I read it, I felt so incredibly aware of what I was doing wrong, and what I was doing right, and I felt so ready to put all the other things it had taught me into practice.
Listen to this episode to learn what this book taught me, these may be very simple principles but they are highly effective, and if you haven’t had the opportunity to read this book, I really encourage you to do so, you won’t regret it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
For episode 174 we have the pleasure of having Eli Wilde on the show.
Eli is the creator of Wilde Influence, a company whose mission is to empower salespeople and entrepreneurs through advanced communication skills and authentic influence.
Eli was also the top performing corporate trainer for Tony Robbins, amongst a whole stack of other things that he's been up to over the last 20 or so years.
He started out selling digital products over the phone, but he wasn’t good at it.
After that, Eli had a brief acting career and he actually almost ended up being Superman in Superman Returns. He trained for the role but he didn’t get the part. However, Eli himself looks back and realises he didn’t put all of his efforts into his acting career.
He gave up on acting and went back to his job, where he finally was doing well. He finally got to a place where he was good at sales because he just put all of his time and energy into that because of his livelihood.
It was then that he met Tony Robbins, and believe me, he was determined to meet him once he attended one of his events. He pretty much harassed Tony's company by calling them about 200 times in a period of two weeks.
He got a job there.
After a few years of working with Tony, he was doing well. He would travel and promote Tony's events. Living in LA for a few months, in New York for a few months, etc. He was on the road for 50 weeks a year.
This job gave him a lot of experience and knowledge about sales but also, about himself, so in this episode, he is going to share with us some of the things he’s learned that changed his life for the better.
Listen to this episode to learn more about selling from the stage, selling one-on-one, the importance of follow-ups, the importance of having a belief in what you sell, the importance of being sincere in sales, tools for persuasion, and many other lessons he’s learned over the years.
I found this conversation incredibly valuable and I know you will too. Don’t miss it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Getting in front of decision-makers from companies that you’d love to work with is a huge deal.
Not only are you going to be introducing yourself and your business to them, but it also may be the first time they ever talk to you and you have to make a good impression.
This is your chance to engage with potential clients and make them interested in you and your product or service. Many things can go wrong, and they certainly do, but sometimes even if you think you are prepared, you might experience the unexpected.
Let me tell you a story.
I have a friend who lives in Canada who has done a lot of personal development, heaps of sales, and training, and has learned from all of the greats in terms of sales training. He certainly knows what he’s doing and he is great at his job.
He once had the opportunity to talk personally to a key decision-maker from a big mining company. He thought he was well prepared and he started to talk this guy through his process, and he was just pulling out all the stops, using all these strategies he knew.
However, he wasn’t ready for what this guy told him.
He said to him, “I'm just gonna have to shut you down there. Because I like you, I want to work with you. But if you're gonna keep carrying on like this, it's not going to work... you have to stop that stuff, let's just have a conversation”.
This feedback was such an eye-opener for him, and in this episode, I’m going to share with you the two most important lessons that this story teaches us.
My friend learned a lot from this interaction and I’m sure you will too because it illustrates how important it is to see the bigger picture and to understand who is in front of you and how you can engage with them.
Listen to this episode to learn what these lessons are, and to avoid being in the situation my friend was in before any potential client has a chance to point it out to you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 172, we're going to talk about the three most important things to consider if you are thinking about changing industries.
This is such an important idea because there is so much changing in business at the moment and often you can change industries and do incredibly well with the same skill set. A lot of people don't understand how transferable their skill sets are.
Back in the day when I used to work for a sunglasses company, there was one guy who was part of the team who was really good at what he did.
I had a conversation with him and I said to him, why don't you look at going into a different industry? He looked at me and just said, “Look, I just couldn't do it. I just don't think I could do it. I really don't feel like I could work in a different industry. This is all I've known.”
And I remember saying to him, “what you need to understand is that there's not that much difference from industry to industry.”
And the reason that I know that is that when I first started this consulting business, I was niched in the action sports industry. And for the first five years, they were the only clients that I dealt with, surf shops, surf wholesale businesses, and importers, and then I gradually started to go into different industries, a lot of them.
What I learned is that you are not going to see that much difference between industries other than the type of product and perhaps some nuances and some different ways that you need to talk about that particular product or service. Outside of that, it's not that different.
However, there are some things you need to know if you are going to switch to a different industry, that’s why in this episode I’m going to share with you the 3 fundamental things you should consider when changing industries.
Listen to this episode to know what they are so that you can face any new and exciting challenge with a clear mind and with tools that will help you make the most out of any situation, regardless of the industry you are in. Don’t miss it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 171 we are going to talk about flipping the script on building sales with one of the best performance coaches out there, Mick Hawes.
Mick is a #1 best-selling author and coach that’s most known for guiding builders to increase their productivity, profitability and their time freedom to enjoy the benefits of their hard work.
Over the last 25 years Mick has been a performance coach, he’s worked with top athletes such as US Open winner Samantha Stosur, as well as small and large businesses.
Mick strongly believes that he’s found the foundational areas that create success in both sports and business, and in this episode, Mick is going to share with us his incredible knowledge about this and other topics.
We are going to talk about the unique approach Mick has with his clients, how it works and how it has helped them grow their business exponentially while also providing them with tools to value both themselves and the effort they put into every project, not only the final result.
Mick teaches particularly interesting and effective methods that we are sure you are going to love, and the things he has learned over these 25 years are so valuable that they apply to every business, discipline, sport, etc. Anywhere where performance is key.
Listen to this conversation because we cover a lot of ground here. Especially if you are in the trades and construction business, you cannot miss this episode, you are really going to get a stack out of it!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
2022 is coming to an end and what a year it’s been!
I’d like to personally thank you all for listening to this podcast throughout the year and for all the awesome feedback I’ve received from you.
Given that this year is almost over, I thought it would be a great idea to look back and make a top 10 list of the best episodes of the year.
The criteria I followed to determine which ones were the best was to take a look at how many people listened to and downloaded every episode. This was very useful because I could see what were the topics that were more valuable to you and to your business.
You can think of this episode as a cheat sheet for you to get to some of the gold that we've covered this year.
Listen to this episode to know what people found to be the most relevant information for their particular needs, I know that you can find it just as valuable. And things just got better for you because now you have a quick way of accessing this information.
Once again, I really want to thank you, I very much appreciate you listening to Master Dealmaker Secrets and I assure you there is a lot more where that came from this year so, stay tuned.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we are going to talk about how to hit goals using the power of accountability, specifically how you can leverage it to get more things done and to achieve your goals faster.
I’d like to start by sharing some research with you which I think will stand to reason.
There is a study on accountability by the Association for Talent Development in which they found that individuals have the following probabilities of completing a goal by taking the following actions.
The first action is that they've got a goal. And they say they've just established that they have a goal, they've probably just formulated the idea and it's something that they want to do, it's on their list of things to do.
The research said that there is a 10% likelihood that that particular person will complete that goal.
The second one is having the goal but consciously deciding that you will do it. So that is making a decision in your own head, that you will get that particular goal completed or you will get that particular task done, there's a 25% likelihood that that particular goal will be completed.
But there is a third action you can take to accomplish what you want. With this action, you can expect a 40% likelihood that you will complete that particular goal.
But there is more. By introducing accountability, you can expect up to a 95% possibility that you'll actually complete that goal. And here is where things get interesting.
How is this done? Listen to this episode to find out.
In episode 169, I am going to share with you the philosophy behind using accountability to hit goals and I am going to give you examples from my professional life that have taught me how effective it is to use accountability as leverage so that you can hit your goals more quickly and more frequently.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode of the Master Dealmaker Secrets podcast, we are going to talk about one of the single worst things you can say to a client.
We all know customer service is a key part of reselling, retaining, and upselling. However, not all salespeople manage to live up to expectations.
I often hear business owners saying this to clients and then wonder why their clients at best respond negatively or at worst actually get mad at them.
It doesn’t take much really. If you avoid saying this to your clients you will avoid a whole bunch of grief that often goes with it.
You'll also avoid the greater chance of your client not feeling valued and leaving to go to your competitors.
Listen to this episode to know what you should never say to a client.
Avoid making the mistake many people constantly make. Listen to this short but super important episode to know what you should never say to a client.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 167, we are going to talk about the importance of thinking big.
I’d like to illustrate its importance by sharing with you a conversation I had many years ago with one of the principals of one of the companies that I represented back in the day.
In the 90s, I used to have a wholesale agency, I represented a bunch of action sports brands in West Australia.
What was happening in the industry at that time was that we had about 120 Surf accounts. Accounts that would sell surf wear or action sports apparel in Western Australia.
However, over the years, you would start noticing more and more businesses coming in that were centrally owned, so they would have 60 stores, but their head office would be based on the East Coast.
What that meant for West Australian agents was that they would either get reduced commission, or they wouldn't get any commission at all on the sales that were made to those chains.
Anyway, I was having dinner with the owner of what was the biggest manufacturer of apparel in the southern hemisphere at the time, and I was complaining about these national surf retail chains that had recently opened stores in Western Australia.
I thought he would agree with the points I was making in terms of the negative impact it was having on the market but instead, he said the exact opposite of what I expected.
His response totally shocked me and really highlighted how small I was thinking...
Do you want to know what he said?
Listen to this episode to know what it was. Trust me, it was a real eye-opener.
I learned a very valuable lesson that day and we are going to discuss why his response was so shocking and why what he said was so valuable, and also enlightening for me.
This episode will help you see what are the opportunities that you're not thinking about, and it will help you think about some different ways that you could think about your business or your particular sales situation in a way that ensures you always keep growing, so make sure you don't miss it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to talk about how you can be super successful, even if you're not that good.
This is going to be super, super useful, especially for business owners or sales professionals that are looking to transition into their next role or the next phase of their growth.
Let’s face the facts. There's only ever going to be a small percentage of salespeople who are absolutely on fire, in the top echelon.
The 80% - 20% rule holds for salespeople too, 20% of the salespeople out in the market are going to be responsible for 80% of the sales.
And, the reality is that you're not always going to be in that top 20%, you're not always going to be the best salesperson in your particular industry.
Of course, you can always give your best every time. You can become the best salesperson that you can become, but there are always going to be people that are going to be better than you and they're always going to be people that are worse than you.
That’s just the way things are, but you shouldn’t be discouraged.
There are always things you can do to make the most out of every situation even if you know there are people with more experience on the field than you or with a more effective skillset than yours.
So, what can you do to be successful even if you’re not in the top echelon? Where should you focus your efforts to thrive even if you're not very good?
Listen to this episode to know the answer. I speak very often to people who are either wanting to get into sales; people who are in a sales role, and they're moving to a new role, or they want to get a new job, whatever it is. The advice that I give to them is the same one I’m giving to you today; I know you’ll find it very useful.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
People in sales, and business owners, especially if they’re in the startup phase are very unlikely to take holidays.
Many people say they don’t need one, but I believe everyone needs to take a break once in a while.
Why am I talking about this? Because I'm about to take a holiday and I haven't had one for a while.
So, since I'm preparing for my trip, I realised there are a couple of things that I thought were worth sharing.
Today, we are going to be talking about the three biggest ironies around taking a holiday.
As I mentioned, I know lots of people that I'm associated with that don't really take breaks. They often have good lifestyles, but they don't really feel like they need a couple of days off.
And that’s the first irony. It's not until you are on the holiday that you realise how much you actually needed it.
From my own example, what I realised is that it actually takes me three days to wind down and relax.
What that says to me is that it's a pretty high level of cortisol I’m cruising around with if it takes me three days to actually be able to loosen up.
Resting is very important, and we often ignore how important it is but, the best part about holidays is that taking a break doesn’t mean you can’t be productive. Au contraire, you and your business can benefit tremendously from simply taking a few days off.
Why? Listen to this episode to know the reason. We’re going to ponder on the role holidays take in our personal lives and in our business lives so that you can have another view on the topic.
Don’t miss this episode, I’m sure it will help you realise how beneficial holidays really are.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
People in sales, and business owners, especially if they’re in the startup phase are very unlikely to take holidays.
Many people say they don’t need one, but I believe everyone needs to take a break once in a while.
Why am I talking about this? Because I'm about to take a holiday and I haven't had one for a while.
So, since I'm preparing for my trip, I realised there are a couple of things that I thought were worth sharing.
Today, we are going to be talking about the three biggest ironies around taking a holiday.
As I mentioned, I know lots of people that I'm associated with that don't really take breaks. They often have good lifestyles, but they don't really feel like they need a couple of days off.
And that’s the first irony. It's not until you are on the holiday that you realise how much you actually needed it.
From my own example, what I realised is that it actually takes me three days to wind down and relax.
What that says to me is that it's a pretty high level of cortisol I’m cruising around with if it takes me three days to actually be able to loosen up.
Resting is very important, and we often ignore how important it is but, the best part about holidays is that taking a break doesn’t mean you can’t be productive. Au contraire, you and your business can benefit tremendously from simply taking a few days off.
Why? Listen to this episode to know the reason. We’re going to ponder on the role holidays take in our personal lives and in our business lives so that you can have another view on the topic.
Don’t miss this episode, I’m sure it will help you realise how beneficial holidays really are.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As I've said previously, there is a battle going on for your attention.
Lately, I have noticed a trend where business educators will use controversial contrary statements simply to get people to pay attention.
We've talked about some of these remarks around relationships in sales, and today, we are going to talk about yet another controversial premise they teach...
That sales scripts don't work.
First of all, let’s be very clear about this. Yes, you can very easily sound scripted. If you simply read a script word for word, then people are very unlikely to buy from you.
But if you think about every single movie, your favorite movies that you watch over and over and over again, your favorite TV series that you continue to watch time and time and time again, season after season after season. What are the common denominators? They are all scripted!
What do movies have to do with all this?
Let’s think about the difference between a crap movie and a great movie. A big difference is that actors learned the script, actors internalised it and made the script part of them. That’s how actors become so convincing in a particular role.
Reading word for word without internalising any of what you are reading will make you sound scripted. If you sound scripted, people will very unlikely buy from you. But if you can internalise a properly made script, you can really use it to your advantage.
Listen to this episode to learn what the elements that make a great script are and to know how you can benefit from using them in your sales conversations.
This is my bread and butter, I create scripts for my clients all the time (not just sales scripts either) and I've seen, time and time again, how powerful they can be when done right so, make sure you listen to this episode to fully grasp how you can exploit them.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As I've said previously, there is a battle going on for your attention.
Lately, I have noticed a trend where business educators will use controversial contrary statements simply to get people to pay attention.
We've talked about some of these remarks around relationships in sales, and today, we are going to talk about yet another controversial premise they teach...
That sales scripts don't work.
First of all, let’s be very clear about this. Yes, you can very easily sound scripted. If you simply read a script word for word, then people are very unlikely to buy from you.
But if you think about every single movie, your favorite movies that you watch over and over and over again, your favorite TV series that you continue to watch time and time and time again, season after season after season. What are the common denominators? They are all scripted!
What do movies have to do with all this?
Let’s think about the difference between a crap movie and a great movie. A big difference is that actors learned the script, actors internalised it and made the script part of them. That’s how actors become so convincing in a particular role.
Reading word for word without internalising any of what you are reading will make you sound scripted. If you sound scripted, people will very unlikely buy from you. But if you can internalise a properly made script, you can really use it to your advantage.
Listen to this episode to learn what the elements that make a great script are and to know how you can benefit from using them in your sales conversations.
This is my bread and butter, I create scripts for my clients all the time (not just sales scripts either) and I've seen, time and time again, how powerful they can be when done right so, make sure you listen to this episode to fully grasp how you can exploit them.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we are going to be talking about relationships and whether they are important in sales and business development.
Although it may seem like an arbitrary question, it is very important to ask that question.
You would think that it's like “duh! are relationships important in a sales conversation?” And the immediate thought might be yes, but there's a growing number of educators in the business development space that are talking about that relationships aren't important.
They tell you that you can be off-hand, or even bordering on rude in a sales conversation, and it's quite bizarre. Why do they say that?
Well, the reason that they do it is that they are contending in a battle for eyeballs. People have this habit of trying to slay sacred cows in order to get attention so, people will say that traditionally, popular concepts are incorrect to simply get attention.
They might have a good message, a lot of them have good intentions, and a lot of them have good programs so, are relationships important in sales, or is it a misconception that we’ve learned over the years?
The first situation that I want to dive in to answer that question is that when salespeople are talking to a client, there is a tendency, especially people who are new in sales, to be really eager to please and to subordinate their own importance in the actual sales conversation.
You certainly need to be assertive, but you also need to be willing to challenge assumptions that are incorrect. For that, you’ll need to stand your ground but you’ll also need to be respectful when you challenge those assumptions.
What would you say, are relationships important in sales?
Even though you shouldn't ever suck up to a potential client or try and people please, the strength of relationships has never been more important, especially in this world where there are certain industries that aren't going so well, and loyalty can mean the difference between you having a good relationship and not having a good relationship.
So, listen to this episode because this is a very discussed topic and I know that the scenarios that I’ll be sharing with you will help you understand what is the real role of relationships in sales.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This week, I am very excited because we have an amazing guest on the show, Ken Okazaki.
Ken is a video marketing expert, he has produced huge amounts of content for highly renowned people over the years, and he has a deep understanding of the media, the production part of it, and the content part of it.
I have been wanting to get Ken on the show for quite some time because video is such an important part of content, of the internet, of websites, it is essential almost everywhere. The thing is, do we really understand how useful it is? do we really understand how to exploit this resource?
Before he started his video marketing business, Ken was running large-scale personal development seminars in Japan, where he’s from.
He was a promoter, and the company he worked for, they'd partner with world-class speakers like Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, and Les Brown to mention a few, and run big events. They used to fill a stadium every other month so, they were doing good.
However, Ken really hated it. Running those events was a headache, trying to keep everybody happy, and the business running at the same time was not easy so, he decided to quit and start his own business doing what he loved.
He also made great use of his connections because, he was able to get to work with the world-class speakers he used to invite to the seminars, and he made them an offer they couldn’t say no to. Ken produced with them a year’s worth of content in only two days.
We are very lucky to have him with us today, and in this episode, we’re going to dive into all the things you need to know about video so that you can get the most out of it regardless of what kind of business you are in.
Also, I didn’t expect this to happen but, Ken is actually sharing with us his step-by-step process for creating video content.
Make sure you don’t miss this amazing interview; you'll get a stack out of it! And remember what Ken says, “If you see a path for social media to generate the leads for your business, then video is probably the best way to do it”.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 161, we are going to be talking about the single biggest mistake that inexperienced salespeople make and effectively how to avoid it.
Simply put, the single biggest mistake that inexperienced salespeople make is that they try to put prospective clients into arbitrary-type situations.
There can be a couple of reasons for that to happen, but mostly, salespeople do that because they are ill-informed not because they have ill intentions.
I worked with a client once, and he wanted me to help his company write more business on the spot. So, I gave them a process that I developed myself because I had my own fashion agency for a long time and I had about 130 different clients that would come in and buy a range of apparel from me two or three times a year.
Long story short, I developed a system that would improve the likelihood of them buying on the spot because if they didn't get the order on the spot, they had to wait for it at least a week and there was a direct correlation to the diminishing of the order that you would get for every week that would go past.
So, we went through it, I taught them this particular system, and about three days later, the phone rang and this guy said, “I tried what you did, and it didn't work”. When I asked him what happened he said, “Well, I had this buyer come in, and I went through the process that you taught me. And he didn’t buy, he just said, stop doing the hard sell! stop doing the hard sell!”.
What happened there was that the client he was talking about was an existing client, and he was known for taking between three to four days to get his order. My client had unnecessarily pushed his client towards closing a deal while ignoring the context of the situation.
He could’ve just waited a couple of days for the order to be placed instead of making his already regular client feel uncomfortable and under pressure so, you have to understand the context and adjust how you approach every single situation.
This is a clear example of how inexperience and wrong information can have terrible consequences. Maybe not at first. If you push clients into arbitrary-type situations on an ongoing basis, what happens is that there actually aren't that many short-term consequences. In the short term, you actually might even make more sales if you're trying to force people to buy.
The thing is, over time, especially when you live in a country like Australia, or you live in a town like Melbourne, Sydney, or Perth, what happens is that word gets around and people find out because they talk.
So, people talk, and suddenly, nobody wants to do business with you anymore. That is a bad thing, you definitely do not want that to happen.
Listen to this episode to learn how to fix this often-ignored issue, I am sure you will be able to perfect the way you approach your clients so that you can improve the likelihood of closing the deal while assuring you’re not making your clients feel like they want to run away.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to be talking about why there is no one-size-fits-all sales process.
Every client you’ll ever get to talk to is going to have different necessities, different preoccupations, and is going to come from a different context so, you can’t just use a generic process for everyone and hope it will give you results.
Maybe you used a certain process in the past and it was useful, maybe someone recommended you to use the same process for all of your clients, but the truth is you simply can't just use an off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all sales process, it really does need to be tailored like a suit.
In this episode, we are going to elaborate on why it has to be this way, and also, we're going to talk about the three different types of sales processes that are commonly used so that you have more information to put yours together.
First thing's first, the reason a sales process needs to be adaptive is that we are selling to different people. Sometimes there are multiple decision makers within an organisation, sometimes you will need to actually go back and develop a solution for someone.
Sometimes, longer sales processes will facilitate multiple meetings with a buyer, especially if it's a big enterprise-level purchase. There are a number of different things that need to factor into the type of sales process that you use, it is never the same story.
One of the most common processes used out there is the one-step process. There are certain purchases that will lend themselves to one conversation, and one person who is making a buying decision, right? So, in some scenarios, one interaction is enough.
But then, there will be people that have a legitimate reason for not wanting to commit on that particular call, and you are going to need to adapt and tailor your sales process in such a way that it works for both parties.
So, listen to this episode to learn why it can be extremely counterproductive to try and use a one-size-fits-all process in every situation. You are also going to have a greater understanding of what sales processes are out there so that you can evaluate what fits your business best.
Remember, even if it's a one-step process, one particular type of buyer, one particular type of seller, or one particular type of industry, there will be a certain amount of tweaking and customization that needs to take place.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 159, we are going to talk about the advantages of presenting your proposal, quote, or fee to a potential client, instead of just emailing it.
If you just send your proposal via email, it can often end up in the spam folder, can easily be ignored, or the potential client will open it and click straight through to the price.
What can you do to avoid this? Well, there are some other ways to get things started with a potential client.
The first thing to understand here is that there is so much to be gained from actually making time to go through your fee outline with somebody in person, these days in person can be on Zoom, it can simply be giving them a call.
Giving them a call and giving them the heads up that you're just about to send them their outline makes an enormous difference. It reduces dramatically the chances of your email ending up in the trash bin.
But, if you can schedule a Zoom call, meet in person, or somehow get to talk to them you are going to have more resources to approach them.
Why? Because you can show them the outline, go through each of the different points that must be taken care of, have a constant dialogue where you can calibrate as you go, and stay focused on providing value and providing solutions.
This is a huge strategic advantage because you are going to be building value by going through all the different points and all the amazing things you can do for them instead of having them look at the price and skipping all the information.
A conversation with them also allows you to sense if there is something that they’re not happy about or that they want to know more about. That’s why it is important to be there, to listen, and to observe carefully.
This is just the beginning. In this episode, I’m sharing with you the seven strategic advantages of presenting your proposal to a prospective client rather than just emailing it.
Listen to this episode to know all the great things that can be done just by having an actual conversation with your potential clients, I know you will understand why it is so important to not rely only on emails to present your quote and learn to prioritise what’s relevant for them.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we’re going to talk about something that has almost certainly happened to all salespeople, getting ghosted.
Today, I am going to go through the five biggest reasons why the potential clients that you've made a presentation to aren't returning your calls.
There are a lot of factors involved in someone deciding not to call you again, but we’re not going to dive into all the specifics. I really want to make it as concise as possible.
I want to talk about these 5 reasons because I believe they illustrate quite well the areas that are often overlooked or taken for granted. You probably are making big mistakes in your sales process without even knowing it.
So, the first reason why some people ghost you is that they are not interested at all. This might sound obvious but quite frequently, people make an offer to somebody who actually doesn't need what they're selling.
Why would you make an offer to somebody who doesn't need what it is that you're selling? Probably because you don't know they don't need it.
A good sales framework will actually disqualify people, you need to be able to prepare to say no. And one of the most valuable things that we can do with clients is actually giving them a nice way to say no.
You need a nice way to refer them to a more appropriate business that can help them in the way that their particular set of circumstances requires.
So, you should stop making offers to people who don’t need what you are selling, and in order to do so, you need to have a way to know who needs what you offer and who doesn’t.
Listen to this episode to learn how to do it and to understand what is causing people not to return your calls. We are going to dive into each one of the 5 reasons that cause this problem and elaborate on 3 main ways to solve it.
Besides being bad for business, getting ghosted can be quite annoying and very discouraging, especially if you experience it a lot so, make sure you don’t miss this episode to get rid of this issue once and for all.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we have Kevin Thompson on the show with us to talk about building million-dollar relationships.
Building relationships is a crucial part of putting deals together, and Kevin is an absolute master at this, he's been doing it for a long time.
He came to understand the power of relationships working in a trading company he used to own. A business that Kevin grew solely through strategic partnerships.
Over a 12-year period, Kevin did almost 600 strategic partnerships and $16.1 million in sales of the training that he created solely through strategic partnerships.
He grew that company only through creating solid, respectful, and profitable relationships. You’ll be the judge, do you think relationships are important in sales?
For us, they have always been our most valuable asset, and in this day and age where we're at right now, this is truer than ever.
Considering how easily we can contact somewhere across the world nowadays and how immediate things have become over the last decades, we must not forget the value of real human connections.
Some people often look past this and embrace blindly the new trends and the new tools technology has given us. Don’t get me wrong, those developments have been great and incredibly useful, but we must not forget how important it is to actually make the time to have a meaningful conversation with someone else.
In this episode, we are going to dive into all the different elements that are behind building long-term, meaningful, real relationships. that ultimately end up being profitable as well.
Kevin certainly knows a lot about this so, listen to this episode to learn how you can build million-dollar relationships that will help you grow your business dramatically. We know you are going to get a lot out of this conversation.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, I'm really excited because we are going to be talking to Ben Wolff from Wolff Energy Solutions. Ben has been a client of mine for over 12 months, and his business is a real inspiration.
He has built a trades-based business upon core cultural values, and the lessons and the growth curve that he's been on over the last seven years are certainly a great example for anyone that wants to grow or scale a business.
Ben started his apprenticeship with a tier-one company back in the day, doing commercial construction projects. He finished his apprenticeship with them and then spent a few years as a tradesman.
He just generally felt unappreciated there, like everyone was a number, falling on deaf ears. Ben was working a lot of hours, but his contributions meant nothing to his superiors.
All of a sudden, everyone stopped caring about anyone so, Ben didn't like that, he needed a change. He didn't really have a solid plan at the start when he made the leap, but he knew he just couldn't keep doing what he was doing. He knew he could be a much better boss than what he was experiencing in construction.
So, when he started his company, he knew very well that one of the core elements of Wolff Energy Solutions had to be culture; he knew he had to build his business upon a work culture able to provide a healthy environment for everyone involved in the business.
Today, Ben is going to share with us today what are some of the philosophies that have contributed to the success and the growth of his business; what role has coaching played in the growth of his company, among many other relevant aspects of scaling a business.
Listen to this episode to know what the keys to successfully growing a business are, this was a really valuable conversation and I know you are going to get a lot out of it, especially if you are currently building your own business or thinking about doing so.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode of the Master Dealmaker Secrets Podcast, I am going to share with you the top 5 personal development books that top salespeople own, that others don't.
One of the keys to becoming a really good business professional or sales professional is you need to have resilience, and you need to have a really solid foundation of personal development.
Why? Because you are going to experience rejection, and you're going to experience things that don't go so well, there’s no other way around it.
You need to have a good coat of armor to be able to bounce back fast from those situations, but most importantly, to have them affect you the least, and in my experience, these books are such a key part of that.
The first one of them is Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer. Believe it or not, I read this book when I was 13. I don't know whether I'm a freak, whether I could sort of digested all of that at 13, but it became the foundation; this book was the catalyst that put me on the personal development journey.
The second one is Psycho-Cybernetics. It was written by Maxwell Maltz, an unusual guy to write a personal development book because he was a plastic surgeon at the time.
He discovered that he would get all these people that would come in and want some plastic surgery done. He would perform the plastic surgery and then what would happen is that, once they healed, they would look at themselves and a large percentage of them wouldn't see any change.
So, what he started to look into was how people viewed themselves, this whole idea of self-image. The best thing about the book is that it talks about manufactured memories, and it talks about the theater of the mind, and how you can influence future events positively through visualisation.
Of course, there is a lot more to talk about these books than what I’m sharing with you here, and we haven’t even gone through the whole list. So, listen to this episode to know what these 5 books are, what are the lessons they teach, and why I think they are incredibly valuable.
These 5 books have helped me a lot in my career and I know you can find them just as useful as I do.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In episode 153 of the Master Dealmaker Secrets Podcast, I am going to tell you how and why I got into sales.
I have had a number of people ask me this over the years so thought I would share it with you.
I didn't actually start with an intention to get into sales. It wasn't what I wanted to be when I was young. In fact, I was a competitive surfer in Western Australia when I first got into sales, a guy from the company that sponsored me invited me to work for them.
I accepted, and once I started working there, I would find myself constantly looking for feedback. I used to go to my boss and ask him frequently, "How am I doing?", "How am I performing?"
I was always looking for feedback and felt like If I could get more input, it would help me to become better.
And this later became the motivator for wanting to help other people and give them a way to become better at sales faster.
Unfortunately, there are lots of issues around sales and one of the biggest ones is the big proliferation of salespeople or sales teachers that teach a dysfunctional process. A process that creates dysfunctional salespeople that give the industry and salespeople themselves a really bad reputation.
These people teach this aggressive-type approach that may seem to work on one or two occasions but that doesn’t really solve any problem for the people that came in.
If you don't help people, if you don't serve people, that reputation goes out into the world, then it comes back and ends up biting you in the bum.
For me, the thing that I really love about sales is that you can be instrumental in changing and improving somebody's world, in helping them to make a decision that will benefit them. And that comes with having the right intention and having the right set of philosophies around what it is that you're there to do.
So, listen to this episode to know the whole story about how I got into sales and to learn some of the things I’ve worked out over the years that have allowed me to help people in the process of becoming proficient at sales. I really hope you enjoy it and find it useful.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to talk about five reasons why a client will not buy from you.
These are the five things that you need to check off, that are really important in terms of somebody making a decision to take the next step.
This is really interesting because most people think that the main consideration on why people either buy something or don't buy something, is how much it costs. And this isn't true, there are a lot of different reasons why somebody won’t buy.
Money’s absolutely a consideration, but If you use the framework that I teach, you will have a process that allows you to uncover a big enough problem, such that the actual investment in you, at least from a monetary perspective, looks small by comparison.
Time is another very common objection. “How long will it take for me to get a result?”, “What is my time investment for this particular purchase?”
These may be the two reasons most people think about when they hear about sales objections, but there are more, and more diverse things to be aware of if you want to mitigate the power these reasons have over people.
It is incredibly useful to be aware of them because you can then recognise what the issue is with a particular client, acknowledge their concern, and adjust your approach to minimise the impact of any objections they may have.
Listen to this episode to learn what these five reasons are, and to learn a framework that will help you in your written communication, and conversations with clients. Don’t miss it, I know it will be really valuable for you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode of the Master Deal Maker Secrets Podcast, we are going to talk about some ways you can ask questions to your clients in a more elegant and subtle manner.
We are not talking about any kind of question, we are talking about more sensitive questions your client may be reluctant to talk about like, how much their monthly revenue is or what is the current profit in their business.
Some people are more open to these topics, but some people aren’t, and what I’ve seen is that if you haven’t set a proper context before those questions are asked, people can misread your intentions and they’ll find themselves in a very uncomfortable position.
That’s why today I’m sharing with you some alternatives. You will be able to soften those questions so that your client doesn’t feel like they are in an interrogation room. The whole idea is to help you establish good communication with them so you can ask for the information you need without it having to be an uncomfortable situation.
Softeners are the things you put before asking a question that can make that same question come across and be received in a less confrontational way.
These softeners make the “uncomfortable” questions a bit less aggressive, and a little bit more likely to slip under the radar so that you don’t make someone think, “Hmm, I don't really want to answer that”.
Listen to this episode to know what these softeners are, they are a really powerful tool to use whenever you need your clients to give you crucial information about their current situation. They are incredibly useful and simple, trust me.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we are going to discuss what are the things that you have control over in sales and what are the things that you simply can’t control.
This is a very important topic because often people assume they can implement their sales process in a way that guarantees success with any given client. You may be able to increase the chances of success, but there are some things that are unpredictable.
It is very common for people to think that they do have control over who buys and who doesn't. Let’s set things straight once and for all, you don’t have control over that! Nobody does!
You can’t imagine how many times I thought “oh, these guys are definitely going to buy” and they didn’t; you have no idea how many times I’ve talked to people that seem very cautious or very uncertain about buying and they ended up doing it, who’d have known!
The point is, you cannot control WHO buys and WHO doesn’t, but you can control so many things around that same situation.
Let's say you don't have a framework that you're using, but let's just say you talk to 10 people. What I know is that an average of about two to three people out of those 10 people are going to buy.
That’s why you use a framework, to have a proper process that increases your chances of success. Even then, you will not know who is going to buy and who isn’t, but you will make sure you do everything that is in your power to get from having two or three people buying from you to having up to seven out of every 10 people you talk to.
Listen to this episode to learn what you can do to improve your process and to identify what are the things you just can’t control in sales conversations. I know it will give you some peace of mind if you need it and it will also help you get better at sales by working on key areas.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we are going to talk about Counterintuitive Sales Questioning. What is that? Basically, they are questions you ask your potential clients when having a sales conversation that aren’t common, that are unexpected.
The Counterintuitive approach has a really interesting effect on your potential clients because, most of the time, they are expecting to have a usual sales conversation with you. For them, you may just be another salesperson that is trying to sell them something.
That’s where you are going to shine because you are not going to ask the same questions everyone else asks, you are not going to respond in the same way as everyone else.
You will cause a sudden clash between what they were expecting and what ends up happening, and that is a good thing!
In a sales conversation context, there are two ways that you can phrase a question. You can answer the question first, and then say to the person, “Would that be useful? is that the sort of thing you had in mind?” Or you can ask the question and the person can actually answer it.
Rather than answering the question for them, and then asking them a question that confirms what you said, the best thing that you can do is ask a question that elicits the response that's actually right or real for them.
An example might be saying to them, “so, why is it that you want to get better at investing?” The person is going to tell you, “Because, you know, I really want to be able to set myself up for later on in life so that I can retire earlier, and so that I can take my family traveling”.
That is a so much more powerful response than answering your version of what you think that they should want, and then phrasing your question with the sole intention of getting a yes.
Listen to this episode as we dive into the counterintuitive questions you can make to differentiate yourself from your competitors whilst making sure your clients get the most value out of your product or service.
I’m also going to share with you three great examples that illustrate how helpful these actions can be in a sales conversation so, don´t miss it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today we are going to be talking about one of the most crucial aspects of success, how you can build a winning morning routine.
The premise is that success leaves clues. If you have had a recent powerful day, there will be a series of things that led up to it.
So, I encourage you to do this exercise with me. Recall an example of a really successful day, you might have had great conversion rates, you might have had lots of energy, maybe your potential clients were reacting really well to what you said to them. Think of one day.
Look at what was happening leading up to that day. How much sleep did you get the night before? Did you eat breakfast that morning? Did you exercise that morning? Did you meditate? Did you read? What did you do?
Sleep is key, and the more research that goes into sleep, the more they are finding how important it is. They recommend eight hours of sleep, if you can get eight hours then you're doing well in that regard, but what else does it take to build a great morning routine?
Listen to this episode to find out. Learn where to look and where to make changes in your daily life so you go from having one or two great days in a week to having all of them.
I know this is going to be a really powerful episode for you and I can't wait to share all this information with you. Remember that even small changes can have a huge impact on how you feel throughout the day and how you perform.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to talk about 11 things that motivate people. These are the things that really make people take the next step and make decisions.
First, there is a number of reasons why people make decisions, but today I have a list in front of me that I want to go through with you. It really kind of covers almost anything that you could potentially want to sell in terms of people's motivation.
Let me give you some of the things this list covers:
The first one is a very common thing, in general, people aren't as satisfied as they could be. People are always looking for the next thing, the next best thing, how can they take things to the next level.
In fact, I think the split is about 70/30. About 30% of people are moving toward a better day while 70% of people are making decisions to avoid something that they're trying to escape from.
Let’s talk about another important thing. Most people only have a moderate amount of self-esteem. It is very hard for some people to accept and take ownership of who they are, and there is most definitely some motivation in there for businesses to work with.
For instance, 2/3 of women and 1/3 of men don't like the way they look. So, if you're selling some sort of weight loss thing or gym memberships that's a very important thing to keep in mind.
The fourth thing that motivates people to make decisions is that nearly everyone worries and has a deep-seated fear of rejection. Anything they can do to avoid being rejected by others is another profitable business model.
Listen to this episode to get to know the full list. I’m pretty sure the things we are going to talk about here fit any business.
We will refer to these 11 points in the future because I think they're really pivotal in some of the pro sales process stuff that we talked about on the podcast.
What I would love to know though is How do these things apply to your particular product or service? have a listen to this podcast and let me know.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
in Episode 146, I’m going to cover something that I haven’t yet because it is a bit of a subtle strategy. It is both simple and powerful and one you probably haven’t heard of.
Have you ever considered how you should position yourself physically according to your prospect?
Whether you are in a one-to-one sales meeting, or you're presenting to a group of people it’s important that you set yourself up with every advantage - and where you position yourself can give you that edge that psychologically gets your prospect to experience you they way you want them to.
So, here's the scenario, you are doing a presentation in front of a group of people, you're meeting somebody for the first time, or you are meeting somebody to have an actual sales conversation. As a rule of thumb, keep your client on the right of you. The reason that you do that is because what it does is that it engages the left-hand side of your brain.
The reason is it allows you to think and process what it is that you do in an analytical way, right in a logical, analytical way.
So if you are meeting somebody for the first time you shaking someone's hand, you want to be on the right of them.
If you are sitting down having a sales conversation with them, you want to be to the right of them. If you're doing a sales presentation, you want to position yourself from the audience's perspective on the right-hand side of the room. Because that allows the people in the audience to experience what you're what you're doing, and what you're saying in a logical way.
It's an optimal way to arrange yourself from a physical perspective, when you are dealing with a either a one-on-one conversation or a group of people.
Take a listen to get more of the details and possibly even close more sales.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This is the final week of the Best of 2021 series, and we are going to talk about Two Major Sales Objections and what specifically you can do about them.
Having a potential client make the decision of moving forward with you and whatever solution your business is offering to them is easier said than done. You probably have talked to some of them that are reticent about taking the next step, they may even argue that they’re afraid to do so, or that the price you are charging is too high.
If you're getting the same objections coming up over and over again, there are specific reasons that you're getting those objections.
You are experiencing blockages, and I’m pretty sure you’ve wondered what you need to do when they happen to break the streak. In this episode, I want to talk about two of these blockages, what causes them, and what you can do to stop them from happening in the first place.
As mentioned, one of them occurs when somebody says to you, “it's too expensive, it's more than what I plan to spend”
Your price may be high, and if that’s the case, the value your business is offering has to keep up with that price. Essentially, if you listen to this objection, it means that you haven't established sufficient value before they know what the price is.
Value exists in a couple of different forms. A lot of people think about it in terms of features, advantages, and benefits. They explain to somebody why a particular product is different, how it's going to work in that person's life. Don’t get me wrong, that has merit, especially if what they are saying is relevant to that person’s situation.
However, there is another part of establishing value that people often forget about or just ignore, and that is the cost of inaction.
If you're fixing a costly enough problem that is valuable, and then the value of fixing that costly problem becomes greater than the investment in your particular product or service, the person will actually buy because they’ve realised the cost of doing nothing is greater than the investment they’re making in your solution.
That problem can be either costing them too much money, time, or energy; it can also be exceedingly annoying for them. That’s why you need to create an environment where they understand and discover for themselves how their challenges are affecting their business, and how you can help them.
In this episode, I’m giving you the elements required to build this environment. I’m sure that knowing this will help you overcome those apparently dead-end situations. You’ll find that it is actually possible to prevent these objections from happening if you have a well-organised process.
As always, thank you very much for listening and we’ll meet again in 2022 with a lot of changes and upgrades to this podcast. Have a very happy new year!
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This is week four of the Best of 2021 series, and today we are going back to episode 123 where we talked about one simple email tweak to boost sales.
Emails are a very powerful way to grow your business. Contextually what we're talking about is to put pen to paper on some kind of recommendation; maybe a proposal for something, or a quote for a particular product or a particular service and send it to a potential client.
The biggest mistake I see people make is this. They attach the proposal or the quote, they send it through, and at the bottom of the email they write, “If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.”
Why is this a huge mistake? Because it is the lamest call to action ever!
Many businesses, hoping they can get clients on board, usually approach them in a very cautious manner, but that cautiousness gets often mixed up with passiveness, and their emails end up being pretty uninviting and bleak.
Some people don't have the time to ring and ask questions. Most don't have the time to take your call, but if they see an email that is crystal clear, that tells you what the actual next step in the process is, a good percentage of people will actually start to take it.
Today, I’m going to tell you what you should write instead to instantly increase your chances of success. This is a really quick and easy change you can do to get the right people on board.
Although this may be a simple tweak, if you start doing it on a regular basis, it adds up at the end of the year. This easy adjustment could cause a 10, or a 20, or even a 30% shift in the amount of people that will actually buy from you, just by putting a simple and effective call to action in the tail end of your email.
Listen to this short episode to know how to do it. I’ve been doing it for some years, and I’ve taught many businesses to do it, they’ve seen a shift in their results and so have I, so, you should definitely start using this on the next proposals or quotes you send out.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This week we are going back to another top episode of the year. We are going to talk about Raising Your Energy in Sales Calls.
These days, it is very common to see hacks for everything. From building a coffee machine out of a lunch box to a list of a hundred things you can do to make your life easier.
There is a big list out there, and indeed, some of these hacks are more reasonable than others. While some may just be fun to do, or questionably useful, there are also quite a few things people have discovered over the years that really work, that are meaningfully helpful.
Today I am going to be sharing with you an example of the latter. It is something that I have used for a number of years, in fact, I learned it way before we started calling these things hacks, and it works since then.
It is a very simple yet valuable idea. You can think of it as a trick that you can use to improve the energy that you bring to a sales conversation.
Many people, myself included, think that sales are a transference of energy. People buy your energy; you are typically vibrating at the same level as the person that ends up buying with you. It’s the whole idea of resonating, which is why the concept of rapport is important as well.
What I want to share with you is a very useful thing to do before you talk to a potential client for the first time, before you jump on a sales call, or before you jump on a zoom meeting. This will allow you to raise your energy, transfer it to others through your communication, and get way better outcomes.
I wanted to make sure I shared it because it has helped me a lot and I want it to be just as helpful for you too.
Join me on this 5-minute episode to know what this is all about, I am sure you’ll find it very useful, and I’d be really stoked to hear the results that you get through using this trick.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This week we are recalling another top episode of the year. We are going to talk about implementing new strategies.
Trying something new is always challenging. Businesswise, if you want to implement new strategies and new ideas to your process, you’ll find yourself dealing with new circumstances too.
They may work better for you and your clients or they may not, but believe me, there are some things you should be aware of if you want to give new ideas a chance. Otherwise, you may not be able to take full advantage of them.
What I find is that people are creatures of habit, they tend to only use what works. That's great! because you should stick with what works, right? But bear in mind, if you only do what you've always done, you'll only ever get what you've always gotten.
So, you do have to try new things if you want to get a different outcome. I know this may not go as smoothly as you can foresee at any given point. That’s why today I want to give you a bit of an idea as to what you should expect because often we try something new and if it doesn't work, we give up, and often we just give up too early.
In the end, it comes down to one question, how can you tell if something really works or not?
Obviously, you need to make sure that it's not user error. Make sure that you are using the strategy the way that it was intended, and that you're not actually doing something that's sabotaging your own success.
Truth be known, you can get so many things right, and something for whatever reason just might not work. However, that is not the whole story, there is a method you can use to evaluate any new strategies accurately so you don’t step away too early.
So, if you want to learn how to tell if you are on the right track and how to properly execute new ideas, I really encourage you to listen to this 7-minute episode. Remember, getting a great result might not happen that often, but when it does happen, it can totally change the game so, don’t be afraid to try something new, but do it wisely.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Firstly, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for listening to the podcast this year. It really does light me up to get such positive feedback and makes it all the more rewarding for taking the time to make the podcasts each week. We have covered a stack of ground in our conversations relating to the single focus of Master Deal Maker Secrets - growing revenue in your business. Inevitably, there have been some episodes that have been more popular than others and over the next 5 weeks we will be revisiting the 5 most downloaded podcast episodes for this year. We are going to start with episode 94, where we talk about 4 Ways to Get Better with Names. Forgetting a person's name is something that we've all encountered at some point in our lives, either professionally or personally and it can not only be embarrassing, but it can also cost you business or relationships.
If this resonates with you believe me you are not alone, I’ve been guilty of this and I know how embarrassing it is to be in front of someone and forgetting their name, more so if they notice.
So, how can you avoid having to ask for their name or having them point out your omission?
Firstly, if you are used to this happening to you it is essential that you don´t tell yourself you are bad with names.
There are some other things you can say that recognise your deficit but don’t let the issue sit there. If you find yourself saying things like “I’m not good with names, but I´m good with faces” I really suggest you stop.
When you do this, you are affirming to yourself that you can’t deal with them, you are disqualifying yourself from getting better at it. How can you expect not to be embarrassed when someone notices you’ve forgotten his or her name if you haven’t even given yourself the chance to work on this ability?
It is better to say “I am working on getting better with names” than stating you can’t remember them. Once you can go beyond this point there are strategies you can bring into your daily conversations and routines that will help you memorize a person’s name so you never forget it.
So, if you are interested in stopping forgetfulness from getting in the way of your business relationships, I really encourage you to listen to this episode, I know that it is something that I wish I’d been exposed to a lot earlier in my professional career so, I believe these strategies will really help you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
The year is almost at its end. Over these 11 months, we've talked about a lot of things you can do to improve your sales, optimise your sales systems, and maximise revenue in your business.
I've had a really good response to a number of the different shows that we've done this year so, today, we are going to be recapping the Top Five episodes of 2021.
These five episodes have been really well received and have gotten more downloads than any other episode this year and I am sure that you will get a lot out of listening to them if you haven't already.
If you are familiar with these episodes, go back and listen to them again, it is always useful for you to revisit them so you remind yourself of how the methods and strategies you use in your businesses work; that way you can assure you don’t overlook any aspect of your processes that can cause trouble later on.
I’m also going to seize this opportunity to tell you about next year. I'm going to change things up for 2022, which I'm really looking forward to because I’m going to be bringing you some amazing upgrades that I’m sure you’ll love, but more about that soon.
In the meantime, listen to this episode to know what the top 5 podcasts of the year are so you can either listen to them for the first time or revisit them. You won’t regret doing it, trust me.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In previous episodes, we’ve talked about creating a dream client list of people that you would love to work with but aren’t coming to you through your existing marketing.
Once you have set up that list you must get in front of them, right? Today, I’m going to tell you about two very precise strategies that you can use to do it.
Here’s a scenario, let's say you're going after painting contractors. A great method that you could use to get into a conversation with those people, is to ring them up and say, “Look, I'm calling every painting contractor in town and I'm interviewing them, finding out how they're actually doing things.”
This strategy consists of a survey in which you are going to be analising how every business of a given guild in a particular place is positioning themselves to succeed, and trade through the current economy that we're in.
You are going to provide all the people that participate in the survey with a copy of the findings from the survey. It is vital to make them aware of that when you first call them.
Most people will be interested in that survey, especially because it allows them to find out what all their competitors are doing. Who wouldn’t want that kind of information?
Besides the huge value that the survey represents to them, once you go through the interview process, there's a high likelihood that they're going to say, “So, tell me what you do again” and you get an opportunity to explain to them what it is that you do. Within that conversation, there's great potential to be able to do some work with them.
Listen to this episode to learn what the other strategy is and how you can put it to work in specific situations. I’ve got nothing but great results over the years using both, and I know you will get them too because of the huge value they create for both parties.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In today’s episode, we're going to be talking about the difference between process and outcome.
This is a mindset thing, and one thing we know about mindset is that behaviour is a huge part of it. Behaviour is defined by what you say, how you sound, what you write, and how all that is perceived by your potential client.
Your behaviour ultimately determines your result. If your approach to sales is focused on process, instead of outcome, you can expect a particular result; if things are the other way around, your results are going to be different. Very different.
Let´s elaborate on that. Process is focusing on activity and focusing on making sure that you're using a winning process to work with your clients. You are certain, focused on the service you are providing to your client, focused on the needs and the value that you can create with a client and on what would represent the best outcome for them.
If you are focused on outcome, let’s be honest, you are most likely focused on yourself.
Think about the thoughts some people have when they say to themselves “I need to make this sale” or, “if I make this sale, that'll be eight out of ten for the week” What’s happening there is they are focused on what this will mean for themselves rather than being focused on what it will mean for their clients.
Realistically, neither you nor I know who's going to buy and who’s not. If you talk to any experienced salesperson, they'll tell you, “Sometimes, I talk to people and I can almost guarantee that they will go ahead but eventually they don't buy, blows me away! Sometimes I talk to people that I think are never going to buy from me, and for whatever reason they do.”
We can’t control the outcome, but we can control what we provide to our clients, and how we approach the process in general.
Listen to this episode to know what the consequences of these two approaches are, and how they reflect on your clients’ perception of you. It is essential to understand that the results you get are the outcome of how you work with your clients, make sure you don’t miss any aspect of it by listening to this podcast.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to be talking about how you can position yourself differently from your competitors so you can generate remarkable dissimilarities that give you a notorious advantage over them.
One of the biggest things that I get a lot of the time is people saying, “our business is commoditised, our clients are getting three quotes, they're definitely shopping us around”.
When you are talking to somebody, that person has most likely already been contacted by two or three other companies. This underlines the need to be able to position yourself differently from your competitors because otherwise, the only criteria people are going to take into consideration is the money they will have to invest.
In this episode, you’re going to learn how to stand out from the crowd so that price does not become the only thing your clients are thinking of.
It is a very simple thing that you can do. Basically, what you want to do is you want to create what I call, "Gee! I didn't know that" moments for your client.
As the name suggests, what you're effectively doing is you are providing them with information, or you are exposing a knowledge gap in the person that you are talking to, which has them think to themselves or even say out loud, “Gee! I didn't know that”; of course, it needs to be topical for their particular situation.
If you can create criteria that they're not aware of, or introduce criteria into their thinking process, their selection process, and their decision-making process you will be a lot better equipped to be able to compete on a level other than price.
Listen to this episode to learn what kind of information you should provide to your clients, and what questions you should ask in every given situation so you can stand out from your competitors and maximise the chances of bringing clients on board.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about how to handle the three most common objections that you are likely to get.
My philosophy on objections is that if you use the system that I teach, and you use it properly, you are very unlikely to experience objections in the first place. But if you do, it is essential to have a strategy.
The first one is the finance objection. When someone says “look, this all sounds great but it's more than what I had to spend”, the first thing you need to do is to qualify it. People may not see the value in what you're offering, that’s why they can state that your fee is more than what they were prepared to spend.
In which case, you need to do one of two things; you need to establish why it's valued the way it is, or you need to go back to the actual pain and the cost of doing nothing.
You need to ask them, “Is it simply more than what you were prepared to spend today? Is it more than what your budget will allow? or do you simply not perceive that it's actually as valuable as the fee that we are asking for is?”
Once you've established that, you can start putting things in motion with a couple of different strategies.
One of the best things that you can do is to offer installments; you can also make them justify to you, and to themselves, why they think it’s a good idea to invest in the solution you are offering to their particular problems, therefore, making them realise the benefits of doing business with you.
Listen to this episode to learn how this is done step by step; this is an amazing resource I’ve been using for years, and the results have always been great. We are also going to go through the 10 doors that you need to close to avoid objections, and through every one of the strategies you can put into practice for the three biggest ones you’re most likely to get.
We are really diving into this matter in this episode, and I know it will give you a lot of elements to deal with these situations whenever they happen with your clients.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to talk about how you can find out if you are in the front running position to win a sale.
Here’s the scenario; you have been contacted by somebody, and they have requested that you send through some sort of a proposal. You're trying to work out whether this is worth your time or whether you are doing what's sometimes referred to as the bad singles dance, lining up only to be compared on price and commoditised.
I find extremely interesting that about 95% of request for proposals go absolutely nowhere. The way that this typically goes down is someone says, “okay, we need to talk to x type person, we need to get somebody in to do this particular job”, or “we need to call somebody and buy this particular product”.
What happens most of the time is that this is tasked to an executive assistant, a lower-level type employee, or a middle manager, etc. The list of people who could be tasked with that particular job is pretty long, but the important thing to consider here is, what are they going to do to complete such a task?
Firstly, they're going to say, “who did we buy from last time?” They're going to ring that person and say, “Hey, I know we dealt with you guys last time, can you send us a quote for x, y, z?”
But here is where things get complicated because in most cases, the instruction that they would have been given is to get three quotes. So, now what are they going to do? They've got the person who did the work last time, and now they've got to get two other quotes, probably by doing a Google search.
So, the question that you should ask is how do you know if you are actually in the front running? Or if you are just window dressing for the person that they're going to choose anyway?
Listen to this episode to learn how you can identify whether you are just wasting your time, or whether you are actually being considered as the primary option. I know this is going to be incredibly valuable for you, and honestly, I can't believe I haven't talked about this previously because being able to make this distinction will save you a lot of time, money, and stress when doing business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I have been talking a lot to people about price objections. I find that it’s pretty common to have issues with this matter, and today I want to share with you four reasons why you are experiencing pushback when it comes to your fees.
The first one is, you haven't uncovered enough value. People will not be prepared to spend any more money than what they perceive as valuable; I know value itself can show up in a number of different ways but as a very global-type statement, this is a fundamental reason that you're getting pushback on price.
The first way that it shows up is you haven't uncovered enough pain. If there isn't enough discomfort in what the person is already doing, they won’t see the point of doing anything about it.
Human beings are really interesting characters, they will not move from where they are until they become uncomfortable enough to do so; you probably have already thought of at least one moment in your life where you did make the move to either get yourself out of a problematic situation or to simply be in a better place than where you were, it wasn’t a smooth journey, right?
So, if a person doesn’t realise the cost of doing nothing about their situation, they’re not going to take the next step. It is very unlikely that they’re aware of how big their issues are but that’s when you come in, to make them see that doing nothing is actually costing them more than making something to fix their problems.
Listen to this episode to know the four reasons why you are getting objections on price. I’m sure you’ll get a stack out of this episode because it will help you build a reliable and profitable approach to work with your clients.
I’m sure you’ll get a stack out of this episode because it will help you build a reliable and profitable approach to work with your clients. If you need any further help with this or any other matter you know where to find me, I’ll be more than happy to talk to you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, we are going to talk about five situations in business where sales training doesn't work and what to do about it.
It may seem very unusual for me to be talking about this subject today, especially, since we just went through the importance of training, and the differences between generic and customised training last week.
However, it is essential to evaluate every situation and determine if sales training is the way to go, or if it’d be a waste of time and money.
To illustrate my point, one of the situations where investing in a training program is a bad idea is if you have high staff turnover.
Often companies will come to me and say, “we need to do some sales training”; I ask them, “how long have these people been with you?”
If they say, “Oh, we've just replaced everybody”, that's an alarm bell! That says to me that there is a cultural problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. What is the point of training a team if they’re not going to stay?
The problem might be bigger if there's a pattern; if you've got more than 60% or 70% of your team turning over every year you should really take a closer look at what’s going on in your business. Remember, people don't leave businesses, they leave bosses.
Besides a cultural problem, you may have a recruiting problem or a systems problem. If you've got high staff turnover, there are definitely some things that must be taken care of before you actually invest in sales training.
Today, I am going to share with you five different situations where hiring someone to train your team is not the best option. Listen to this episode to identify if you can relate to any of these scenarios, and if that’s the case, you will learn what to do to fix the issues you have so that you can eventually maximise your results with great sales training.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to talk about the difference between generic sales training and customised sales training.
I want to start by saying both are useful, but generic training can only deliver up to a point. A generic sales process would be something you learn from somebody who didn't really have a specific niche. It's basically a one-size-fits-all; the person that you have learned it from has essentially applied this particular process to different people, whether they were butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers.
I’ve noticed that this kind of sales training has derived from car salespeople training. It’s basically what they teach those guys, and it’s a really good system… if you are selling cars. The thing is, it is sold to other niches under the assertion that it’ll work for everyone, which it doesn’t.
Despite the fact that this is not a tailormade process, having a generic sales training is better than having none at all. But there is a challenge that is elicited with generic training that customised sales training does not have - it’s quite common for this kind of training to be badly received by trainees. If it is not relevant to what they're selling, they can switch off and feel absolutely alienated because they don’t see any real application for it in their industry or situation.
Some people may be able to put the pieces together and build connections. They can take a principle and they can see how that applies to their industry, but if someone's brand new, it's hard for them to build that bridge because they don't have a clear understanding of sales.
The second scenario is a customised sales program. That one can go so much further than a generic one. Trust me, because of its effectiveness in educating sales teams with industry-specific applications, it can rapidly turn around mediocre sales teams. This is what I specialise in with my clients.
Listen to this episode to learn what the advantages of a customised training program are and to understand what separates it from generic training. There are a million different options on the market right now and it is essential for your business to have a process that helps you reach the goals you have set; I know this episode will help you see a wider picture in that regard.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about an incredible success story in which we were able to help a business grow by $15 million over three years.
The guys that run this business came to me one day because they saw me speak at an event. They have a manufacturing business, and their product has a rural, mining, and oil and gas application to it.
What was happening is they were getting a heap of leads, mostly because they are great at marketing and invest a lot of money in it. Even so, the number of clients that were converting into paying clients was a lot lower than it should have been.
The first thing that we did once we started working with them is we looked at how they were engaging leads. Effectively, what was happening is that they were getting an email from a potential client asking for a quote for a product, and they would just email them back with the quote attached.
We stopped doing that, and we rang them first. Within that conversation, we could add value, we could make sure that the clients were ordering the right product for their particular situation. Plus, we could suggest other items that they might need.
What we did in that situation was work out leverage point number two in the seven leverage points that I work on with clients. Just by making that change, they saw a huge increase in conversion. Guess what happened once we devised all seven leverage points according to their needs?
Listen to this episode to know how we worked with this company to get them to the point where they are now.
What was it that made the difference? They have been very systematic and very consistent. I'm sure that if you look at your sales process, and if you look at those seven leverage points, you will find ways that you can improve your conversions too.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to talk about the three most useful resources to fix your mindset.
Mindset is such an important thing, and it is really at the core, and at the foundation of all good sales outcomes. Why is that? Well, in simple terms, your certainty will overcome your potential clients’ doubt. Put even more simply, you cannot give away what you don't already have.
If you want to have great sales outcomes it is imperative to get up to a point where you are a 10 out of 10 regarding a couple of things: in terms of how you feel about yourself, in terms of how confident you are, in terms of how you feel about the product that you sell, and in terms of how you feel about the company that you represent and their ability to deliver on the promises that you're making to your clients.
Have it any other way and you will definitely be compromised.
Think of this scenario, you've got a benign brain tumor, but you need to have your brain operated on to have the tumor removed. You go and see a couple of different surgeons; the first surgeon sends you off to get some scans down of your brain and when you come back with your brain scans, he or she looks at them and says, “Yeah, I think we can get this out. And I'm reasonably confident that you'll return to your normal activities and have 100% mental recovery and acuity after the surgery.”
You then go and see surgeon number two, who says, “Yep! I've actually have done this surgery 100 times before, we will have you in and out of surgery within a week and you will be resuming all of your normal activities and have 100% mental acuity within two weeks’ time.”
Which surgeon are you going to go for? The answer should be pretty obvious, only one of them is certain.
The same thing happens with your clients; they are buying certainty from you, but you can't have certainty until you fix your mindset. That’s why I wanted to make this podcast and share with you three amazing resources you can use to fix it.
Listen to this episode to know what they are and how they will allow you to address some of these mindset foundations that you really need to have in place so you can be a 10 out of 10 in everything regarding sales.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about the sales and influence continuum. Very interesting topic, especially if you're in the process of working out which clients you want to deal with in your business.
I've been in sales for 33 years, and I've been teaching, coaching, and training salespeople for over 17 years. Over this time, I have made sure to be ultimately aware of everything that's out there around sales, persuasion, and influence.
I have read, watched, and listened to all the best sales training courses out there, and by now I have pretty much road-tested everything that I've learned. This has allowed me to work out a couple of things.
One of them is that the rabbit hole really does go down as far as you want to take it around sales training influence. And here's where it starts to get a little bit blurry in terms of the two ends of the sales and influence continuum.
On one side you have got a situation where you are convincing, persuading, maybe even hypnotizing people to do business with you. How you responded to those three words will probably determine what end of the spectrum you're on because, at the other end of it, you've got a process where you understand someone’s situation and then you are eliciting what is inside to facilitate a process of change for that particular person.
These are the two extremes, but there are techniques and philosophies that can be located anywhere along the continuum. Bear in mind that any of these methods used to get people on board has its own results and consequences.
Listen to this episode to know what the different outcomes are and to define what will work best for your business.
As I said, I’ve road-tested every single thing I’ve learned, so I know what it takes to have a process that works, that makes people refer clients to you, that allows you to build long-term brand awareness, recognition, and loyalty. I know this episode will help you have a better understanding of the importance of how you deal with people.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today is a really special day because Jade Green is on the show with us.
Jade has built an international reputation as a hard-charging, rule-breaking, high-performance serial entrepreneur, speaker, and coach.
She hosts the surf and business podcast Barrels and Business, she’s a transformational teacher, bestselling author, learning junkie, spiritual being, adventurer, certified trainer, and facilitator for Mindvalley and The Genius Group.
As you can see, her background is pretty impressive, and I am thrilled to have her on the show because she is going to share with us some incredible information about how to build a kick-ass team.
We have already talked about hiring, building teams, and building culture in previous episodes but believe me, Jade just takes this to a whole other level!
She is going to share with us how she has been able to help purpose-driven business owners, entrepreneurs, and coaches to scale their companies so they can achieve the impact they deserve by creating productive and profitable teams.
She knows how important is to have all the elements of a team working properly; as she says, “For those of you that are looking to build your teams you’ll be glad to know that profitability and productivity is a great side effect of having a happy team.”
There's so much that Jade has got to tell us, and I know it will be eye-opening for you in at least a couple of ways. It's only a matter of whether you're ready to build an awesome team that can take proper care of their responsibilities so that you can dedicate your time to what deserves it the most.
Listen to this episode to learn what it takes to build it. Trust me, this is incredibly valuable! I’ve learned so much from Jade and I know you will too. We are actually going to do a part two in the future so, stay tuned for that as well.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
We are all aware of the massive impact this current pandemic has had, both on a personal level and on the global economy. I know some businesses have been struggling a lot, that’s why today we are going to talk about three things that you can do to stay competitive if you are currently in a place where you don't have access to your customers.
Unfortunately, this is happening for a lot of people at the moment, and I doubt that this is going to be the last time that we see it happening. These are very powerful things you can do to be proactive in this type of situation.
The first one is revisiting your offer. Come up with some new ideas as to what you can present; it might be a contextual offer, in terms of what's going on right now. It could also be a different take on your existing offer, the important thing is to come up with some different ideas and ways to support your clients.
Sit down and think of some different offers that you can make to them, different problems that you can solve for them, different things that you can add on to what you're already selling. You could provide something that enhances the existing purchase, something that complements it, or something that protects it. Get creative with it!
This can make a massive difference on its own, but there are some other things you can do to maximise your results.
Right now, it’s a good moment to revisit your target and get a clearer view on who you can add the most value to in the market, who is it that you can best serve. In fact, despite everything, this is a great time to do anything you didn’t have time for before.
Then we have your mission, which is just as important as your offer and your target. Get clear on it. It is the thing that will motivate you in times where perhaps things don’t look very good.
Revisiting these aspects will give you a massive advantage, and this is just the first of three things you can do that I am sharing with you today. Listen to this episode to know what the others are and how they will help you make the most out of this current situation. These are key areas to look at and optimise if you don’t want to be left behind.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently I was looking through my book High Stakes Selling and I arrived at this particular chapter where I talk about a conversation that I had some time ago with one of the biggest sunglass chains in Australia at the time.
There was a lady who worked as a buyer for this chain that had been in the industry for a long time and certainly knew her stuff but had a bit of a reputation of being a tough nut to crack.
It seemed near impossible to get into that chain.
As you can imagine, a lot of companies really wanted to get their products into this store, and in front of their thousands and thousands of customers. Instead of just wishing or “trying” to get a deal, I managed to book a meeting with this lady, hoping to make the deal.
The guy that I worked for knew her through a previous company that he represented, and he said to me, “All the best, but don't be surprised if she shuts you down”. The guy that had been in the role before me also knew her because he had a couple of meetings with her, they pretty much reached deadlock on every occasion.
These guys were a huge account, and our product was selling really well, it was growing quickly. We were already dealing with a lot of surf stores, but we weren't dealing with mainstream eyewear-type clients and that was the reason for setting up that meeting.
So, we started what was a very polite conversation, and it was going great... or so it seemed, up until a point where suddenly, things took a turn for the worse. Somehow, we ended up arguing about a completely irrelevant matter to our purpose, and I could see that the conversation wasn't going anywhere good.
What was the outcome of that meeting? Eventually, we mapped out an opening order for sunglasses for their national eyewear chain, which included their over 200 stores!
Listen to this episode to find out what I did, and how, what seemed like a very unpromising encounter, culminated in closing one of the most profitable sales I’ve ever been involved with. I know you'll get a lot out of this story because there are key lessons in it that can apply to so many situations in business development.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I'm going to share with you a very interesting client case study that will help you understand the relevance of the seven leverage points we talked about last week.
I worked with this guy last year; he has a carpentry business and does a lot of commercial carpentry work. He's a great trader and has a fantastic product. When he came to me, he was doing around about 200k per month, and he said, “I have grown this business without really having to talk to anyone, I hate sales and I need to get over it.”
We did a number of things, we essentially put all of the exact verbal and written systems in place at each stage of the seven leverage points in his business.
April through June, he had an increase of 900,000 on what he was doing last year, for the same period this year. By then, he already had 900,000 booked in for the July through September quarter.
That is a phenomenal amount of growth! The strategy that we put together for him worked brilliantly, and it happened because he did the work. I gave him what to do, but he went ahead and implemented it.
After 17 years, it has become pretty formulaic, and the process works. And that's what you want, if you're going to get help with this stuff you want the result. Many of you who listen to this podcast have asked me how I work with clients, this is a bit of an insight in that regard.
Listen to this episode to learn how he generated amazing results building a strategy upon the seven leverage points to improve conversions. It is a great example of how they work in the real world.
Also, if you are interested in this, or if any of the areas we talk about in this podcast are areas that you want to improve in your business, the best thing you can do is to come and check it out. All you have to do to qualify to be a part of this particular group is head over to www.johnblakescall.com, complete a form, and then you'll be able to find a spot on my calendar where we can catch up.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, I am going to share with you the seven leverage points that I look at when I am working with a business to improve its sales process.
There are a couple of different places that you can look to improve your conversions, improve the offer that you create, and move people through your process a lot faster.
What I do when I first sit down with a new client is we go through a checklist to figure out what we are going to work on to give them the fastest shift in their sales results. What I am sharing with you today is, essentially, this checklist.
The first question I ask is my clients is how are they getting leads? How are people finding them? We look at this process in detail, we focus on their website, their landing pages, we look at what people know about them before they complete an inquiry form.
That's essentially what we might call the indoctrination path, what is it that people have learned about your business to position you differently as opposed to your competitors.
The second point is, when the lead actually comes in, what is the method that’s been used to engage them? What I'm finding out a lot, in fact, if you've listened to a very recent episode, you’ll remember we talked about the fact that people are finding it harder and harder to engage new leads.
Just because somebody has completed a webform, or completed a contact form, doesn't mean that you're going to be able to get them on the phone straight away. Increasingly, it has become a necessity for more and more people to have a solid strategy to build somebody up from a sort of low commitment type lead, who's really just given you their first name and their email address, up to a point where you can actually have a telephone conversation with them.
These are just two of the leverage points that I’m sharing with you today. I’ve put all of them to the test with my clients for some years and we continue to see great results to this day; now you can learn how to use them to improve your conversions.
I want to continue to drill down further on at least a couple of these leverage points in future podcasts so, stay tuned. For now, listen to this episode to know where to look in your process and determine where you believe that you need to put the most effort into tweaking to make your conversions better.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Emails are a very powerful way to grow your business. Contextually what we're talking about is to put pen to paper on some kind of recommendation; maybe a proposal for something, or a quote for a particular product or a particular service and send it to a potential client.
The biggest mistake I see people make is this. They attach the proposal or the quote, they send it through, and at the bottom of the email they write, “If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.”
Why is this a huge mistake? Because it is the lamest call to action ever!
Many businesses, hoping they can get clients on board, usually approach them in a very cautious manner, but that cautiousness gets often mixed up with passiveness, and their emails end up being pretty uninviting and bleak.
Some people don't have the time to ring and ask questions. Most don't have the time to take your call, but if they see an email that is crystal clear, that tells you what the actual next step in the process is, a good percentage of people will actually start to take it.
Today, I’m going to tell you what you should write instead to instantly increase your chances of success. This is a really quick and easy change you can do to get the right people on board.
Although this may be a simple tweak, if you start doing it on a regular basis, it adds up at the end of the year. This easy adjustment could cause a 10, or a 20, or even a 30% shift in the amount of people that will actually buy from you, just by putting a simple and effective call to action in the tail end of your email.
Listen to this short episode to know how to do it. I’ve been doing it for some years, and I’ve taught many businesses to do it, they’ve seen a shift in their results and so have I, so, you should definitely start using this on the next proposals or quotes you send out.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to talk about three reasons why a bulletproof sales process is a strategic advantage in any business.
I've seen this happen time and time again; the people who continue to get fantastic results are the ones that I’ve helped improve their sales process.
I´ve sat down with my clients to carefully map everything out; to elaborate a solid process that, once it gets done, has no need to be changed or tweaked. They ended up having a well-thought plan with the clarity and confidence required in their minds to take the right actions.
It’s just a matter of executing it consistently, and it is magic! It really does produce fantastic results, so I strongly suggest you listen to this episode to have a greater understanding of why having a great sales process is so important.
One of the reasons is that it gives you scalability. If you know that you can generate 100 leads and convert 40 or 50 of them, that really gives you the scalability and the confidence to be able to spend more money on ads.
Another thing that it allows you to do is to scale your team. If you've got a sales process that you know you can rely on, that you can teach to somebody, then you can be confident when you start looking for someone to hire.
With more people, you can really scale. You can go hard and build a great sales team, provided you can deliver on the extra sales that it's going to create.
In sales, having a great business model is not enough if you want to keep growing. Without the confidence to be able to spend money on ads, without the ability to be able to convert the leads that those ads produce, without a proper sales process you will go nowhere, you will not have the scalability and you will not grow.
Listen to this episode to fully grasp the enormous strategic advantage that having an excellent sales process is. It has made a huge difference in all the businesses I’ve worked with, and it can do amazing things for yours as well.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I started to realise that it is very common for people these days to have trouble engaging with paid leads, leads that are coming through paid advertising.
The last four inquiries I received came from clients that are dealing with that type of issue now, so, I thought it was a good idea to talk about three ways to maximise your sales from paid advertising.
Nowadays, access to information is easier than ever; it is easier for people to find your business online and contact you if they have an inquiry, you shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that it is also easier for them to find your competition.
The increasing use of social media and the rapidness with which people can get a response via these platforms calls for an immediate approach to inquiries, which is the first way to maximise your sales I’m sharing with you.
Call leads straight away; it has become more important than ever.
If you call a lead within five minutes of the inquiry, you are nine times more likely to actually convert them into a paying client. That is massive!
You have no idea how many businesses have absolutely no clue about the magnitude of this simple action. Ask them how long it takes them to get back to a lead, they are usually going to say, “not long at all, within the first two days” That is way too late!
Think of the scenario, one person can be looking at four different websites at a time, looking for the best option for his or her particular situation, sending inquiries to all of the businesses that seem like they can help, expecting to talk to somebody that understands their concerns, hopefully, in a matter of minutes.
That is a huge window of opportunity, the sooner you respond the better, but you have to know how to do it, there are some fundamental elements that you cannot ignore about the way you engage with the people that write to you.
Listen to this episode to know how to properly do it so you can maximise your sales from paid advertising. These are three very simple and very effective ways to do it that won’t let you down. As simple as they may seem, you can really get excellent results if you start implementing them and teaching your team how to implement them as well.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
There are three common denominators that I have seen create the biggest shifts in sales results. Regardless of if you are a sales professional or a business owner, these things are crucial.
Today, we are going to talk about three shifts that you can make in your sales career or in your business to generate a massive improvement in sales.
I’ve had the chance to see these denominators in action in the hundreds of clients that I've worked with over the last 17 years and the hundreds of clients that I had access to before that in wholesale. I can tell you, if you get these elements in place you are going to be surprised with the results, especially if you fine-tune your approach over time.
One of the biggest shifts comes with analysing and fixing a fundamental aspect of any business, the sales process.
If you have an awesome product, or if you provide top-notch services, your way to success is all clear, right? Absolutely not!
You can have a great product but a crap process, and that is anything but a recipe for success. You have to make sure your sales process is converting, that it has no disconnects, no holes. In most cases, there are about six or seven pretty major holes that exist in most people's businesses.
I went over this topic in Episode 106 so, if you want to learn more about the holes in your sales funnel and how to fix them you should give it a listen too.
Once you fix these holes, you need an offer that converts, something that is actually a good deal for the client, that is easy for them to say yes to. If you've got it, you can scale, but obviously, you need to do some other things before you get there.
Listen to this episode to learn how to create a massive shift in your sales revenue by taking a closer look at the key areas where your process is executed and the system that has been put in place to get it done.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Everyone has at some point experienced a sales rut in their career; if you haven’t, there's one coming, just be patient.
I've coached myself out of a few sales slumps, and I've coached a lot of the team members that I work with out of them as well so, I know that it may seem like the end of the world sales drop down dramatically, fortunately, it is not.
It doesn’t matter if you are the one that is experiencing a sales rut or if one of the members of your team is, the first thing to remember is that sales slumps are temporary.
Today, I am going to share with you the five things that you can do to get yourself out of one. Implementing any one of these to your routine will make a massive difference, do them all and you’ll see how much greater the results can be.
For instance, something you can do is revisit your motivation and revisit the basics of your process. As for the first one, you have to ask yourself what it is that you're actually doing, and why you’re doing it.
As an example, my motivation for doing this is I want to help salespeople, I want to help business owners to get the best results possible from their marketing, I want to help them avoid a lot of the mistakes that I've made in over 30 years of, of selling, and I want to make sure that they get fantastic results. That's my motivation, yours will be different.
As for the basics, often, if you're not getting good results, it'll be because you're either not covering a particular part of your process, or because you're skipping over something. Go back and revisit the process, revisit the basics, there could be something that you're not doing, or that you're not doing as good as you should.
Revisiting your motivation and your sales process is just one of the five ways to get out of a slump I’m sharing with you.
Listen to this episode to know what the other ways are. These are very simple things to put into practice that will set up straight any doubts or concerns you may have, help you to analyse your sales process, and solve the issues any sales rut brings along.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to be talking about the four most important aspects to hiring a salesperson, these are a number of things that I have noticed over the years that make a massive difference when you are looking to take that step.
As I mentioned in previous episodes, culture fit is a fundamental element of the hiring process. That new person needs to fit in with the people that you've already got; this could probably be a gut feeling thing, at least a part of it, what matters is that you have to be able to use the resources you’ve got to know if they are going to fit with the rest of the personalities in your team.
Being able to work with others and abide by the team culture is as important as having a background of a consistent history of competence in sales, and this is a tricky one because there's a couple of different ways that we can qualify this.
For instance, someone could say “I hit sales records in this company, I hit sales records in that company” and so on. Here is where you must be careful because that success in sales could be attributed to that company or industry being on a massive growth curve. For all intents and purposes, that person just had to take orders.
In your interview process, you want to uncover situations where that prospect was actually resourceful, creative, and able to make sales because of his or her own actions rather than just selling a product that there was a massive demand for in an industry that was booming.
Being very meticulous with the way you conduct the interview will give you all the information you need to determine whether someone is a fit or not.
Listen to this episode to know how these four keys to hiring salespeople will help you to have a proper interview screening process that allows you to select and hire the type of salesperson you need.
It doesn’t matter if this is the first time you hire a salesperson, or if it is an addition to an already existing team. If you make sure you comply with these keys you've got a winning formula and you have got the highest likelihood that that person is going to be really successful within your business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we're going to be talking about the four most important things that you need to have in place if you are going to hire, train and retain a sales team.
There are many mistakes that organizations make when they want to build a sales team, or when they bring new people to an already existing one. Many steps can be done wrong, from looking for someone that fits their needs, to keeping track of their performance once they are hired.
One of the biggest mistakes that I see them making is on selection. Often, I get called into an organization, and they say, “we want you to train our team”; I would absolutely train them if that was the issue, but what happens very frequently is that they tend to mistake a training problem for a selection problem or a recruiting problem.
Creating a profile of the person that you want is fundamental, and the system that you use for selecting that salesperson is just as important.
You need to make sure that you have a process for creating the ideal profile of the person that you want. Consider that, many times, people make another notorious mistake; they want that person to be able to do too many things and, in that confusion, you’ll be lucky if half of those things get done correctly.
You have to define what is the core competency, what is the personality fit in terms of culture, and then, what is the process that you are going to use to screen them.
This is just one of the four elements you need to build a sales team. Of course, the selection is a crucial step, but once you hire somebody there must be continuity.
What is the process you are taking that person through to bring them up to speed? How is the training working out? How can you make sure they're confident enough to actually start making sales?
Listen to this episode to learn what the other elements are so that you can make sure you have the right people on board, and once you have them, to guarantee that they are going to be kicking goals constantly.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about the top 10 mistakes that companies make with sales meetings.
Sales meetings are at the core of creating a great sales culture in an organization. Unfortunately, it is very easy for businesses to make any of these 10 mistakes. I’ve seen it dozens and dozens of times. I sit in on a lot of sales meetings that are not well structured, and that don´t lead anywhere, thus getting no lift in sales performance.
The first one of these mistakes is they either don't run them, or they have them too infrequently. If you have meetings too infrequently, there's little to no accountability, no consistency, and no continuity. When you haven't got everyone on the same program, when everybody is moving at a different rhythm, it is really hard to build momentum. This leads us to the second mistake.
Having no structure, no agenda; or if there is an agenda, it's too loose, and there isn't somebody that's actually keeping time. This terrible habit is most likely going to make a mess out of your sales meetings.
If there isn't a structure and there isn't agenda, it's very easy for your meeting to get hijacked. Normally, it will be from somebody who likes the sound of their own voice or that has got a particular grievance. There should be a time and a place to talk about those things but not during a sales meeting.
When it gets hijacked, suddenly everyone's gone down a rabbit hole and people end up talking about something that really isn't particularly useful to the purpose of the meeting. Logically, it will tend to degenerate from there.
These mistakes lead to serious consequences and are not to be taken lightly. The biggest one is that people stop caring about sales meetings, and if they are too long, too infrequent, or pointless to them then the entire culture is affected.
Over the coming episodes, I'm going to be talking more about sales meetings; how to run them, how to create a culture where your team actually wants to attend your meetings, and we’re going to start it off today.
Listen to this episode to know what these 10 mistakes are, evaluate the way you run meetings, and identify what areas need to be worked on so you can make them do what they are supposed to do.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to talk about a really simple three-step formula to present information in a way that people understand.
Before I started in the consulting business I had a fashion agency. What I would do is, I would get a client and I would show them the range of clothing that was available for the season so they could decide which ones they wanted to sell.
First of all, it was very challenging to keep somebody's attention for the three hours we needed to get through this particular range, but there was another big issue.
What most of the other representatives would do is that they would present a 400-item range of clothing all at once. The clients had to decide which ones they wanted to sell, but often they would have to choose from 50 t-shirt prints, all up in front of them at the same time.
The situation was so confusing that I had to think up a completely different approach. What I had discovered was that there was a specific formula that I could use to maximise sales when a long presentation was required, I called it Chunk, Choice, Check.
I started to present just four items at a time, and I would say to them, “out of these four, which ones can you see yourself selling?” When I started to approach the clients this way, my results went through the roof!
Instead of choosing from fifty, they would only be choosing from four. And as we went, I would put the ones that they had chosen aside. In some cases, they ended up ordering two or three times more than what they would normally do because they were making selections from a smaller group.
Presenting the information in smaller chunks makes it easier for anyone to keep their focus, but the effectiveness of this formula has a greater extent once you integrate all three steps.
Listen to this episode to learn how this very simple strategy will allow you to make sure that the person you are talking to is understanding what you are presenting to them; and from a sales perspective, to make sure that you are bringing them along for the ride each step of the way. This formula works amazingly well regardless of the kind of presentation you are giving.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I’ve been helping clients with a fundamental step. The transition from being the managing director or the business owner that does all the sales, to hiring the first person in sales or business development.
This is a pretty big step for any business, as you can imagine, there are some things that must be considered in order to have an excellent hiring process where you can make sure that you have the right people and also, that you know what to do with them after they’ve been hired.
What I’ve seen happen over the years is that people tend to make one or all of the four mistakes I’m sharing with you today when they choose to hire a salesperson.
Let’s start from the very beginning of the process, which leads us to the first mistake. People often don't create a profile of the person that they want.
You are so much more likely to attract the type of person that you want if you can work out who they are. It's just like working out your ideal client. How old do they need to be? Are they male? Are they female? Are they already in a job? Are they working in the industry?
You have to put that profile together. That way, when you write the ad, that person is going to read it and they're going to go, “Wow! that's me”. If the ad looks too generic it doesn't speak to anybody in particular, therefore, you are going to get all sorts of the wrong people, making the whole process a waste of time, which is obviously not what you want it to be.
Creating the profile of the person that you want makes it a lot more likely for you to attract that person. If you can attract them, you can hire them, but there are some intermediate and later steps that are usually done wrong as well.
You might have salespeople in place, you might have a sales team in place, and you might be wondering why they're not hanging around, or why they're not selling stuff. It might not just be because your sales process is flawed, it might be because you have a recruitment problem or a selection problem, rather than an actual sales training problem.
These four fundamental flaws that people tend to fall into when they go through the hiring process produce a lot of complications and issues. Listen to this episode to know what these four mistakes are, to identify if you are making any of them, and most importantly, to get over them having the tools needed to develop a hiring process that is reliable and consistent.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Getting in front of your dream clients may seem unreachable at first glance, more so if they haven’t even heard of you before. You may think they are in another league, that they wouldn’t be interested in doing business with anybody that isn’t as renowned as them.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth, there are quite some things you can do to get to them, and most importantly, to make yourself relevant to them.
Today, I'm going to share with you the six keys that you need to be aware of to get appointments with your dream clients. They are essential to get the job done.
Picture this, in most cases, businesses have got a list of clients that they would love to work with, but those clients are not beating a path to their door, they're not coming to them through their normal marketing. They know who they are, but they don't have a strategy to get in front of them.
Let's face it, your ability to get in front of people really determines the income and the turnover of the business. If you've got low appointments, it means low sales.
Unfortunately, there are some methods businesses use to get appointments that, to a large extent, can, and often do, destroy credibility. Cold calling is a good example of this. Only about 2% of cold calls actually result in an appointment, and the few that do get scheduled are very likely to get cancelled. This is why a lot of salespeople give up.
I know that you want a method that actually produces results.
These six keys will guide you through a more personal and fruitful path to getting appointments. I know from experience that they are amazing at making people interested in new business opportunities.
For instance, the first one of these keys is to be persistent. If you know that you can really add value to a particular business, then don't give up. Continue to show up with Valid Business Reasons to talk to them—I’ve done a podcast on this in the past so, if you want to know more about VBR’s, go check that one out.
You want to add value, send them information that they would find useful, refer business to them, this will often position you very powerfully. Do your homework so you can provide them with something that they find helpful for their current situation, or their current needs.
I do teach several clients different strategies and different ways that they can use to get in front of their dream clients, and I can tell you that these six keys are fundamental if you want to succeed in the task. Listen to this episode to know how these can help you assemble an effective approach to getting appointments.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to talk about the difference between training alone and training with ongoing coaching. This is a particularly crucial topic if you're looking at training either yourself or your actual sales team.
I'm reminded of a conversation that I had with a retail client that I’ve worked with on and off. They were a client of mine in a previous business, and when I set up the training business, I used to do a retail sales masterclass. I used to call this guy every time I ran one because I had a really good relationship with him.
I remember ringing him one day and saying, “Is there anyone that you'd like to send along to the retail sales masterclass?” He said no. I did a lot of those masterclasses and I called him for every one of them but the same thing kept on happening so, one day, I said to him, “Look, I reckon I've rung at least eight times and offered you the chance to improve the skills of the people that you've got working on the retail shop floor, and every single time you said no, Is there a particular reason for that?”
His answer really got me thinking. He said, “I used to be a schoolteacher, and they used to send us to these professional development courses. And we would go and do them, but no one would ever implement it. No one that I ever went through the training with would even do it.”
This is really interesting because it actually highlights something that I've noticed over the 17 years I’ve been in the coaching and training business.
If you train a group of people, if you do a one-day training you will almost certainly get an increase in enthusiasm, you’ll get a spike in some short-term results, in energy, and in activity. After that, typically, the performance will slip back to a level just above where it was before they attended the training.
I’m not the only one who knows the possibilities and limitations of this kind of training. There is a study in which they had two groups, they just gave training on a particular skill to the first group whilst the other had training on a particular skill, plus ongoing accountability, and coaching.
The group that just did the training alone got a 22% shift in their results, but the group that had the training combined with ongoing coaching got up to 88% of a shift in their result. That is a massive difference!
Fortunately, nowadays, it is easier than ever to exploit these resources having an ongoing process in which you can really hold people accountable and give them real live coaching on what it is that they've done.
Listen to this episode to learn more about the differences between these two approaches to training and how you can easily implement training with ongoing coaching in your business to get a huge shift in your results.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to talk about a two-step process that you can use to generate referrals from your existing clients. This is a really simple strategy that you can use to produce amazing results.
The people that you want to get referrals from are your better clients. Think about it, your long-term clients, the people that are the easiest to deal with, the people that give you the least amount of grief and drama are the ones that you would ideally love to refer some business to.
It happens both ways. It is most likely that if you have a long and ongoing relationship with your clients is because they appreciate what you do and how you work with them so, it is easier for them to refer somebody that is struggling with something to you if you are the right person for the job.
Having good business relationships and keeping constant communication with your clients is great but it’s not enough to get referrals. There is a statistic that says that 91% of clients state that they will refer but only 9% or 10% actually do, the reason why only a small amount of people does it is we don't ask.
This is an easy fix, it is as simple as saying to one of your better clients, “we really appreciate the business, and what we also realise is that birds of a feather flock together. What we would ideally love is if there was anyone that you know, that you think we should be talking to, that we could potentially help in the same way that we've helped you, we’d really love to get a hold of them.”
You could literally keep going on for quite some time and you might walk out of that conversation with maybe five or six different referrals.
It's a simple process, however, you have to be careful with how you do it. If you don’t paint the picture of the type of client that that person would ideally be best to refer to you, you’d probably end up talking to a client that doesn’t fit your business’s needs.
Listen to this episode to know how you can start implementing this simple but amazing strategy into your business right away. You will be surprised by the possibilities that can be opened to you if you know how to properly ask for referrals to your existing clients.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
First, I want to elucidate why this episode is named like this. I know that it sounds awesome and it’s accurate, but not completely. I was never in the SAS, I didn’t train with the SAS, but what I did do was train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with three guys who were in the SAS.
Some of you may be asking, what is this SAS? The Special Air Service is a special forces unit of the British army. These fellows are as tough as nails, and relentless when it comes to completing the task. They stop at nothing.
I learned three really big lessons from those guys, and I think it's worthwhile sharing them with you because they are directly applicable to a sales context.
An important part of the training they do in the SAS happens in what’s called a Killhouse. If you are not familiar with what it is, it’s basically a scenario designed to simulate a hostage situation or a situation where they are looking to take over a particular building and gain a position in battle.
Probably, all of this sounds like it has nothing to do with business. How does a Killhouse simulation relate to a sales context?
There was one thing that one of these guys that I trained with said that really stuck with me, “if it's exciting, you haven't trained enough”.
From a sales perspective, if you're with clients, and you feel nervous, it means that you haven't drilled the scenario of you talking to a client enough, you haven't done enough role plays, you haven't used the actual framework and a script enough to a point where you can actually feel comfortable in that situation.
It's the same for public speaking, what I found is when I first started speaking in front of groups of people, I was nervous. Now, I can talk in front of a group of 500 people and because I don't have that high level of anxiety, I can think more readily on my feet, I can come up with ideas, I can move in a particular direction in terms of my talk, and I can adapt and respond to what's actually happening in the room.
So, if you are nervous and don’t have enough confidence to deal with the situations that develop in a sales context, it is essential that you ask yourself, “What do I need to do to get my reps up enough so that I can be more responsive, more present, and more effective and more productive in a sales-type role?”.
This lesson taught me to keep working on my abilities, it really has played a big role in my career and I know you can take full advantage of it, as well as you can with the other two I am going to share with you.
These three lessons in particular are great guidelines if you want to master handling sales situations. In this episode, you’ll learn what it takes to dramatically increase your chances of success while having control across the entire process. These lessons have done great things for me and they can do the same for you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we´re going to talk about the three core elements of a high-performing sales management system. This is something that I get called in to do for businesses a lot and it is a really big step to get this right.
Here is the standard scenario I’ve seen in my 17 years of training and coaching sales teams, when you find businesses that have a sales team it is pretty common to see horrible culture among their members.
For instance, some businesses can have a sales manager in place who is thought to be particularly skilled, highly empathetic, and with great emotional intelligence to be able to manage a sales team when the truth is, that’s not the case. The mismatch between the job profile and the personality of a sales manager is a big issue that can be traced way back to the hiring process, and it has great consequences.
What you often find is high turnover; people coming and going. Maybe there are one or two top performers on the team and one or two mediocre ones. Sales managers can deal with this situation in a couple of different ways, but most of the time they don’t handle it correctly.
Actually, it is quite common for the sales manager to be the reason why people leave; it has rightfully been said “people don't leave businesses they leave bosses. Fortunately, this can be avoided.
In this episode, I am going to give you tools to deal with these issues so that your sales management encourages people to stick around and deliver their best results.
We are going to go through the different stages of the process, from selecting your team and inducting them into a new work environment to establishing good training, managing them, and motivating them on a regular basis.
Once they are in, we can talk about the Three Core Elements of High Performing Sales Management: goal setting, praise, and reprimand.
There are specific things we have to look at in each one of these elements to get them to work together. They will allow you to create a healthy environment as a foundation for building a great sales team culture in which you and your team can work together in a profitable, respectful, and long-lasting relationship.
I have touched on this in previous podcasts, but I hadn’t gone into it in quite as much depth as what I'm going to today.
Listen to this episode to know how these Three Core Elements can fix the management issues of your sales team, it does take a few things to get it right, but the rewards are totally worth it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to talk about two big blockages that you may encounter in your sales process, and what specifically you can do about them.
Having a potential client make the decision of moving forward with you and whatever solution your business is offering to them is easier said than done. You probably have talked to some of them that are reticent about taking the next step, they may even argue that they’re afraid to do so, or that the price you are charging is too high.
If you're getting the same objections coming up over and over again, there are specific reasons that you're getting those objections.
You are experiencing blockages, and I’m pretty sure you’ve wondered what you need to do when they happen to break the streak. In this episode, I want to talk about two of these blockages, what causes them, and what you can do to stop them from happening in the first place.
As mentioned, one of them occurs when somebody says to you, “it's too expensive, it's more than what I plan to spend”
Your price may be high, and if that’s the case, the value your business is offering has to keep up with that price. Essentially, if you listen to this objection, it means that you haven't established sufficient value before they know what the price is.
Value exists in a couple of different forms. A lot of people think about it in terms of features, advantages, and benefits. They explain to somebody why a particular product is different, how it's going to work in that person's life. Don’t get me wrong, that has merit, especially if what they are saying is relevant to that person’s situation.
However, there is another part of establishing value that people often forget about or just ignore, and that is the cost of inaction.
If you're fixing a costly enough problem that is valuable, and then the value of fixing that costly problem becomes greater than the investment in your particular product or service, the person will actually buy because they’ve realised the cost of doing nothing is greater than the investment they’re making in your solution.
That problem can be either costing them too much money, time, or energy; it can also be exceedingly annoying for them. That’s why you need to create an environment where they understand and discover for themselves how their challenges are affecting their business, and how you can help them.
I’m going to give you the elements required to build this environment. I’m sure that knowing this will help you overcome those apparently dead-end situations. You’ll find that it is actually possible to prevent these objections from happening if you have a well-organised process.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
One of the biggest pieces of leverage that you've got available in your business is to create an offer. Many people think that making an offer is the same as making a product more appealing to clients by reducing its price.
Although that is indeed a way of offering a product, I don’t think this method is the way to go, and I’m sure you will second me on this thought after you listen to this episode.
Creating an offer is such an overlooked area, we often get locked into making the same one over and over again. I have been guilty of this previously, and I know it is vital to talk about this topic so that you know the wider spectrum of possibilities you can exploit.
Today I’m going to give you the 4 Key Elements of Creating an Offer That Will Convert.
To get started, an offer is basically the product you are selling, the price that you are asking for it, the payment terms, and the bonuses altogether.
A lower price can be one of them, but if you can be creative with the bonuses you give, you can actually make the bonuses a product.
It can be something that will enhance the product, protect it, or complement it. If you throw in a case, a set of cool headphones, and a portable battery you are instantly offering a better deal for a smartphone, but there is a whole lot more that you can do. The bonus doesn’t have to be something related to the product itself but something that is appealing regardless of the product you sell.
We are going to go through every element so you can see the tools required to create better offers. Even if you have a dead product, by changing the way you offer it, you can get positive results.
I wish I knew about this earlier in my career and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you today. Listen to this episode to maximise your sales through the offers you make.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Last week I did a LinkedIn post that had the most incredible response to it, you should go and check it out. It is about the whole idea of getting leads, maximising, and extracting every single drop of value out of them.
I’ll describe it so you understand what this is about. It is a drawing of a funnel that’s got all these holes in it, and there's water spurting out of it. Each one of those holes represents something different, one of them is leads not contacted, another one is leads not converted, another one is leads not followed up, there are about six of them.
Let’s think about it. If there are at least six holes in a funnel, how much water is coming out from the bottom end? where it’s supposed to come out. One thing’s for sure, not as much as it should.
What I'm going to do today is go through a checklist that people requested from me, I'm going to give you 11 things that you can do to plug the holes in your sales funnel so you can make sure you are not missing out on anything.
I’ll give you a couple of examples so you know what the purpose of this list is.
The first thing you can do is contact every lead within five minutes of their inquiry. The data tells us that if you respond this quick, your chance of converting those leads goes up by 900% That is simply astonishing!
Another bit of data tells us that 50% of sales go to the first company that contacts a lead so, time is of the essence here. If you want to maximise your opportunities of converting a lead you better be ready to get in touch with them as soon as they contact you.
There is a different issue that’s introduced when people try to contact leads just a couple of times and then give up. Just because they didn't take your call the two or three times that you rang them this week, it doesn't mean that they're not going to take your call next week or the week after.
Try harder to actually talk to each lead in the first place, and if you have a sales team that follows up on them it is essential that you use an effective sales meeting framework to make sure that each salesperson has accountability for all of his or her opportunities.
There is a whole lot of things on this list that will help you fix the problems in your conversion process. Listen to this episode to stop missing out on big opportunities and to get the most out of your time and efforts, I’m sure you will know how to exploit these resources to your advantage.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Maybe you have dreamed about making deals with big companies, and getting renowned clients to do business with you. I know I’ve been there, and I also know that at first glance, those clients might seem unreachable. Let me assure you, they’re not.
Today we're going to talk about the 3 quickest ways to get in front of a decision-maker; those big clients that you would ideally love to work with.
The first one, and maybe the most obvious way to get a hold of them is to get referred. All you need to do is ask somebody that you know, somebody that has a connection with your ideal client, “Can you please introduce me to him, or her?”.
It is as simple as writing an email. They can say: “Gloria, please meet Stewart, he has worked with us on such and such project, he's really good at what he does, I'll leave you guys to connect.” that's all they need to write.
Nowadays, there is even an Introduction function on LinkedIn that you can use to get people to know you so, getting in contact with your ideal clients is easier than ever.
In this episode, I’m going to talk about this in detail and I’m also going to share with you another two quick ways to get in front of those decision-makers; they will guide you through this process so you can make sure you do everything that’s in your power to approach them in the best possible way, even when it seems like you are at a dead-end trying to reach them.
Listen to this episode to learn about the 3 Fastest Ways to Get Appointments, they have generated a lot of business opportunities for me, and I know you’ll find them just as useful as soon as you start using them.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
It’s a fact that only a certain percentage of the people you talk to end up buying from you. It would be great if you could sell your product or service to everyone you have a conversation with, but we know that is simply impossible.
There are, however, some things you can do to increase your margin of success. Today I’m going to share with you 10 reasons why people don’t buy. I know this list will help you identify the loops that need to be closed in each of the conversations that you have. It will also give you the tools needed to take action whenever one of these reasons (i.e. objections) is brought to the table.
Not all of these translate to every sales situation, but if you can tick off the majority of them, you’ll instantly create a bigger window of opportunity for yourself and for your clients.
The first lot that I'm going to go through with you is comprised of pretty universal reasons, and the last few are probably more niche than anything else.
For instance, the first reason why people don’t buy is that you have not uncovered the actual problem that that person is looking to fix as a result of buying your particular product or service.
If that person is not uncomfortable enough to move, they'll stay where they are. Unless you uncover the pain, or the problem, or the challenge that the person is experiencing, they will not be willing to invest in fixing that thing. It is very common to see this happening.
On the other hand, there are some reasons that concern to more specific situations. If more than one person is involved in the decision-making process, and if one of them is absent during a sales conversation, it is most likely that they are going to have some troubles explaining your offer to a third party, therefore the chances of them getting the message you actually intended to communicate are dramatically reduced. It is like getting half of the decision or even less, depending on the situation.
In this episode, I’m going to expose these Top 10 reasons in detail so you can quickly recognise them and disarm them to drastically reduce the possibilities of having any of them affect your sales. So, take a listen to episode 104. It’s going to really help you toughen your sales process.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I am thrilled because we have someone on the show that I’ve been wanting to bring in for a really long time. He is truly an amazing person; his name is Oscar Pellizzon.
Oscar is formally a partner of a successful boutique accounting firm; he understands very well the requirements of selling a professional service and the need to develop referral relationships that generate new business.
He has more than 20 years of experience helping businesses grow, assisting owners and staff to balance the need to perform, managing the energy required to sustain its growth.
As a trained mindfulness instructor, Oscar shares a unique skill set with his fellow Acuity colleagues, in being able to assist clients, help them cope with stressors of business, and move their businesses successfully into the 21st century.
Unfortunately, these aspects are frequently not taken care of, many businesses adopt dysfunctional habits that overcomplicate their way to success. That is why I wanted to bring Oscar to the show because it is essential to talk about the three most neglected areas in growing businesses that cause blockages, and how to get over them.
Given my line of work, I am quite familiar with working on the culture that each business builds, we’ve even talked about it in the past when we went over the Team Code of Conduct and the values and core behaviours that underpin great performance.
However, there are more areas where a business can struggle to grow and if you don’t address those deficiencies, you’ll find yourself continuously wrestling with the outcomes you produce instead of enjoying the fruits of your success.
Luckily, Oscar is here to talk about these three areas in detail and to give you elements to deal with your business’s deficits, wherever they may be.
Listen to this interview to know how to take care of your business properly and to prevent it from adopting unhealthy habits. This way you are going to be able to dedicate more time to relish what you’ve worked for, having a well-structured system and culture you can rely on.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I was listening to somebody that is pretty well known in my industry. He’s held some trainings which I’ve listened to in the past, however, something happened this time I heard him, I noticed something very interesting.
What I found is that he generally says really negative things about his competition. This made me think a lot because I was told since I started in this industry that you should never talk negatively about your competition.
I’ve known this since I was 17 years old! So, it generated a lot of questions when I listened to him talk this way.
How are people reacting to this kind of message? Is it not that bad to do such a thing? Is everything I know wrong? I had to do some research.
It turns out, there is a study on what is called Spontaneous Trait Transference. This basically means that all the bad attributes someone can find in others, once they are spoken are going to be deposited by the listener in the person who is talking about them.
So, if I said “XYZ is terrible at customer service” or “XYZ has no idea of how to do business” whoever is listening to me is going to unconsciously transfer those negative traits to me. There is no formal logic behind it but that´s how the mind works at some levels.
What I want to do is talk about the three conclusions this study led to, so you understand what is happening when someone undervalues his or her competitors in front of others.
You can be prudent enough to avoid this kind of talk on your own, but a client might want to communicate their bad experiences to you, and you can’t just act like they didn’t say anything. There has to be a reasonable reply from you, and that is something I am really excited to share with you today because it will save you a lot of trouble.
Listen to this episode to learn more about the Spontaneous Trait Transference and to be prepared for any given scenario where it may occur so it doesn’t interfere with either your interests or your clients’. I’m sure you’ll feel more confident to deal with these situations in the future.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
These days, it is very common to see hacks for everything. From building a coffee machine out of a lunch box to a list of a hundred things you can do to make your life easier.
There is a big list out there, and indeed, some of these hacks are more reasonable than others. While some may just be fun to do, or questionably useful, there are also quite a few things people have discovered over the years that really work, that are meaningfully helpful.
Today I am going to be sharing with you an example of the latter. It is something that I have used for a number of years, in fact, I learned it way before we started calling these things hacks, and it works since then.
It is a very simple yet valuable idea. You can think of it as a trick that you can use to improve the energy that you bring to a sales conversation.
Many people, myself included, think that sales are a transference of energy. People buy your energy; you are typically vibrating at the same level as the person that ends up buying with you. It’s the whole idea of resonating, which is why the concept of rapport is important as well.
What I want to share with you is a very useful thing to do before you talk to a potential client for the first time, before you jump on a sales call, or before you jump on a zoom meeting. This will allow you to raise your energy, transfer it to others through your communication, and get way better outcomes.
Believe it or not, I had actually forgotten about this, I was reminded about it a couple of days ago, so I wanted to make sure I shared it because it has helped me a lot and I want it to be just as helpful for you too.
Join me on this 5-minute episode to know what this is all about, I am sure you’ll find it very useful, and I’d be really stoked to hear the results that you get through using this trick.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to what is a very special episode because we are celebrating the 100th installment of The Master Dealmaker Secrets Podcast. I want to thank each of you for listening and tuning in every week; it is very much appreciated to have such an incredible audience.
Firstly, I want to seize the opportunity and go over the 10 most listened to episodes of Master Dealmaker Secrets.
Of course, I'm going to give you a little bit about each episode so that you know what to expect. There are some truly valuable things there that really come in handy more than once.
Be sure to listen in to know what these 10 episodes are.
What I also want to do is make a really, really valuable offer. I know that there are a lot of people out there that offer a Strategy Session, right? What in many cases is nothing but a sales pitch in disguise. What I want to offer is a process that I put together, called a Revenue Unlock Session.
This will be a way that you can achieve 100% clarity on exactly what's happening in your sales process. If you're not converting more than about 20% or 30% believe me, there are massive untapped opportunities for you, and we can look and hone in with laser precision on exactly what it is that needs to change in your sales process to lift that up to 40% 50%. In some cases, we can even get it up to 60%, 70%, and 80%.
This is incredibly valuable, that's why I want to limit it to 20 people. So, what you need to do is go to JohnBlakesCall.com, answer a couple of quick questions, then you will go to my calendar where you can book a time for us to go through this process, and I'll send you a Zoom link for our session together.
I've also got two other unpublished resources that I want to make available to you so, listen to this episode to know how to get a hold of those as well.
I've got more guests coming up, the sales landscape is changing, and there's a stack more content that I have got ready to cover over the rest of 2021. Thank you again for listening and enjoy this episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Getting your message out there may seem like a pretty straightforward task, you just have to get something written down and put it out there, right?
Well, you could certainly just write some words on a piece of paper or a website talking about how great your business or your product is, giving away every detail about how it works and all the technical information around it, etc.
I know this kind of writing is quite common and I don’t doubt its intentions are good, but it just won’t get you any closer to engaging with people. The purpose of a message in sales or in any kind of business is not for it to just be read or heard but to create connections and getting it to do that is a rather different story.
There are so many things to consider if you want to engage with people but also, there are some really cool tricks you can pull out to create amazing writing that will get them to take the next step in your process, whatever it may be.
That’s why today I am so excited to have Kate Toon on the show because she is going to share with us some amazing facts and tools you can start using right away in your copywriting to approach people in a much more effective way.
Kate is a writing entrepreneur as well as a popular coach, speaker, author, and podcaster. Her digital education business “The Recipe for SEO Success”, and “The Clever Copywriting School” have helped more than 8000 small business owners grapple the Google beast and write better content, which we all know is particularly important.
She knows that sometimes people get too carried away when they write, trying to tidy up everything until it matches industry standards or until it is grammatically or academically perfect, but she is here to remind us of something essential: copywriting is all about making your message resonate.
How can you make sure your message does that? Kate is here to tell you how.
After listening to this episode, you’ll have a much better understanding of what’s behind creating compelling messages that really make people want to buy, you’ll also learn different tactics to improve your writing and focus on the people you want to bring into your business.
She is the ideal person to talk to you about this and we do cover a lot of ground in this episode so, I know you're going to learn a lot from it and you are going to have a great time listening to what was a very enjoyable conversation.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about your Power Base. This has been huge in the businesses that we’ve introduced this concept to, so, I’m really excited to be sharing this with you because building a good strong Power Base is key to moving toward bigger and bigger opportunities.
Often, I sit in on my clients’ business development meetings, or their sales meetings and listen. What I hear, almost every time, are the same names coming up, over and over again. This is not necessarily a bad sign; you don’t have to know thousands of people to build consistent and profitable relationships.
So, the Power Base is essentially the 20% of the people that you know that have 80% of the influence. They might not necessarily be direct clients. In fact, many times they are key influences or trusted confidants to your biggest clients; they could also be accomplished businesspeople that would have your back at any given moment.
Keeping in contact with these people also means that there's a good opportunity that they'll mention you to other people that they talk to if you're top of mind for them. That could then become people that get in contact with you. That’s why it is so important to build strong relationships.
Out of the people you know, you might have 20 or 30 people in your Power Base. From here on be sure that you stay in contact with those people. Today, I am going to tell you how you can do so without going too far, as much as both parties could really benefit from building a relationship you don’t want people to be reluctant even to the idea of talking to you.
I really encourage you to listen to this 7-minute episode so you know how to properly build a robust Power Base to have the connections you need to bring your business to the next level.
I can tell you from personal experience that this has been huge. Being proactive with these relationships has been an absolute game-changer in the trades and construction type businesses that I've worked with. I know they can work just as effectively for your business too.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about sales meetings; not the kind of sales meetings where you're face to face with a client or potential client, I'm talking about the ones you have inside a business where you've got a team of salespeople, and meet with them on a regular basis.
The assumption is that these sales meetings work very well for the purpose of moving opportunities along the funnel toward actually having someone become a paying client, but often that's not the case.
So many sales and business development meetings have no bearing on sales or growing the business. They can be hijacked or blown-out in terms of admin-type queries, and admin-type grievances, among other common diversions. They also tend to be one-way traffic, so you'll have the owner or the sales manager doing most of the talking at people.
As a result, they have little to do with actual sales or moving opportunities along. This is a big problem because key actions and commitments are required to move opportunities through your pipeline. If your team’s commitments and specific actions are not recorded, what happens is that in the next meeting, there's zero accountability.
There are so many things that can be done wrong, some pretty major mistakes. That’s why today I'm going to talk about them head-on. I'm not just going to leave you in a lurch, rather I'm going to give you 7 specific things that you can do to make sure that your sales meetings are actually doing what it is that you want them to do.
For instance, a great sales meeting starts and finishes on time, if there are things that are going to require further discussion, they are discussed outside of the meeting, otherwise, things just get out of hand.
There has to be someone responsible for making sure that the meeting stays on track as well as someone responsible for chairing the meeting, and someone responsible for taking the minutes. One person should not perform two tasks at once.
There are some other things you can do to energise your meetings so, listen to this episode and have the tools to organise your team properly while serving your business’s interests and making everybody complete the meetings clear about what they’re doing and feeling good about themselves.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I want to talk to you about understanding buyer motivation. Though we’ve talked about it before, I know that what we cover today will help you understand the different situations you’ll encounter with various clients. This will help you get the most out of your business relationship, however, to do so we must first go through an important distinction.
There are two kinds of measures used almost everywhere; quantitative, and qualitative. You are probably familiar with what they’re used for, but it’s important to take a closer look at how these work in your business.
We know that there are fundamental measures that every business must consider like conversion rates, expenses, return on advertisement, etc. - these are fundamental in keeping a business profitable and under control. We’re going to dig much more than that.
What about the way someone is feeling? yourself included. Are you sleeping well? Are there any inner conflicts in the business that are upsetting the work environment? How can you measure that? There are some things that numbers cannot span that must be taken into consideration as well.
That’s what a qualitative measure is for and believe me, there are situations where a qualitative measure can be as if not more powerful than a quantitative one.
Today's podcast is about an experience of mine that clarifies the relevance of both knowing this distinction as well as working from different approaches. You’ll get to what’s motivating a client to work with you in any given situation. This is BIG.
There are some scenarios where finding out what the numbers are may not relevant because the client is worried about something completely different. You can’t just go and ask for their quantitative measures and expect that to work for every business’s situation, the same goes for qualitative measures.
So, take a listen to today’s episode and learn how these different measures will help you understand precisely what your clients are looking for and how to make use of them so you can properly work under any circumstances.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Trying something new is always challenging. Businesswise, if you want to implement new strategies and new ideas to your process, you’ll find yourself dealing with new circumstances too.
They may work better for you and your clients or they may not, but believe me, there are some things you should be aware of if you want to give new ideas a chance. Otherwise, you may not be able to take full advantage of them.
What I find is that people are creatures of habit, they tend to only use what works. And that's great because you should stick with what works, right? But bear in mind, if you only do what you've always done, you'll only ever get what you've always gotten.
So, you do have to try new things if you want to get a different outcome. I know this may not go as smoothly as you can foresee at any given point. That’s why today I want to give you a bit of an idea as to what you should expect because often we try something new and if it doesn't work, we give up, and often we just give up too early.
In the end, it comes down to one question, how can you tell if something really works or not?
Obviously, you need to make sure that it's not user error. Make sure that you are using the strategy the way that it was intended, and that you're not actually doing something that's sabotaging your own success.
Truth be known, you can get so many things right, and something for whatever reason just might not work. However, that is not the whole story, there is a method you can use to evaluate any new strategies accurately so you don’t step away too early.
So, if you want to learn how to tell if you are on the right track and how to properly execute new ideas, I really encourage you to listen to this 7-minute episode. Remember, getting a great result might not happen that often, but when it does happen, it can totally change the game so, don’t be afraid to try something new, but do it wisely.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, I've got what I believe is going to be an incredibly useful episode for you, it is on how to remember people's names.
Forgetting a person's name is something that we've all encountered at some point in our lives, either professionally or personally and it can not only be embarrassing, but it can also cost you business or relationships.
If this resonates with you believe me you are not alone, I’ve been guilty of this and I know how embarrassing it is to be in front of someone and forgetting their name, more so if they notice.
So, how can you avoid having to ask for their name or having them point out your omission?
Firstly, if you are used to this happening to you it is essential that you don´t tell yourself you are bad with names.
There are some other things you can say that recognize your deficit but don’t let the issue sit there. If you find yourself saying things like “I’m not good with names, but I´m good with faces” I really suggest you stop.
When you do this, you are affirming to yourself that you can’t deal with them, you are disqualifying yourself from getting better at it. How can you expect not to be embarrassed when someone notices you’ve forgotten his or her name if you haven’t even given yourself the chance to work on this ability?
It is better to say “I am working on getting better with names” than stating you can’t remember them. Once you can go beyond this point there are strategies you can bring into your daily conversations and routines that will help you memorize a person’s name so you never forget it.
So, if you are interested in stopping forgetfulness from getting in the way of your business relationships, I really encourage you to listen to this episode, I know that it is something that I wish I’d been exposed to a lot earlier in my professional career so, I believe these strategies will really help you.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
How can you tell if you are doing something wrong with the way you manage your sales process? What should you do if you find yourself in that situation? Today, we are going to talk about four warning signs that show you need to fix something in your sales process, and what actions you should start to incorporate to make it right.
One of these signs I see all the time. One would think that with the amount of information out there on sales that this one would hopefully be going away, but it's not.
If you first approach a potential client saying, “well, look, let me just tell you a little bit about myself and my business” In my experience, that is a warning sign. If you're starting a conversation, and you don't know anything about them but you're telling them everything about you, that is a bad place to start.
Anyone who's serious about doing business with you has already googled you, checked out your website, or checked out your LinkedIn profile; they already know a little bit about you.
If you feel like you have to drone on for half an hour about yourself, actually you are just killing an opportunity before you even start. If you're falling into that trap, that is certainly something you need to address.
Sometimes these warning signs are very easy to ignore because you’ve embraced these actions as part of your business, and often as a part of yourself. You’d be surprised if I told you how many times I’ve heard people say that they don’t need a sales process because they are just good at what they do, as if it was an innate ability that makes them exempted from having a structured process.
This is another warning sign because everyone is using some sort of sales process, even if they aren't aware of it. in many cases, they may not want to see what it is or how it works because they don't want to recognize its flaws.
Today, we are going to see what is behind that problem, and also, I am going to share with you two more warning signs that any business should be aware of. That’s why I really encourage you to listen to this episode so you can identify if there are areas you need to work on and have the elements to address them if needed.
I am really excited to be sharing this with you, I think it will be a really good way to reflect on the year that we've had, and hopefully provide a bit of a catalyst that you might want to consider looking at how you are processing and nurturing leads when they come into your particular business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
What makes people want to buy from you? What is that they’re looking for that makes them reach out to contact you?
Once they finally do, they’re hoping that you can help them with the service or the product that you provide. They’ve probably even spent a lot of time searching for options and yet, here they are talking with you. However, the next step is mostly in your hands to be conducted well.
That’s why today we're going to be talking about your buyers’ motivation; how to know what it is in every case, and what you should and shouldn’t do when you get to talk to them about their challenges.
We know that around 70% of the people that are buying need to solve a problem, they are what is known as away-from oriented. They are moving away from a negative situation or a less-than-great situation.
The other 30% are moving toward a better situation. So, it is very unlikely that a problem they may have is the reason they’re talking to you.
At the end of the day, you will have spoken to people with different needs and different motivations so, how can you tell precisely what each individual is looking for?
Once you start listening to them, it’s essential to be zeroed-in on them and grasp their challenge fully. You’ve got to understand what is behind their decision. Why do they need my help now?
If you listen properly, your client will be getting value from that conversation right away, more so if you can help them once you’ve acknowledged their needs.
As you can imagine, there are some questions you’ll have-to-ask and, there will be other things you should not bring up. It all depends on who is in front of you.
Today we are going to go through these scenarios so you and your clients can make the most of every situation. If you are interested, I encourage you to listen closely to this episode; I think you will find it very useful.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This very unconventional year is coming to an end and since we are all looking into 2021, I think it is essential that we talk about the five keys to hitting your goals. Not to say that doing so is not of paramount importance at any given time but hopefully, talking about this now will help us start a new year afresh, with a better organisation of our time and efforts.
Here's the thing, when it comes to goals, a lot of people just don't set them. Logically, if you don't set them it is impossible to hit them, but the problem can extend far beyond the results you are not going to see.
When you don't hit your targets, what happens is that you get into a cycle of learned helplessness. Actually, there are two ways to get to this point: because of having nothing to aim for or because the goals you are setting are unreasonable.
If you don’t have the practice of setting goals, there is no reference that tells you it can be done. On the other hand, if you go far and beyond with your expectations, in the end, you’ll see they were practically unachievable all along.
That is when the negative self-talk kicks in. It becomes a vicious cycle, because the next time you go to set a goal, there's a reminder from before that shows you weren’t able to do it. The less evidence that you see, the less likelihood of you hitting that goal the next time that you shoot for it.
The good news is that if you have found yourself in this position there is definitely something you can do. If you can be reasonable with your deficiencies and with your expectations then it all becomes a matter of consistency.
So, how can we make hitting goals a habit? That is precisely what we are going to be talking about in this week’s episode so you can prove to yourself that if you approach your goals smartly you can see amazing results.
If you are interested, I really encourage you to listen to this podcast, I’m sure you will get a stack of value out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I am really excited because we’ve got Adam Rowles with us and we are going to be talking about Modern Marketing. He demystifies so much of what has become such a complicated subject, so I am really happy to have him on the show.
Adam is the owner of Inbound Marketing, he started his journey in the field at the age of 10 when he created his first website on Michael Jordan. This led to Adam creating a school website forum for students and later on to creating his first commercial website which generated 20,000 visitors per day, within six months he was pocketing $300 per day from this site.
Adam decided to leave his job for an ASX listed company and go back to University to study Management of Information Systems. He honed his craft working for a number of marketing agencies in Perth until he noticed an issue, most businesses did not have a marketing strategy.
So, he went on to create an Inbound Marketing GamePlan system so that he could identify specific activities to reach every client's goals. Next came the world-class marketing team who to this day has created the "Ultimate Marketing Machine".
The problem that most of the businesses Adam had worked for had was that they were shooting in the dark, and I really think a lot of businesses still are. That’s why talking about this subject is so important, especially since we are going through such a crucial moment worldwide.
Many things have changed, and the way people bring their message out to the public is certainly one of them. Over the last six months, people have been forced, even more so, inside online marketing.
The attention digital channels are getting has dramatically increased, but even though access to social media and online tools is quick and simple, there are still many things you need to have in place before you start to try and work out where you're going to advertise your stuff.
Luckily, Adam is here to discuss the fundamental aspects of today’s marketing. So, if you are interested in learning how Modern Marketing works and how to make the most out of it, I really encourage you to listen to this interview, I really can’t think of a better person to talk to you about this.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Closing a sale is a fundamental stage in the sales process. It is probably the most expected moment because the results can be very rewarding.
The thing is, getting to that point is not simple. Even worse, there are some ways of approaching this stage that instead of getting you closer to your clients they are actually scaring them away.
So, how can you close a sale in a way that works well for you and your clients? What has to be done in order to make the most out of your time and your clients’, in order to get things done and not piss them off in the process?
In today’s episode, we are going to talk about that. What are the three ways that you can convert more sales right now in a proactive manner?
For starters, it is essential that we pay attention to our clients because, driving them towards your goal disregarding their circumstances is, almost every time, very annoying for them.
For instance, the biggest mistake I’ve seen salespeople and business owners make is that they spend way too much time presenting their product or service, or, giving people a “little bit” of a background about who they are and what they do before they go into diagnostic.
At that point in the conversation, the client doesn't care about your company or what it does.
As we’ve discussed many times before, people don't care about what you do until they know how much you care about them.
This means that if you approach people talking about how good your product or service is, while not taking any interest in their problem or their concern, they are most likely going to ignore you completely.
Also, they probably are going to run away from you and avoid talking to you every single time you try to get a hold of them.
Luckily for us, there is a better way and that is what I share with you today so, if you are interested in learning what these three ways of converting more sales are, I really encourage you to listen to this episode. I’m sure you will find it very valuable and both you, and your clients will appreciate it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
This week we have an amazing guest with us, his name is Dan Norris. He is a serial entrepreneur, award-winning content maker, international speaker, and author of six books, including a new one, Compound Marketing which we're going to be talking about today.
I wanted to have him on the show so he could talk with us about this topic in particular, but first, let me tell you a bit about his background.
After failing at entrepreneurship for seven years, he founded wpcurve.com, a worldwide team of WordPress developers, providing unlimited small fixes and support 24/7 for a low monthly fee. It became profitable in 23 days, and some years later it was sold to GoDaddy.
With over 65,000 copies sold, Dan's books have been translated into 13 languages and inspired thousands of people around the world to launch their businesses. Dan currently works full time as co-founder and CEO of Australia's fastest-growing craft beer breweries, Black Hops Brewing.
Dan is now in his 15th year as an entrepreneur and over those years his ideas around what an entrepreneur is, and how to build a business, have changed a lot.
His University lessons in Marketing weren’t really of good use, but even as a business owner for many years, he found himself in the recurring habit of looking for someone to give him the answer. Seeking permission.
It didn’t work, but what did work was spending years piecing together a new way of marketing through trial, error and some chance encounters with generous people.
I'm super stoked to have him on the podcast, and we're definitely going to be talking about the brewery, but mostly about the new book because Compound Marking is the way Dan has built his businesses.
If you don’t know what it is, or even if you do, I´m sure that Dan’s thoughts on this matter will help you a lot.
He has worked this way for several years and he has found that businesses can work with a far below average spend on marketing and advertising. While most businesses spend 7-10% of their revenue on marketing, there are plenty of modern great businesses out there who spend just 0-1% and they do great.
How can that be done? Well, what can be better than learning how from someone who has done it himself?
If you want to implement this way of doing things too it will give you a pretty decent advantage.
So, if you want to know how Compound Marketing works and what is in store for you if you choose to make use of it, I really encourage you to listen to this interview.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we're going to be talking about a very polarizing topic, the aggressive close versus the conversational close.
Some people may argue that having an aggressive attitude with your clients, pushing them relentlessly towards a certain goal regardless of the circumstances is a good thing because you are getting them on board quickly and effectively, straight to the point.
But is this a good practice in the long run? I'm going to give you my take on it. It is my version of the truth. Is it the only version of the truth? No, but I think you'll find it interesting and useful.
To be clear, what I understand for an aggressive approach is closing the deal at all costs, don't letting the client go, don't letting them off the phone, don't letting them out of your sight until you've got the signature on the dotted line.
You may find it useful, some people might go with it, but when it gets to the point where there's an imbalance, and it becomes more about you wanting to hit a number or get an outcome, leaving the concern of adding value and helping somebody out of the equation, that's a problem.
If you don't plan on being in that role for very long maybe it will work. But long-term, word of mouth, especially if you live in a small place, is going to reflect badly on you.
Remember that the way your clients feel about you is essential, people that have gone through the ordeal of working with unpleasant manners are very unlikely to subject anybody that they know to the same experience.
So, this is a problem among people that get into sales. Think about it, everyone who starts in this business understands that they have to get good at it, so they learn what they believe is what they should be doing. These inexperienced people could learn that from somebody who has a very aggressive, hardcore, closed approach thinking that’s the best way to go.
What I'm about to share with you is my take on what I believe, and what I have seen to work most effectively both short and long term. If you are interested, I really encourage you to join me in this episode as we'll talk about this topic in detail.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I’m super excited because we have an amazing guest with us, Matthew Peters. He is the CEO and founder of Asynd Media, an Academy Award winner, and two-time Amazon bestseller and he’s helping elite-level entrepreneurs become the preeminent voice in their space. His media and messaging strategies focus on clear communication and compelling calls to action.
Matthew has a lot of experience in modern media and has gone very deep into all sorts of the different aspects of producing videos, podcasts, magazines, books, and this December, his first Documentary Film. So, I thought it would be really valuable for you to listen to what he has to say about the three core elements of creating maximum impact with your message.
He's actually the producer of my podcast and he has helped me a lot in this journey, so I am convinced that his way of doing things works.
If you happen to be a content creator (or if you are interested in becoming one), you have to know some things about how to get your best content out there in front of as many of your key prospects as possible. You also have to have a deep understanding of your content and your role as a leader because those elements are key in having your message spread throughout the world.
As Matthew says, ‘no one is going to follow a wanderer.’ As human beings, we constantly look towards people with certainty. When someone doesn’t have it, we notice, and we distance ourselves from it. If you don’t project certainty, your chances of producing deep connections and meaningful interactions are reduced significantly.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of elements involved in being able to get your voice to be heard. Often the process can be discouraging if you don’t see any progress after investing some time and effort in your message through blog posts, podcasts, videos, or even books. The thing is, dedicating your energy to creating content without the proper knowledge and assessment is very likely going to get you stuck and keep you there indefinitely.
So, what can you do about it?
Fortunately, Matthew is here to illustrate how you can carry on with this process in a way that works well for you and your audience. We’re going to be talking about each one of the core elements in detail so you have a better understanding of how modern media works and how you can take advantage of it, save heaps of time and propel yourself out there into the marketplace.
If you are interested, I really encourage you to listen to this interview.
To learn more about how Matthew and the great people at Asynd Media can help you get your message super clear, your calls to action even more compelling and your presence elevated and your influence expanded, reach out to him over at https://AsyndMedia.com
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Just as in any other profession, being in business merits that every now and then you hold a mirror up, and go, okay, where am I at? What are my results?
What I’ve found over the 17 years I’ve been a sales coach, consultant strategist, and another 20 years in business prior to that, is that when things go wrong there are one of two paths that you can take. You can blame circumstances and other external things to yourself for your results, or you can take responsibility for the role you take in those circumstances.
These two have different outcomes. Today we are going to talk about what they are, and about the consequences of choosing one over the other.
Let’s be honest, the list of things that you could blame is huge and quite handy at first glance. You can blame the economy, the competition, all sorts of things. But by doing so you are also disempowering yourself for a number of reasons.
If you think about it, when you're blaming where you are on other things, then the only way that you can change those circumstances is if those external things change. In order to fix something that’s wrong you first have to have control over it. How can you have any control over something if you are not taking responsibility for it?.
But, what is the payoff? there must be something people get out of avoiding these responsibilities, otherwise, we wouldn’t be talking about it. Is it worth it in the end?
Today we are going to be discussing these questions so you can evaluate your situation and decide which path you want to take. I’d also like to share with you a personal experience that taught me a very valuable lesson about this some time ago, hoping it will help you.
So, if you are interested in learning more about this I really encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to be talking about the four decision-makers that you need to be aware of in higher ticket sales. These are the people that have the most influence over the decision-making process so, especially in enterprise-level purchases, you have to know who they are and understand how their process works if you want them to buy from you.
You know, when you're selling to a small business, with one owner, who’s got just a small team employed you really only have one or perhaps two people that you've got to get across the line. In a bigger organisation there are a number of different decision-makers so, the complexity is higher.
One of them, probably the most heard of, is the economic buyer. He or she is the person that has the final sign off in terms of the money, the one that can sign the check. There is a certain school of thought that says that we need to get in front of the economic buyer and that's the only person that we need to be worried about, that’s not true.
It is a mistake people make quite often. They just try to sell to the economic buyer, they pitch their proposal to him and they don’t bring the other decision-makers into the process. Eventually, the whole thing gets sidetracked.
In fact, the economic buyer usually has a pretty big influence in the decision-making process but, what about the technical aspects of the purchase, who takes care of making sure that whatever it is that the company buys is compliant? Have you considered how important is his or her influence over the final verdict?
There are other aspects as well that you have to consider because these big companies take care of evaluating many different aspects of a product or service before signing that check.
The thing is, there is no common rule. In every company the decision-makers are different and have different levels of authority, you may have to deal with two of them or you may have to deal with all four at once, that’s why you should be prepared.
So, if you want to know what these decision-makers are, I really encourage you to listen to this episode. I’m confident you will get something very useful out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
When you are selling a product, you and whoever is working with you must know some things about it, right? How it works, what it does, fairly technical stuff.
You’d think that would be enough to make people want to buy it because you are being clear with its specifications and providing useful information to your clients, but is that approach really making people buy? Well, the answer is no, at least not on its own.
Today, I want to talk about a really important subject which is how to build product knowledge into your sales conversations.
Let’s be clear, product knowledge is necessary and very useful but when it is driven into a conversation without the proper timing and without building some rapport with the client it really does not provide good value for them. Your client doesn't care about your product until they understand that you understand their problem.
This is essential because, nine out of ten times, it looks like the only thing salespeople learn in their training is all of the technical aspects of the product. That leaves a huge gap in the learning process.
Obviously, the more technical the product is, the more stuff that they need to know, and the more stuff they need to know, the more they start to bring that knowledge into a conversation with a client.
What ends up happening is, on one side, you've got all of this product knowledge that forms part of this conversation, but on the other end, you've got the actual sales process and the process that you need to bring a client through in order to maximise the possibility of them actually buying something, and often they exist as two separate things.
So, what I want to tell you is how you can approach any sales conversation and any sales training in a way that both aspects get taken care of. This is a very useful tool that works everywhere, so you will see good results disregarding the product you sell.
If you want to know how to do it, I encourage you to listen to this episode. Believe me, it is really simple and rewarding to incorporate.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As promised, this week we continue our discussion on sales managers, but this time we are going to talk about the three core things that you need to look for when you hire one.
So far, we know that the biggest mistake people make when they bring a sales manager to their team is that they just take somebody who is good at sales and take for granted the fact that he or she is going to be a great coach and mentor to them.
The problem is that a good salesperson doesn’t necessarily know how to work in a team. There are many people that are amazing at sales, but their selfishness and disregard for others' well-being will lead to catastrophic results. This person may keep selling well, as usual, but there won’t be any improvement in the team’s performance which is no good for them, no good for you, and no good for business.
That being clear we should be alert when traits of such personalities are seen in sales manager prospects so that you can avoid going through the same awful experience other business owners have gone through.
That’s why today I am going to tell you what are the indicators that you can find in anybody’s background that will help you separate the good salespeople from those who are excellent sales managers.
Believe it or not, you can find these indicators in different places. For example, if you talk to somebody who happens to play sports like golf or shooting, basically, individual-based sports then that’s probably not a particularly good sign. Whereas if you talk to somebody who is or was captain or coach of their rugby team for a number of years then that's a good indicator.
I am not saying that you should just hang your hat on this one particular criteria but it is definitely a good place to look for the one core competency every sales manager should have which is being able to take the role of the coach that knows things are done better when everybody’s efforts are combined.
So, this is just one of the things you need to look for if you want to avoid the complications others have faced and instead hire superstar sales managers. If you want to know what the other two things are and why it is important to be aware of them, I really encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Hiring a sales manager is a big step for a business. If turnover is at a certain point, if they’ve got a sales team that is performing, this may seem like the next logical step. The thing is, it is a decision that should not be taken lightly. Making the step to employ a sales manager is a pretty big deal.
What happens next might be problematic, in fact, I’ve seen many businesses getting a sales manager and after maybe three months, six months, twelve months sales are simply not growing. Most importantly, it doesn't seem to be any movement within the team and if anything, some division starts to become quite noticeable among them.
What is going on there? Where did it go wrong? Well, that is exactly what we are going to talk about in this episode.
Let me showcase a scenario so you understand the importance of this matter:
You’ve got a sales manager who is actually bringing business in, but he or she really only seems to be nurturing his or her own book of business, not really assisting the other guys in the team to continue to grow. All this person does is look at spreadsheets and pull the team up on being behind budget so what this person is really doing is looking at the deficit between the number that they’re shooting for and the number that they’re getting.
If you ask this person what's going on the answer usually is, “I told them last month and I've told them exactly what to say, told them exactly what to do. I don't know why they're not doing it, I can do it.”
So, it is not a sales management systems problem, the issue is somewhere else. I’ve seen many companies make this huge mistake when they hire a sales manager because, even though they want a mentor, a captain, and a coach that's going to nurture their team, what they end up getting is somebody who is quite self-focused and that is not really looking at the behaviours, the attitudes, and the culture within the team that underpin the numbers.
The irony is that you actually can't do much at all about the number at the end of the month, but you can certainly do something else, something that is actually more helpful than just pushing your team towards a certain goal.
If you want to know what else is underneath this problem and what is your part in it, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode and also to stay tuned because we’ll be returning to this topic next week.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to be talking about another part of the sales process that business owners often fail to properly implement, the disqualification process.
This term may sound a little harsh if what comes to mind is that you're saying to somebody “look we're too good for you, we don’t want your business”.
That is a common misconception that happens mostly because some businesses don’t know how to approach this stage. To be clear, by disqualification we understand that businesses evaluate and make decisions over which clients’ necessities and capabilities fit more with the type of product or service that their business provides.
The fact that this misconception exists means that we have another variable in the equation, people’s opinion. Specifically, what the people that haven’t worked with you directly are saying about your business.
You know how easy it is to write a bad review on Google, if people contact your company to ask about something and they have a bad experience people are going to know about it.
If you don't have a good process for disqualifying people at the front end what happens is you are making people mad at your company, you are taking on clients that you probably can't help, and you’re trying to convince people that might not be qualified in terms of having the funds available.
You could be trying to convert somebody into a client where there actually isn't a really good business case for them to do business with you anyway. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise when later on down the track you find out they really won't convert, and that all the time you put into that relationship lead nowhere. That is why you should have disqualified them at the front end.
So, how can you do it? How can you know at the very beginning if a potential client fits or not? Does not helping them businesswise mean that you can’t provide any value to them? Do clients have to feel that you are being rude while you disqualify them?
Today we are going to talk about all these questions so you have a better understanding of how this process works when done right and most importantly so that you can increase sales because you are going to be investing your time and energy wisely.
If you are interested in learning more about the disqualification process, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode. I’m sure you will get a lot of value out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to talk about a fundamental part of sales conversations which is often left aside. How to use tonality in your voice to increase sales.
As we’ve said before, most of the communication that happens between people is not language-based. In fact, the words you use are only 6% of your communication. The other 94% contains your facial expressions, your body language, and your tonality. So, your tone of voice, your cadence in your speech, the energy in your voice, and the intention in it are supporting most of the weight in a conversation.
This is very important because it is a bit of an issue when you or a person you work with, even when using the right words, don’t know how to project confidence or use voice with authority.
For instance, one of my clients has three girls taking phone calls from their customers regarding the maintenance of security alarm systems. Two of those girls work very well, without having any push back or resistance on price whatsoever, but the same can’t be said about the other girl.
So, when I listened to the phone conversations between this girl and their customers, I immediately understood what was going on. Whenever she mentioned the fee that was going to be charged for the technician to service the system her tone of voice changed drastically. She wasn’t projecting confidence at all, instead, she was phrasing almost as if it was a question.
The response she got was people saying that the amount was ridiculously expensive, that there was no way someone would pay that much for such a service.
I’m not saying that using questions is wrong, but you must know when to use them so that you can be in charge of what you want to project in a conversation while making sure your clients don’t feel like they are being ripped off. A big part of giving value to your clients is condensed in how you or your team talk to them.
We really could have a six-week course dedicated only to tone of voice because there are many things to say about it, however on this occasion my goal is to give you some really simple tools that you can start using straight away.
So, if you want to know how you can use your tone of voice to increase sales and how you can get to learn about this subject thoroughly in my Six-week Lead Conversion Mastery Programme, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Over the years that I have been working with different businesses, I’ve learned that there are untapped areas of hidden revenue in almost all of them.
Where should you look? What should you do to extract more out of what you do in your business in terms of sales revenue? That is exactly what we are going to talk about in today’s episode.
Before we get started, we have to know there are three areas that need our attention: front end, middle, and back end.
The front end consists of the inquiries and the leads that you are getting into your business. They could be web-leads, they could be telephone calls, they could be inquiries that come through your social media channels, but be careful with what you consider to be a lead.
There is a distinction that we need to have very clear before we move on. If a person is downloading your content, for example, on my website I have a free book called How to Attract Dream Clients. If someone downloads it but they haven't actually contacted me about making a deposit and becoming a client or inquiring about my services I can’t consider that an actual lead.
That person certainly sits in my database and represents an opportunity, but it is not a lead per se. So, what should I do with that? How can I get to them? How can I find my way around the fact that eighty-seven percent of telephone calls go unanswered? Well, that is something you and your team can do, it depends on how you approach those leads. I know that most calls go unanswered but how many times is your team trying to get a hold of them in a month?
So, getting to know the front end will let you extract the most out of it and guide your way to the next two areas. If you want to know how this whole process is done, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode where I also share some experiences that I’ve had with clients in the past that illustrate the importance of knowing and taking advantage of these areas.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we have an incredible guest with us. His name is Brad Hart and I am so thrilled to have him on the show because he is a man with a very impressive background, and I think we can all learn a lot from him.
He’s got twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur and sixteen years managing wealth under his belt. He also has got experience in real estate, investments, trading, marketing, and strategy, to mention a few. He has released a book earlier this year called “The 8-Minute Mastermind” which I really think you should check out.
Brad is a man who really knows how to achieve success and he has done so not only for him but for others, he has helped to build several companies and grow their revenues and profits into the million-dollar range.
How has he done it? That is part of what Brad is going to share with us today.
Brad has worked with mastermind groups for a long time, and he has learned a lot in the process. He is so confident about this method and it works so well for him and the people he works with that he could throw away any other tool in his toolkit and just keep this one because, as he says, ‘nobody is smarter than everybody’.
One of the things Brad points out about the benefits of masterminds is that sometimes people have an issue that they can't solve on their own and no matter how many coaches they go to or how hard they work, the issue is still unsolved. Brad has seen it because he has been with people that have an apparently unsolvable issue, but when they talk about it in a room where there is a lot of very experienced and knowledgeable people, one of them is most definitely going to have something to say that may strike as a revelation.
When people are brought together and a problem that has been picking somebody’s mind for the last couple of years is shared, others may think of it as nothing more than a tiny obstacle in the way. Why? Because they have gone through different things and they all have learned about them, and most likely, they see a window that you are not seeing. That is an example of the usefulness of masterminds, and I guarantee you, there are many more.
So, if you want to know what Brad has learned about business in all these years working with masterminds and how you can make use of that to grow your business to the next level, I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast, I’m sure you will get a lot of value out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we’re going to talk about Valid Business Reasons and why it is important to be aware of them whenever you are dealing with a client or potential client.
So, Valid Business Reasons or "VBR's" are mostly related to those two contexts, you can use VBR's to get in contact with a client that you're not currently working with and provide them with knowledge on the value you can be for them, but also they are essential for retaining your clients once you’ve got them. This time we are going to focus mainly on that last one.
There is a study I read some time ago, in a book that I reference quite a lot, in which the investigators talked to five thousand businesses and asked them a simple question: What is it that would make you want to continue to buy from a company or what is that would make you want to buy from a company in the first place? up-sell, re-sell.
We are going to talk about what these answers were so you can see the relevance of VBR's and how they can help you work out your skills with clients. The first time I read this it was an absolute eye-opener for me, and I hope it does the same for you.
Having Valid Business Reasons for your clients means that you are providing them with something valid, that your solutions are worth listening to, and that you are not putting your own reasons before theirs.
For example, very recently, the national legislation around work and health safety changed. If there is any incident in a work site or a mine it is now the supervisors and directors who are going to be held liable for it. How is this related? Well, if you were to work with a safety company, this legislation change means that there is a big opportunity for you and those companies to engage in a mutually profitable relationship.
It's a Valid Business Reason to provide such value as well as it is getting back in front of an existing client to strengthen the relationship you have so that you can retain that client and potentially re-engage them in a conversation about buying something that would make their business better.
So, if you are interested in learning more about VBR's and how you can make use of them, I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I’m really excited because we have Heather Monahan with us. She is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, keynote speaker, creator of the Creating Confidence podcast, and founder of Boss in Heels. In this episode, we are going to talk about confidence.
As you know, confidence is key to being successful in sales, the majority of the communication that happens in sales is non-verbal and the non-verbal part of it comes from mindset, which has confidence as its core element.
That’s why I wanted Heather to come to the podcast and talk with us about the role confidence has in the sales environment.
She has dedicated a lot of time and thought both to business and confidence. She spent the last three years learning about the latter; some people think of her as an expert in the matter although she does not agree with that completely. Besides from that more recent curriculum, she has 25 years of experience in the sales business, especially running companies, which is what she considers to be her expertise.
She had a lot of experience in revenue generation and leadership before diving into the subject of confidence. She started when she was fired from her Chief Revenue Officer position since then she has been working on building her own business and learning.
Given her experience in both of these areas we are going to discuss common misconceptions around confidence and most importantly, Heather is going to share with us her thoughts on what should a person do when he or she doesn’t feel confident, or as confident as wanted, besides other very important points.
Her journey has amazed me, and I think you will have a lot to think about after listening to her story and her thoughts. So, if you are interested in learning more about confidence and Heather, I encourage you to listen to this interview.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today we are going to talk about what I call The Inevitability Principle, this is an idea that I like a lot because of its simplicity and because of what it actually means.
You know, we’ve talked about some complex ideas in the past because we had to. Because there is some important stuff that we must know if we want to make our businesses work. Even if it takes us a while to get our heads around these complex ideas we all know the deal is worth it.
This time, however, things are a bit different.
The Inevitability Principle is very easy to understand. It says that if you take enough steps in a particular direction, toward a specific goal, at some point the outcome becomes inevitable, so provided that you can continue to push and insist in that particular direction, the odds will be in your favor, eventually.
So, there are so many cool things about this but the thing I love most about it is that it’s underpinned by the idea of never giving up.
I think that nowadays it is particularly important for businesses to look at the big picture. Being able to identify all the elements that have a role in today’s economy means that some news, some theories, and ideas can bring you down, yes it happens, I think we’ve all seen it. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have nothing to do about it, it can even become a good thing if you know how to work over them with the elements that you have and come up with surprising results.
On the other side, there are also theories and ideas that are a bit more uplifting. And I think it is important to deal with those too because they can open your eyes to something you hadn’t previously considered.
That is the case in today’s episode, taking enough steps in a particular direction will at some point result in an inevitable outcome. In other words, you need to keep heading that way but also, you need to take advantage of the opportunities that will occur.
I’ve found it very useful over the years and I have an interesting story to tell you which I hope will make you see all the elements involved.
So, if you want to listen to it and to know more about The Inevitability Principle, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode, I’m sure you will get a lot of value out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
I think we all have dreamed of having clients that are renowned all around the world, to work with the big corporate names. Is it impossible? Absolutely not, but how can you get them?
Well, that is precisely what we are going to be talking about in this week’s episode.
These ideal clients won’t come to you through your normal marketing for obvious reasons. You have to use a specific strategy if you want their attention so, today we are going to go through the five steps that you can use to make it happen.
Remember when we talked about what you represent to the client, especially at the start of the process? Well, here it comes into place once again. Who is a better client? The one that sees value in you because of who you are and how you work, or the one that sees you as a mere commodity?
You know the answer so, that is one thing to think about. Who are your best clients and why are they the best? If you could, which ones would you duplicate? Working through this imaginary process will help you see what is that you are looking for, hence what clients are the most ideal you can get.
So, identifying them is the start, and luckily there are so many ways to get to this point. It can be as easy as driving around an industrial area looking at all the different buildings and different signs. This can be a great place to say “you know, I could help them, they'd be a good client” so, even the streets are a good place to write down potential contacts that you would like to work with.
Either industrial areas or job boards can be an awesome place to start, only if you know what you are looking for, and for that, there are some things to consider as well. How can you tell if you have your eyes set on a good client if you don’t know much about them? Well, some indicators can help you with that too.
If we were comparing two prospects, neither of them seem familiar to you but one of them has very clever advertising while the other hasn’t any. Is this a hint you should consider? Most definitely, and I’ll tell you why in this episode.
So, if you want to get your business to bigger places, and if you want to know what the five steps that will take you there are, and how you should work through them correctly, I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast, I’m sure it will help you along the way to getting your ideal clients.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
What should you do when a client has just asked for your services? What do you need to know about anyone who comes to you? This week’s episode is dedicated to answering these questions. I think it is a very fundamental topic as it relates to a key moment in the sales process.
We’re going to talk about how you should approach a sales conversation regarding the fact that you are potentially going to work with someone else. I think you need to know some things about your potential clients before you get started, otherwise you are going to find yourself in a very confusing and frustrating situation later.
After years of experience and a lot of work and thought invested in it, I found there are 5 fundamental questions that should be asked, especially at the start of your process. These questions will allow you to gauge the motivation that your potential clients have, and also, help you locate what position you’re in, according to their eyes.
I can think of two possible reasons why somebody would come to you. First, because they found you on the internet; and second, because of a suggestion, which means you were referred by somebody.
You might think this is irrelevant but believe me, it is not, at all. For the person who found you on Google, you represent nothing more than a commodity, at least at that point; on the other hand, the one that came because of somebody’s referral has another picture of you. We are going to be talking about each one in-depth so you have the elements to go from there.
I’ve called these “power questions” because they really are. Besides providing you with lots of information they also help your clients locate themselves and their influence in the process.
Most of the time people have to be asked about themselves in order to get them to take a closer look. This is key in the sales process because it gives both parties context, and it creates an environment where you and your clients can look at the whole picture, making the rest of the journey as smooth as it can be.
Working together to solve all the issues they bring in is great, but you all must have very clear what the causes are and what the reasons that have brought them with you are if you want to make the most of this relationship.
So, if you want to know what these 5 questions are and how powerful they are, I encourage you to listen to his week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
When you own a business, working on developing it is one of the toughest parts of the whole process, but it is also where you should be paying more attention since working it right will get you to grow faster and expand, however, it is also one of the things we normally don’t think about. Where is the business developing? Is my business going in the right direction? If not, which direction should I go?
So today I ask you. Have you been thinking about your business development? Have you thought about where you need help, regarding your business, right now? Some people do, others don’t. So, if you are one of those people who feel kind of lost in this topic, or if you just want to keep growing, in this episode I will share with you the 5 key areas where your business should focus.
These 5 key areas are: lead generation, which is something that everyone who is in business or in sales will always need; lead nurture, which is mainly about your process with people; your conversion process, which is all about the sales process; then we have your product and service delivery, which I know I can’t be telling you much about it since you know it better than I do, but it might astonish you what you have been missing about this; and last but not least, your retaining system.
Paying attention to these areas will get you consistency in your business, a good flow of income and clients; so once you listen to this episode, I encourage you to pay attention to how your business is doing in each one of these, and then, give yourself a mark, from 1 to 10. This exercise will allow you to realize which areas you are struggling with right now and where to look and evaluate.
So, go ahead and listen to this week´s episode to get an upgrade in your business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
How great would it be if we could always hit our goals and get consistent results regardless of the circumstances? I know it sounds great, but reality has always had other ideas.
As we’ve discussed before, the business world has taught us that there are always ups and downs. It is pretty difficult for everybody to maintain the same levels of profitability and success without suffering from the eventualities that occur in the market.
That is why today I want to talk to you about how you can get out of a sales rut.
If you have been in this business for a while, then this is not a strange scenario. I’ve been in that situation a number of times over the last thirty years, and I’ve learned that when people get stuck and they don’t know what to do is mostly because they tend to get too in their heads, too outcome-based in terms of wanting to get a sale.
We all know that numbers are important, but we also know there is much more to sales than that.
Being so focused on getting things done can make you lose the connection with the clients that you have. Don’t get me wrong, solving problems and giving value to your clients is awesome for you and also for them, but it can make you shift away from the human aspect of what we do. It can become too mechanical or clinical, and trust me, that is no good at the end of the day.
This mind shift, that happens often without us knowing is actually detected by potential clients. Instead of attracting them to making business, we suddenly become repellent. Let’s be honest, who would like to buy from people that are so obstinate about the way they make sales?
As we’ve discussed previously, the way your clients see you is essential for your success. So, I thought that it would be great if we talked about this in today’s episode because if you find yourself in a situation where your sales plummet to the ground it can be really hard to get out if you are so centered on the results you are not getting.
Remember that there is much more to sales than that. With that in mind, we are going to talk about what you should do if you find yourself in conditions like this. These strategies are very effective, and they are also really simple.
So, if you are interested in learning precisely what to do in case of a sales slump, I really encourage you to listen to this episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
When I get called into a business because they need help to sort out some issues, the people in charge often say to me: “I want to get more out of my team and I want my sales manager to become better at getting more out of my team”.
When this happens my first question always is: “Is there an agreement on what represents the ideal behaviours that would underpin great results in this business? “Unfortunately, I’ve received a no for an answer more than once.
This scenario is not the one we want for our businesses, that’s why today we are going to talk about an absolutely essential topic,the Team Code of Conduct.
What is that? you may ask. Basically, it is the optimal alternative to this problem.
In most businesses, there is often, pretty much always, an agreement on what the actual goals of the game are. This is what we want for our own businesses because it is key to have everybody on the same page in order to accomplish those goals.
If the team knows exactly what the core values are, they know what is expected from them, and they also know what to expect from their teammates then they all together maximise their possibilities because the impact of one crucial element is drastically reduced. I am talking about the factor of interference.
In business, results in an organisation are a function of potential subtracted by interference. Which means that if there is interference, because there is no agreement, because they don’t know what is expected from them, then their performance is going to be largely compromised.
Keep in mind that when something isn’t clear, when there is no explicit code about what the values, the accepted behaviours, and the targets are; people make their own.
How can we expect great performance when everybody is doing what they think is best, without any consensus on the way things are going to get done? Personal interests may come before the whole team’s well-being.
It is pretty straight-forward, right? Well, having the information is just a part of it. Getting to realise all the things you are doing wrong and turning them into their positive equivalent can be hard, but only if you want it to be that way.
For instance, you can ask yourself and your team what are the unacceptable behaviours around your workplace, how can you flip them to their positive equivalent? If you are usually late for meetings, what is keeping you from getting there on time? If there is no communication between your team, what is going on and what has to be done to make great team-work happen?
There is more complexity beneath the surface of an issue than you may expect, so if you are interested in getting to the core of this particular one and most importantly, in making things right for you, your team, and your business; I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
I’m sure you’ll get valuable knowledge and ideas out of it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As in any field, in the business world, there are many concepts and terms that can be overlooked when opposed to one another, as far as its functionality concerns. Sometimes we make some words equivalent to others when they actually mean completely different things. I don’t intend to talk about this topic in general but to point out a distinction that we all must have very clear, just in case.
Training is not the same as coaching, you probably already knew that, but it won’t hurt talking more about it in today’s episode. If you didn’t know, this will be even more educational for you.
Having this difference clear is crucial if you are a business owner or a salesperson because it is common to turn a blind eye on the subject, although this applies to any kind of business.
The issue I think comes from the easiness of just completing a task, a simple training for example, over the investment that constant work requires. The repetition of this scenario can build a pragmatic preference for one of these when there is clearly a more fulfilling option.
You may be familiar with the situation wherein a board meeting someone requests training in a specific matter, another person is assigned to the task of finding such training, and eventually, the team spends a day or two working on their skills.
Don’t get me wrong, a little bit of something is better than nothing at all. However, this way of doing things seems more like an easy out for the whole organisation when instead, things could be done more thoroughly by recurring to different resources.
I read a study done by a consulting company that stated that training alone can produce a twenty-two percent improvement in results whereas training combined with structured ongoing coaching can improve results by up to eighty-eight percent.
You know the drill; numbers talk, and in this particular case the distinction we are talking about reaches a very high level of relevance given this fact.
That’s why today we are going to talk about the things we have to consider when the matter of training is brought to the table and what I think is a better way of providing knowledge and tools for your team.
If you are interested in learning more about the difference between training and coaching as well as the role of each one in your business, I invite you to listen to this week’s episode. I’m sure you’ll get something out of it regardless of your line of business.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As a result of the way our world is organized, in the market as well as in other areas there are always going to be things that escape our control, even if we work hard trying to get them right.
Living in society brings many challenges but also possibilities. We’ve learned to live with others and to work with others and we cannot, for one moment, forget about that. That scheme has built our culture and our world the way we know it today, which is why I think it’s very important to talk about this topic.
The circle of influence and the circle of concern.
I first learned about this in Stephen Covey’s book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", and the whole idea of this is learning to locate those areas where you do have control over situations and those where you don’t.
For instance, in a business, you have control over how many calls you make or arriving at appointments on time. However, you have no influence on the success of your competitors or the availability of certain products, to mention a few.
This may sound very obvious, and it might be. But there are some problems that begin to make themselves visible when you try to push things from one circle to the other. Trust me, I’ve been through that.
At one point in my career, I had a bit of an issue when a brand I was representing changed their clothing range completely for the following year, even when the range they had at the time was selling like hotcakes. I knew that was a bad decision, but that’s not the point.
After they eventually found out they made a big mistake I couldn’t get my mind over it. Even worse, I couldn’t stop pointing fingers and complaining all the time.
I was indeed right when I predicted its failure, but that incredible sense of righteousness that I had wasn't taking me anywhere. It literally meant that I was staying stuck in the situation.
That’s why I think it’s important to talk about this in today’s episode so that you don’t make the same mistake I did.
I was completely immersed in that circle of concern which kept me from seeing other possibilities where I did have control over. Being bent on revolving those thoughts and blames constantly in my head was using time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.
I know that at the moment we don't really have much control over what's going on in the economy and in the world, but we do have control over how we respond and how we decide that we play our cards.
So, if you are interested in learning more about your circle of concern and your circle of influence and how to shift your way of thinking so that you actually start to see new opportunities, I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Along the way, we have talked about many different topics concerning sales and business, however, people ask me, quite frequently, about the best sales books I know.
On some occasions, we have had guests with us who share a bit about theirs, but we haven’t really dedicated time to the bigger spectrum.
Today I decided to make room in the podcast to answer that question and to spread the word about some really good ones that are out there. So, we are going to talk about the 10 best sales books market leaders own that others don’t.
These are all great books but do not think, by any means, that other titles I left out are not worth a good read. In fact, I had a very tough time narrowing it down to just ten. But these are the ones that I refer to the most.
There are some books here that changed the way I sold forever. Mainly because they brought a unique perspective about specific parts of the sales process, which in my case was really eye-opening.
Here you are going to find authors that were ahead of its time in many areas, coaching anecdotes from people who have learned to turn failure into success, and others that write in such an enjoyable manner that you get completely hooked to the story - In case you were wondering, yes, you can make a book about sales based upon stories.
This is just a fraction of what these ten books talk about, the range they cover altogether is astonishing so, if you are looking forwards to reading them I can guarantee you’ll find an enormous amount of valuable knowledge and information that will place you on a more solid ground, hence you are going to have a wider vision of business in general, which will help you develop yours and thrive in this very complex world.
As I said, I chose these ten because I’ve found myself going back to them constantly, be it in thought or in action. I can tell you that since I applied what these writers are saying, my approach to sales and my overall vision towards it has changed for the better. So, these are not just words on paper that work in very specific circumstances, some of these words are timeless ideas, that no matter how long ago they were written they’re still adequate for today’s world. Others are completely new approaches and that is why I have no doubt in my mind you are going to learn some serious stuff if you read them.
So, what I want to do is talk about each one of those books and also give you a bit of an insight as to what you can expect if you were to read them. If you are interested in knowing what these are I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Let us imagine a situation, one that may seem completely irrelevant for the purposes of this podcast, but bear with me, there is a reason for it.
You are surfing on a beautiful beach, enjoying the sea and yourself, but suddenly, you have an accident and black out. Can you imagine the terror? What would you do?
I know this can be a fatal scenario to imagine, and a lot of times some people have had to face near-death experiences, so what would you do if you survive? What would you change? Or would you keep things the same way?
I know someone who had to go through this experience, his name is Mark Mathews, and he is my guest in today’s episode. One day, as he was surfing in Tasmania he hit a reef and blacked out, as natural, terror was present, he had a lot of injuries and didn’t know if he was ever going to surf again. At that time, Mark made a crucial decision, to never let fear overpower him again.
Since then, he has taken action personalizing emotion and resilience techniques to strengthen mindset and sustain long term performance, and with these techniques he has been able to win the Oakley Big Waves Award three times, positioning him between the best big wave’s surfers in the world.
So, in this episode, we are going to talk about fear.
Fear is not something only surfers have to face, it is a factor present in our daily life. One of the areas where I have seen fear a lot is in business and sales. Especially in sales, because when you face fear in sales there is really nowhere to hide.
One of the reasons for this is that failure is there in a way, failure is a possible future, and fear can make you feel that future is about to happen.
Mark Mathews knows what he is talking about, and he defends a very important premise about fear, that you cannot live life without it. That is right, the idea of sustaining life without facing your fears is impossible and he is here to explain to us why.
Also, what we must have very clear, is that once we are facing anxiety or fear, whether in personal life or in business, we need to have the tools to know how to move from that place, we have to be able to know what is happening and what to do with it.
That is why I wanted Mark to come here with us and deliver this message because we have to stop looking at fear only for its ominosity when it clearly has a role, it is there for a reason and it is inevitable to have it in our lives.
So, if you wish to learn more about fear and how to face it when it comes to sales, among other things, I suggest you take a listen to this interview.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In my experience, having worked with hundreds of different salespeople and businesses I’ve found that there are steps that they have to go through if they want to be at the top of their game. I think of these as levels on a ladder, which the higher you are, the better results you get.
So, today we are going to be talking about the five levels of the sales conversion ladder. It doesn’t matter if your business has a proven, and refined sales process or if it hasn’t. These levels apply anyway, the thing is though, if you want to keep moving forward and reach the highest one there are some things you need to know.
We can say that the bottom of the ladder is precisely the lack of a sales process. This might sound strange, how can a business be profitable if there is no documented, structured sales process?
Well, you may be surprised. In fact, I was talking to a guy that runs a business networking group and he did a survey with three hundred and seventy small business members in Western Australia and he found that only six percent of those people actually had a sales growth plan.
As you can see it is a very common practice, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good one. Just imagine how the implementation of a well-thought plan could help any of these businesses become more profitable.
Another common situation I’ve seen is that many times, customers buy from a business in spite of the process rather than because it helps them find a solution in the best possible way. Making sure you provide a solution to the customer’s needs while making them feel invited to come back with you again is a sign of a good sales process structure.
But difficulties do not apply only to customers, sometimes salespeople have to work harder than they should to actually make a sale.
Let’s visualize a particular situation. If a member of the staff relies mostly on his computer to generate sales but it is no longer working as it should, this person could refer the issue to the IT department. However, if the company’s policy says that a computer should only be replaced until it is broken the worker will be stuck with malfunctioning equipment delaying the process and forcing him or her to work harder for the same results.
Here is where the importance of these levels resides, by taking care of the fundamental things you can make sure you and your team work your way up to the highest level. You can pretty much move from one level to the next if you treat leads correctly, which obviously means that you have a plan worked out that lets you know how to act in every scenario.
But don’t think that because your business is small or because you have no idea where to start you’ll find this impossible. Another thing I’ve learned throughout the years is that even if a business is completely disorganized, static, or if it has lost its focus there is still massive opportunity to increase its profitability and to help others. If your business exists to help people with the solution that you've got there's a massive opportunity to help even more people.
If we think about it, optimizing your organization and building your way up the ladder is not only beneficial for your business. It also pushes stress and complications away because the structure will provide a way of making sales that is friendlier to you, your customers, and your team.
So, if you want to know what the other levels are and what to do in every one of them to get the best results I encourage you to listen to this week’s podcast. I’m sure you’ll find it very useful.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Have you ever felt like there is something missing from your sales process? Maybe you feel like you are not getting enough from it, or that it is not bringing you the same results as before. Well, I have a tool that may come in handy, and is one of my favorites, because each time I use it, it works. I am talking about stories.
Are you aware of the incredible power that lies beneath telling stories? Stories are one thing that lots of people take for granted as if they were only useful when we were little kids, but I actually can spend days and days talking about them, because they have power, and believe it or not, all of us live through them.
One of the ways that I learned the importance of stories, was because of an incredible author called Joseph Campbell, he dedicated his life to studying religions and especially stories. You know the kind of movies that have this amazing hero, and the entire time it has you hooked to the story, he wanted to understand that and transmit it to the world, and he ended up writing an amazing book called The Hero's Journey.
Stories are our first memory of language, are part of our human history, what you choose to believe every day, whether it is evolution or the bible. Is what determines how you live your life. They are not only something you tell the kids before they go to bed.
A story offers many possibilities, and since we are familiar with them it is not hard at all to reflect ourselves in a particular character or to just enjoy being immersed in the narrative. However, today I want to talk about something more specific.
I want to share with you how by unlocking the power of stories, I learned to use them in a sales context, and I still use them every day. In this episode, you'll not only learn how to increase sales using the Corporate Parable Framework, but I will also show you exactly how to create your own sales stories and exactly how and where in your sales process you should introduce them.
If you are interested in learning more about this hidden power I strongly recommend you listen to this podcast.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
The other day I did a presentation with a high-end business group about ways to maximise revenue and I thought it would be a great idea to share those ideas with you.
In previous episodes, we’ve talked about converting your leads. About how to constantly push further to make your conversion rate bigger each time. It can indeed be pulled off, there is massive on bank cash sitting in your pipeline which if you had a better process, a better system at the front end you could convert better, and you could actually see.
So, working on your front end is a great place to look if your sales process is broken, if you know your conversion rate is twenty-five or thirty percent or lower there's a good possibility that we can make that work a lot better for you.
The beauty of this is that you will make a massive difference to your revenue without spending much more money on ads, on salespeople, or on staff. You just make more sales.
But today we’re going to go further, we are going to be talking about other strategies that work alongside with the conversion process. Remember that the front end is as important as other areas, such as retaining people or maintaining communication.
We’ve already talked about this in previous episodes, but I think it’s important to understand the big picture. A business is not built exclusively upon selling, there are many structural and social abilities required to align all the gears.
These seven effective strategies will help your business get to a new level. Especially since the times we are living in have changed considerably the way we keep our businesses running and the way we relate to others. We must have the ability to adapt to new situations and the never-ending fluctuations of the market but also to new technologies, adversities, and possibilities.
I know that setting everything up is a very exhausting and demanding job. Having all the elements you need to work properly needs the investment of both time and money. Although things are not easy, there is something in your power you can do to improve, almost every time.
That’s why I think it is important to be aware of something. You are most likely going to be left behind in the market if you adopt a reluctant attitude, be it you don’t want to embrace change or a strategy or a tool. It is paramount you learn to incorporate those things into your businesses if you want to keep going.
So, if you are interested in learning what these strategies are and how you can make them work in harmony to get better and consistent results I encourage you to listen to his week’s podcast.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Building a successful business in sales is not an easy task to do. As you may have noticed by now, there is a vast spectrum of elements that converge in building a model able to adapt in a continuously moving market.
That´s why today we are going to discuss a very important topic, some of the biggest threats affecting companies with salespeople. Things that can really give you and your business a hard time if you get caught off guard when unexpected situations occur.
Truth be told, a business can hardly be carried by one person’s shoulders, you need others to make it take off. If you are the only one converting leads or pushing to develop a relationship with clients without any help, or even worse, with very poor help from your team then there is definitely something wrong in the picture.
Let us think of another problem. It is frequent to come by a business whose owner has to rely mostly on one specific member of the sales team, the best one. This successful worker can even be responsible for 50% of the company’s revenue. Credit where credit is due, there are a lot of talented people out there but that´s not the point. What happens if that person decides to leave?
That is certainly a good question, but there is no general answer. It all depends on whether you have or lack a structured sale system.
In fact, I saw some so some data the other day that said that only six percent of companies actually have a sales plan. That´s a big threat on its own!
Having a structured sales system takes the pressure of hard-working individuals, meaning you don’t have to depend on one specific person to deliver most of the revenue, but the most important thing it does is that it organises your entire network. You should not have to worry if one of your team members leaves because there is a system behind which you can count on. In this scenario, you are already thinking of different names and phone numbers to call, you have an effective hiring method, you know what to do.
This is just one of the ways your business can find itself in a bind but it is not the only one. Different areas have different issues and they all require attention and action, that’s why in today’s episode we are going to go through four of the most important forms in which an inadequate approach to the overall sales system can become a threat.
If you want your business to accomplish a resilient position, there is a very huge and complex arrangement of elements that must be attended constantly. The good news is, that if you have the tools and the knowledge to take action whenever a potential threat must be faced, if you are standing on solid ground then they become manageable.
So, if you are interested in learning how to build an effective sales structure and in knowing how to act when unexpected situations menace your business, I encourage you to listen to this week´s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Pretty much anywhere we look these days, we can find lots of different information on how to attract customers or on how to build an effective sales process. Nevertheless, there is one key element that is often unseen, and it should be taken in count, it really should.
That is precisely what we are going to talk about today. What are we doing with our customers once we have them?
I’m really excited because we have a person that has dedicated a big part of her life to this specific area, customer retention. We’ve got Ali Cudby with us. Besides being well known for her work with many companies on developing a better and more profitable relationship with their customers, she is the writer of Amazon’s number one bestselling book on bra fitting called “Busted!” which then became “Fit My Bras: How to Find Your Perfect Bra and Why It Matters”
However, Ali started her career somewhere else. She worked in Hollywood making blockbusters but after living in hotel rooms for fourteen straight months she reconsidered her career and decided to go to the Wharton School for an MBI. After business school, she landed at the New York Times’s Companies Corporate Strategy Team and that was her first taste of customer retention, it came from a project that sent her all around the United States studying best practice at companies from FedEx to L.L. Bean, and that was, at least partially, what got her hooked on really boosting customer experience as a way to improve retention and revenue.
Some time later, while working on her client’s lingerie business, Ali realised that there was a massive hole in the market and that expertise around customer attention was sorely needed. That's where Your Iconic Brand was born, to help companies develop the emotional connections and systematic processes needed to inspire customers to spend more, stay longer, and refer like crazy.
Besides helping businesses improve customer retention, Ali teaches entrepreneurship at Purdue University and her work with companies has become the basis for a brand new book, which we are going to definitely talk about today, called “Keep Your Customers: How to Stop Customer Turnover, Improve Retention and Get Lucrative Long-Term Loyalty”, published just this month.
As you can see, that is quite a background and by no means, I’ve mentioned all of it.
So, today we are going to be talking about some of the main issues around customer retention, especially because we find ourselves in a sales-driven culture where the main focus is getting and closing the sale, but if we don’t keep our eyes open, this particular interest can lead to much less attention invested into the customer’s experience and into the possibility of further, more profitable customer relationships.
That´s why Ali is going to share her view on the topic with us and, she is going to talk about the foundations that owners can put in place to give themselves the highest possibility of lowering customer turnover. She is also going to illustrate us on how to tell if we are doing a good job on customer retention or not, what can we do to improve, among other questions related directly to this matter.
If you want to find out if you are working on your customer retention correctly, if you hadn´t thought of it, or if you just want to find ways to improve, I really encourage you to listen to this week’s episode, because there are so many things around the issue that must be discussed thoroughly.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
As we all know, nowadays we are living in incredibly unique times. We are all affected in some way or another by the current situation and as a result, this has taken its toll on the whole economy. There is no way to deny that the challenge is certainly big and that it can be overwhelming, but I think there are things that can be done to improve the way we manage our money helping us build a financial foundation that lets us get through.
Speaking of that, I’ve heard many people talk about maximising sales and also some people saying that regardless of what the business is, it can actually thrive and rise above this situation. I don’t necessarily agree with that but I think one of the ways that you can minimise the impact is by really rationalising your expenses, and that is precisely what we are going to be talking about in this week’s episode.
To have a better perspective on this issue, that right now is a priority, I’ve invited George Slater to talk with us. He is a retired CRM specialist, and he is still pretty active, he has written a couple of books, he’s been a mentor of mine for a number of years, he was the director of online for Worldwide Selling Marketing and was also responsible for helping its owner and many others to rationalise their expenses and right-size their businesses over a number of years. He’s got a lot of experience working it out that’s why I think he is the best person to talk to about this.
Even though he has helped many important businesses, the principles he teaches do not only apply to big corporations, that’s why today we’re going to be talking about how you can save, if you are an individual, somewhere in between three and six thousand dollars per year almost straight away through looking at your expenses.
Some of these things might sound pretty obvious but there are going to be a couple of gems in there that you are just not doing, and if you do choose to do them I think you'll emerge a lot leaner and a lot more profitable once we pop at the other end.
With that in mind is that today, George is going to walk us through a list of things he has carefully thought and designed so you have the tools to know where to look and how to manage your expenses without sacrificing the essentials.
So, if you are looking for a way to relieve your economy or if you just want to be more careful when it comes to spending money I encourage you to listen to this conversation, because I can’t think of a better person to talk to about this issue than George, and I can guarantee you are going to learn a lot listening to him.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I’m really psyched because we’ve got Adam Lewis Hawker with us, an amazing talker, and an inspiring teacher who I’ve had the pleasure to know since 2013. He is the author of the Awaken Your Alpha podcast, one of the highest-ranked podcasts on the internet today with almost 400 episodes already.
But first, I want to introduce you to his work a little bit more in detail. He founded TalkXcelerator to help people to secure their own Ted X talk increasing their influence, income, and impact. He speaks of leadership resilience and how to utilize mindset and the tactics of the world's top performers to thrive. Ultimately, he teaches how to Awaken Your Alpha to accelerate your mission. I am really excited to have him in today’s episode because besides having this impressive background he is also such a great and funny person.
While I was looking for more information about his background I found, and this is really interesting, that he’s a former international pole vaulter whose career was, unfortunately, cut short by an accident. After I found out I had to ask him about that experience and how he managed to deal with the undeniable fact that he wouldn´t be able to perform as an athlete anymore. His answer was far more interesting and complex than I expected, and I think we all can learn a lot just by listening to it.
So, we are going to be talking about how that moment influenced his particular vision and his approach to working with other people in more recent years, but he is also going to share with us some of his best and worst moments in making deals and what I consider to be a great philosophy towards coaching and understanding the complexity of each particular issue.
I was also very interested in another thing. Through the years Adam has been involved in making podcasts, writing books, and giving every client the personalized coaching service they deserve, he has found what I call to be patterns, commonalities among successful people he’s worked with. I was eager to know about these, and I am so glad I asked him because he has found absolutely essential issues which I am sure you’ll find quite interesting as well. These issues pertain directly to managing failure, planning, action, among other things that can become drawbacks when building a business if the approach is the wrong one.
So, if you are interested in learning more about these issues as well as Adam’s experience, which I insist, is full of knowledge, I encourage you to listen to our whole conversation in this week’s episode, as we discuss thoroughly all these aspects and have a little fun while doing it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Have you ever felt your performance is not as good as you know you are able to accomplish? Or that stress and fatigue are consuming time and energy that could be spent somewhere else? There is a good chance that interference you are experiencing is being produced by unhealthy management of emotions, and overall, a lack of awareness about the issue and your position in it.
This problem is very common, it does not just happen among business people, but today we are going to be focusing in our field and in what we can do to prevent ourselves from being caught up in inadequate handlings of the issue. As you know, if we don’t assess ourselves and our businesses frequently, things can go out of control and lead to catastrophic results which would then affect other people as well.
That’s why today I’m particularly pumped because we’ve got a person that has been working on this matter for a long time, Matt Griggs.
Let me introduce you to him a little. Matt is a performance coach for both business people and professional athletes, he is the writer of two best-selling books, an ex-professional surfer who has actually worked with one of the world surfing champions, a number of NRL players, and many other elite athletes. Besides that, he is also a teacher of a unique meditation called Kelee Meditation which helps people detach from disharmonious thoughts and emotions so that they can distill their natural ability to its purest point.
As you can see, that is quite a resume, and I am really excited to have him on the show this morning since we get to talk more about the emotional problems that can affect our business and also about Matt’s perspective towards a healthy and more rewarding approach to life in general.
He recognizes himself as a holistic coach, who understands all the influences and all the aspects around an issue. As he says, “There is a lot of instruction out there, a lot of know-how on the why? but you know, the saying goes: where there's a will there's a way. There's not too much instruction on actually coaching the will so that's going to be the most important part and, the biggest problem to solve is to make someone's will very strong, to make it very aware”
Matt believes that people can’t teach what they're not living themselves or what they don't understand themselves, “otherwise it just becomes an opinion and there is enough of that in the world”. We are going to discuss the importance of this thoroughly because the knowledge he is talking about concerns not only the position from which you talk about something, but also what you know about your own situation and how you deal with it, and that I think is a fundamental aspect that deserves to be attended.
So, if you are interested in learning more about Matt’s perspective and in being able to recognize and approach a particular issue in your business and in your life with appropriate tools, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today I'm very stoked because we are going to be talking to Gavin Bassett, a man that has a very extensive background in business and that I've known for many years. In this week's episode, he is going to be sharing some of his wisdom with us around some of the biggest deals he's made in his career and some of the insides. I find this information very useful as Gavin has always been concerned about the important things in life, and right now we are facing challenges that put us in a complex situation, affecting our loved ones and ourselves but our businesses as well.
This situation has changed many things about the way things get done. “This is not a traditional downturn” as Gavin says, and we should not approach it like one, as many people are doing. We must know what is best for us at this particular moment, all things considered.
In this matter, he is certainly the man to talk to. Despite the woeful circumstances, this uncharted territory has given us more time to be with the ones we love and that is something that Gavin has always been worried about as he is a husband, a father and a business owner.
For almost fifteen years he served owners in the banking industry and watched as way too many of them put way too much time into the business and not enough into their families. He then left the industry and got an opportunity to help even more businesses to get under control so that people could spend more time with their families and make sure that they were there for them. That gave him the chance to spend more time with his own wife and his four boys as they were growing up and also, to become known as one of the best business coaches in Action COACH globally.
Years later, he came across an alarming statistic that said eighty-three businesses were failing every sixty seconds somewhere in the world. This made him realize that he needed to be doing much more than what he was, then Biznostics was born, an online platform to help small business diagnose where their businesses are and provide them with a step by step guide plan to help them run a more successful business so they have the finances and the time to do the important things in life before it's too late.
As you can see, he is committed to making the running of a business strictly that, avoiding wear out and saving time for what matters most, but along the way, he has also got a lot of experience in making deals, and that’s why I think you'll find his vision very interesting.
Gavin is a firm believer that small businesses are the fabric of communities and that when small businesses are succeeding their families succeed and then the community benefits. So, if you want to know more about what he has learned over the years, and how that experience can help you cope with this unprecedented situation, I invite you to listen to the whole interview.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
When you do something for a living, something that you spend most of your time in, things can get a bit uninspiring, and when that happens it is very hard to be excited about the product or service you sell because it has become repetitive for you. At this stage, you can begin to lose the sense of relevance and value of whatever it is you are offering which will then lead to a lack of motivation and effort invested in your business.
We have two problems then. First, you are not having a good time which is bad for many reasons, and second, it becomes easy to lose touch with the value that your potential clients see in whatever you are offering. If you continue to follow that path, I can guarantee it will eventually wear you out completely and neither you nor your business will be able to withstand.
But let me tell you that if this has happened there’s nothing to worry about. You can get rid of that unhealthy repetition and find your way to a more pleasant and more profitable relationship with your product or service and your clients.
The solution is easier than you might think, it’s just a matter of perspective. And that is precisely what we’re going to be talking about in this week’s podcast.
In this modern life we live, we are used to seeing large numbers when it comes to essential things like health and insurances, but we are also used to see expensive products or services people enjoy very much that might seem unnecessary.
Think about the things that make people spend lots of money: motorbikes, cars, watches. Buying those things is justified for some people while some others might say those are stupid expenses. What makes people choose to spend their money, for instance, in a gold watch even when they know the price is big? That is indeed a matter of perspective and is one you can make great use of.
On the other side, maybe you have been at that point where you ask yourself if your product is too expensive, or if you are charging too much. Many times, that question can haunt you and keep you from seeing the real value of your business.
There are people who actually spend big money on items or specialized services, so there is a chance you are just not seeing what other people can see in what you sell. If you really have the potential and the right tools to adjust your view, then you will be able to rediscover its value.
A little change of focus, a different mindset can make enormous differences. In this case, it can make you enjoy your business in a new and unexpected way and get a lot more money from it.
So, if you are interested in learning what it takes to develop your relationship with your job and your clients in a healthier and more profitable manner, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Is there a particular moment in a sale that is worthy of special attention? I think every moment of the sale process has to be thoroughly engineered, however, I definitely think there is a pivot point in a sale where there is more at stake, and the approach you take to make front to it can make you either win or lose that particular sale.
This particular moment is key in defining the future so you need to know very well when it’s happening and how you’re going to deal with it.
Throughout the years I’ve been in this business I’ve witnessed hundreds and hundreds of sales conversations, the ones that I have been involved with as well as the ones that I have listened to on the phone and had with the clients I’ve coached.
These experience has given me the chance to witness first hand the actual point where every sale is either won or lost, every single one of them, and I realized that what could at one point seem like a perfectly led sale from the start can turn into a disaster at the very last second if the approach to this pivot point is the wrong one.
This is such a crucial moment in which you can either make your potential clients run away or magnetize them into your solution. The thing is that, in order to make the latter happen there are some things you need to do and understand. Success implies that you recognize the right path to follow with every one of your potential clients, and this should be paramount in every process.
Think about what makes a person want to invest their money in you? How can you make use of that knowledge to make your business more predictable and more profitable? Everything is in your favor if you have these answers and apply them directly to your business.
That’s why in this week’s episode we are going to be talking about these fundamental questions and the elements that conform the correct approach to this hook point. We’re going to be talking about the things you need in order to engineer that knowledge into your process.
If you can do it then you will literally be deadly and you and your people will be so much better around, that includes your clients too. Another great thing about this approach is that by learning it your potential clients become more motivated and who doesn’t want that?
So, if you’re interested in having the tools required to always win at this crucial point and develop your business in a bigger and more predictable way I encourage you to listen to this week’s whole episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
What if I told you there is money that’s been hiding away in your business? Money that can be yours again just by taking a closer look at your process and adjusting a few things.
Whenever I first begin a discussion with a new potential client the first place I look is for what I call leverage points, parts of the sales process that are opportunities to increase conversions. These leverage points are often unseen, which is a shame because they’re areas that just need simple tweaks to become an important source of income. These are the ones I put to work with my clients and believe me, they have massive potential.
Sometimes these aspects are kept aside, I can tell you there are big businesses that don't dedicate enough attention to it and even them are losing big money on these opportunities, as I say, they just wanna shovel more coal into that lead-generation machine and they don't realize that there's so much of that coal that's not even burning, it’s spilling out the side of the actual furnace.
These apparently silent losses are suffered by all kinds of businesses, which means yours can be suffering the same. That’s why I encourage you to get a hand on the tools to examine what is actually happening in your business.
The issues I’m talking about don’t necessarily happen because you are doing something wrong; the team you work with, your sales reps might not be as eager to convert a lead to a sale as you might be, because they haven't invested what you have in the business, be it money, time and effort.
But don’t worry because the solution to this is nothing more than attention and change. Let me tell you, the simplest things are often the most important ones, that’s why you need to train your eyes and ears and inspect the details of your process, look at the choreography, look at how you approach a potential client. Language becomes protagonist in the context of each interaction, one sentence or even one word can mark the difference between failure and amazing results.
In short terms, these opportunities can increase top and bottom-line revenue with absolutely no increase in costs or in workload, meaning they can become pure unadulterated additional profit that was there from the start, you just haven’t seen it yet.
In this week’s episode, we are going to be talking about which are these ways to successfully bring money back to your business. These are not complex sales strategies nor knowledge that demands intense research, they’re just things you have overlooked probably because you didn’t know they were there all along. It is money that’s been hiding in plain sight all this time.
So, if you want to learn more about ways to retrieve this money and amaze yourself with the results a well-focused evaluation and its respective changes can do for your business I invite you to listen to this week’s podcast so that you have the elements needed to work out the problems that are affecting your sales.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Establishing a solid, footsure relationship with your clients is a cornerstone of building success. It may require dedication and constant evaluation but if the work is done right, chances are you will be seeing more and more of them walking through your doors.
These days, people are very aware of certain approaches, certain techniques and certain information about sales training. Because of this ever-growing interest and popularity, we need to stay ahead of the curve and think if the approach we are currently taking is really the best one we can take.
Let’s take the context of a sale as an example. Following a script that indicates what to say and where to say it whilst making it sound like a normal conversation can be a difficult task to accomplish. Most importantly, the client can feel dragged into a forced and prefabricated chat, which is never a good thing.
That’s why in this week’s episode we’re going to be talking about four ways to make your sales process invisible. Ways that allow you to have a fluent, natural conversation with your clients without neglecting the actual sales process. These methods will nourish your business at the same time they allow you to bond more naturally with people.
Think of this, whenever you meet somebody, the words you choose and the direction you suggest with the phrases used have a great influence on how that person feels, more so, when that person is actually expecting something from you, as you are his or hers salesperson. Believe me, there are certain things you can say that can make people run away from a sale, or at least, that can make them feel very uncomfortable with the process.
Thankfully, there are some other ways that are the complete opposite of that, forms that can bypass the brain’s critical thinking enabling you to accomplish what many people can’t, a successful and unimposed sale.
In this podcast, we’re going to talk about simple actions you can do to improve your position from the client’s viewpoint, actions that make you stand from the rest. Remember, it’s always better if the client leaves with the impression of you being someone who works confidently and honestly with people rather than someone who pushes them into the desired direction through a stiff and stubborn pitch.
So, if you are interested in discovering these four ways to make your sales process invisible, I encourage you to listen to this week’s episode.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, I’m particularly pumped because we have got a mentor of mine James Schramko, a man who knows so much about business. He’s author of a longstanding successful podcast and wrote one of the best business books I’ve ever read “Work Less Make More”.
In this podcast, we’ll be trying to learn something from his mastery at so many aspects of business, like marketing, strategy, personal productivity, and sales.
In the early days of his career, James had a lot of success in the automotive industry as he ran luxury car dealerships, at the time he also started studying the great marketing minds of the world, therefore applying some of that knowledge in the way he ran the dealerships. Very techniques were put to the test, as well as his online studies. A combination that turned out to be quite successful in the way the business developed.
So, one day, sitting at his office he wondered: “What if those salespeople were selling my product and not the Mercedes Benz product and if the people upstairs were marketing my website and not the Mercedes website, what would that look like?
Years later he ended up replicating most of the functions of what the dealership had but in his own business, with way fewer overheads, less stress and a much higher profit margin, even bigger than the fifteen-million-dollar revenue the dealership had.
That is the importance of knowing how to use your time. It becomes useless to wear down yourself doing the most work if you can do a better, well-thought strategy that also happens to pay off more than you think.
That’s why we’ll be talking about how the big lessons he has learned in automotive sales and marketing are still cornerstones of the way he runs his actual online business. We’ll also be talking about the possibilities such platforms provide and how they are a different, sustainable business model. As James says “the online game has really changed the way that we buy things and sell things”
If you are interested in learning how to use your time wisely and produce bigger and better results than what you do now, I encourage you to listen to this whole interview.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this week’s episode, I interview Andrew Pierce; a 30-year-old man who is changing the world.
At 25, Andrew started with a fascination and interest in understanding why we do what we do, think how we think, his interest grew in spirituality, the Universal Laws and things of that nature.
So, he started off helping people with general anxiety and social anxiety.
As his business grew, he wanted to work with more high performers and business owners. The problem was that a lot of business owners didn’t see anxiety as something important; they normally push anxieties off to the side.
I had to ask him, “Do you think that burnout is getting more common in people generally, in entrepreneurs, or has it always been an issue, but now it's becoming more visible?”
What he answered amazed me. Not only, did he have a vision of it spiritually, by referring to the spiritual consciousness of humanity, he also had a social vision to answer these questions that refer to things that most business owners, or people that are out there trying to make it on their own, are experimenting with.
Something that we both agreed on was that burnout is getting more relevant these days. Burnout has to do with the myriad of opportunities that are being presented to everyone.
Right now, we have way more open to develop new things, thanks to the internet, but in that same way, we have people’s eyes on us. These things also generate more anxiety for society and burnout. It feels like being in a foggy place, where you don’t feel secure about where to go or which direction is the right one.
In this episode, Andrew exposes us to some red flags that people need to be aware of to avoid burnout themselves.
Usually, we know when a feeling of burnout arrises, yet we must learn to identify them and name them.
If you wish to learn how to identify the early signs of burnout and how you can avoid it and deal with anxiety, I encourage you to listen to this podcast in its entirety to learn these tools.
As long as you wish to stay in business, you’re going to be exposed to all of these emotions. It’s better to learn how to deal with it and become more self-conscious rather than dropping the things you love over the feeling of anxiety.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to be speaking with Kerwin Rae, a businessman, an entrepreneur, and an investor, generating in excess of $250 million.
We are going to be deconstructing one of the biggest deals in his career, the process, the results and the lessons learned, with the hope that you too can take away something valuable from his story.
The biggest deal of Kerwin’s career so far, he describes as not the biggest, but the most pivotal has been his Joint Venture partnership with business coach network, “Better Business Institute”. When he joined the business, it was doing about $400k a year, which he was able to turn to $8 million in just 18 months.
Along the way, were about 350 transactions, and expansion to five countries, teaching people how to become business coaches or consultants.
Kerwin mentions some of the largest blockages along the way were to do with customer and client support and having to take on a lot of risk at the beginning of the venture. He had to deal with the marketing, sales and travel costs, essentially taking on all the risk in the business, and initiate the support systems that were required to help more people become successful.
Additionally, the seminar business attracts a lot of egos, and this can amount to passive-aggressive conflicts here and there. What mind-set should you adopt to deal with these blockages? Figure out what you’re passionate about, and the reason for it. It’s one thing to be driven to make money, but if there’s no reason for it, you’ll get yourself into trouble.
After chasing money for years and years, Kerwin came to the conclusion that he was really searching for peace, not money after all. If you can’t truly figure out what you’re passionate about, if you can’t truly understand yourself, you are going to be taken advantage of.
Another tip is being able to see all the angles of potential possibility in that deal. When someone says no, they’re not saying it to the offer, they’re not saying it to the deal, they’re saying it to your presentation of the deal, the language, the structure.
A dealmaker is someone who can assess the situation, ask questions, see tiny cues and pick-up on little throwaway lines that enable you to instantly repackage the deal. You have to be giving them what they want, not what you want, this is where a lot of people fall down in deal-making.
The thing that brought Kerwin to success was the team. Three big personalities working well together, with complementary skills. In this way, they were able to position the deals in the best way possible. Rather than selling, they had applications, applications that led to an interview.
Now, in the interview, the clients were expecting to be sold, but they weren’t. Instead, they would ask them, why should we take you on as a client?
Some term this reverse selling or negative selling, and although it is used more commonly nowadays, this was almost unheard of when they brought it in. We’ve talked about this before, when you end up forcing a client to do business with you, there is no doubt they will become a nightmare client. They will be dissatisfied with your product or service, and they will leave bad reviews polluting your business.
Finally, Kerwin mentions how important it is to follow your intuition when signing on to a deal. Every time you don’t follow your intuition in a deal, you end up in a position that you don’t want to be in, and can’t get out of. Once you say you’re going to do something, whether it be with or against your intuition, you must follow through on that deal.
Learn to train your intuition and follow it, and you will no longer find yourselves in this situation. If you say no to a deal because it doesn’t intuitively feel right, it is a very relieving feeling a few months down the track when you’ve found yourself a new deal, and everything starts going downhill for the original one.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
We're going to be talking about three massive myths that traditional sales trainers still want you to believe. When it comes to sales, there are so many different approaches to take. In fact, last time I checked, if you search for ‘sales training’ on Google, there are 150 million results to choose from. The options certainly aren’t scarce.
Given that there are 172 million opinions out there on how you should sell, I'm going to share with you what I believe to be the three biggest myths out there in sales, and what I recommend you do instead. I reckon I've made more mistakes in sales than anybody else, which hopefully qualifies me to help other people. Trust me, amongst all these mistakes, I've compiled a very long list of things that simply don't work.
Myth number one: you need to close hard. This is an interesting one and it's certainly open to interpretation. Allow me to give you some definitions. If ‘closing hard’ means convincing somebody to do something against their will, we are talking about the number one reason that salespeople get such a bad reputation.
In this situation, it's a total myth for a couple of reasons. One, somebody who is convinced against their will, will more often than not become a problematic customer. So if you're having to drag them kicking and screaming over the line to do business with you, it’s not going to end well.
I know enough about selling to be able to convince somebody to come and do business with me; but if they are not the right fit, you probably shouldn't accept that person as a client in the first place. They may never want to subject anyone they know or care about to the same experience, which means that they'll never refer business to you, and that’s not a good thing.
However, if closing hard simply means doing everything you can to dissolve the barriers that stand between a willing buyer, and being able to assist them in finding a solution, I’m cool with that.
Myth number two: salespeople need to become better closers. I don't agree with this, and here's why. Saying that someone needs to get better at inadvertent commercial closing, implies that the ID portion of the sales conversation that precedes is not as important. It's only the end that matters.
In my experience, nothing can be further from the truth. Securing a commitment is obviously important, and you need to have language for that. But you shouldn't do so at the expense of all other criteria. If you don’t create a trusting environment, you can try to close them as hard as you like, but you aren’t going to achieve much at all.
On the other hand, you can set the relationship upfront by connecting with the client, asking well-planned, strategic questions, and making a well-thought-out offer that's actually relevant to your potential client. Obviously, there are going to be some people that don't agree with me on this and that's alright. But it's based on my own actual experience, not just theory.
If a sales team is having problems at the end of a sales conversation, it's almost always because something was missed upstream in the conversation. How much further upstream? Probably within the first 30% of the conversation.
Myth number three: great salespeople are born, not made. To be good at sales, you simply need to want to be good at sales. Where there's intention and motivation, there's also a good chance of success. People who aren't motivated to sell, won't sell, simple as that.
With the right process, if you can provide them with the right framework and phraseology, you can get almost anyone selling consistently. Will they be a superstar? Well, maybe not. But can you get consistent results? In my experience, absolutely.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
We’re going to be talking about the three biggest reasons that cause people to give up when implementing new ideas. Implementing new ideas is interesting and exciting, as it promises an exciting new future or another potential failure to learn from. The most part of it has to do with your mindset.
In addition to that, implementing something new that actually works can be an absolute game-changer. In some cases, small hinges can swing big doors.
I've been in business now for 30 years and I've experienced my fair share of both. Why do people give up? In my experience, it comes down to three core reasons.
The first one is not understanding statistical significance. The second one is that it’s a 180-degree change from what they're already doing. And the third one is having too long a delay without results.
Years ago, I heard this saying, and it's always resonated with me, “If you do something often enough, a pattern will appear.” I talk a lot about this when it comes to my clients implementing a direct strategy, but it also applies across the board in sales.
Essentially, statistical significance is making sure that you're actually doing enough reps, so to speak, on a large enough scale to confidently judge the overall result trends. For example, if you're sending out a direct corporate pack and you make a hundred calls, you’d probably get one or two appointments for every 10 packs you sent out.
If you send your first 10 packs out, are you going to get those results straight away? You might. And I've had that happen with some people for sure, but it's not likely to happen in the first 10 packs. The reason being, you will need to have sent out 50 to 100 packs before a pattern in the results begins to emerge. Only then are your results statistically significant.
A few years ago, I made a mistake that cost me big time. I ended up operating my business in a totally different business model. And the results brought my business to its knees.
I'm lucky that a bad year in business for me isn’t a tragedy, but my revenue ended up taking a huge hit that year and I learned a heap from it. It pretty much set me back 6 to 12 months on my journey, I had changed things too quickly.
I needed to start with small steps, before beginning to scale it, rather than just ditching my previous business model for this new unproven one. You need to test the waters first, and then you can start to allocate more focus and energy to the new idea or model.
So, when do we move on? At what point do you cut your losses and simply put it down to experience? Well, the answer is going to vary from project to project. You need an evaluation of what's happened. If you aren't getting results, it typically comes down to three things.
Has the strategy worked for others? If it hasn't worked for others, then the strategy is probably flawed. But if it has worked for others, then the issue is unlikely to be strategy. If it's not the strategy itself, it could be the execution of the strategy.
Are your team doing the right thing, or are they approaching it incorrectly? There can be a number of moving parts in a network, and it only takes one of those moving parts moving in the wrong way to compromise the end result.
It may also be a training issue, so having someone to guide and coach you during implementation can make a massive difference in this regard. In fact, in some research completed by Aveiro, Bain, and Copeland, it was clearly shown that training alone can produce up to 22% improvement in results. Furthermore, training combined with a structured ongoing coaching and implementation program can actually improve results by up to 88%.
I always focus on creating some quick wins in the first four to six weeks for a new client. And I have three specific strategies that are designed to do exactly that. That way, when we implement some longer-term strategies, we're actually working on a solid foundation of success.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
We are going to be talking about the five critical mistakes that people make in their sales. I heard sales referred to, by a business person that I have a lot of respect for, as a moving target. It's ever-evolving. It's always changing. Markets are shifting.
The strategies that worked 5, 10, 15 years ago don't necessarily work today. There are principles of human influence at the core which remain the same, but the way that these principles need to be executed to remain effective is constantly changing.
The first mistake you need to avoid in sales is talking too much. Years ago, a good talker and a good salesperson went hand in hand. To some extent this remains true; a good talker with no structured sales approach will come across enthusiastic, but enthusiastically boring.
To be great at sales, you need to know how to string a sentence together. In my experience, the best salespeople are often the best listeners, not the best talkers.
Being able to listen intently, place yourself in another’s shoes, and emotionally relate to your client’s position, is infinitely more powerful than simply being a good talker.
The second mistake is in too much prescribing without enough diagnosing. It is always noticeable when a salesperson jumps the gun to tell someone about their product or service. I have heard it referred to on occasion as premature elaboration. The best salespeople quickly and effectively diagnose before they jump into a product presentation mode.
The third mistake you can make is selling to someone who isn’t a great fit for your product. They simply won’t yield good results, becoming dissatisfied with your product or service and going on to potentially write a bad online review. They’ll go around telling others about their negative experience as well, damaging your word of mouth reputation.
The fourth one is using clichés that put people off. What comes out of your mouth can win someone over or throw them away. Years ago, I had hired a colleague who used to say, “Let's talk Turkey.” It used to drive me nuts.
I don't know why that’s an acceptable term because what’s the general connotation of the word Turkey? It's not that positive. I just couldn’t understand that with the abundance of words available in the English language, there wasn’t a better way of describing the act of chatting to someone about business.
Words are either used constructively, adding to the experience, or destructively, subtracting from the experience. Clichés are worth avoiding. If you've got clichés in your industry, then avoid them. It makes you sound like everybody else, use words that distinguish you.
The fifth mistake is lying or not being genuine. This one will be the most detrimental to your sales if left unaddressed. Regardless of how good your sales system is, if you aren’t being yourself and don’t value your product and company, you will lose sales. You need to understand what you sell and be perfectly clear on your own value.
There is certainly a bigger list of mistakes a salesperson can make, but these are definitely some of the biggest ones. So remember, to be a great salesperson, you don’t have to be a great talker. Listen to your client, place yourself in their shoes, and diagnose the problem, before even thinking about prescribing a solution. Using your emotional intelligence to grasp the client’s situation is more powerful than any cliché driven pitch you can deliver.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
We're going to be talking about how saying thank you for your time to a potential client when you go to see them, may actually kill the sale. We’re also going to tackle how business people unnecessarily subordinate their time, their positioning, and their value.
I see this a lot: as salespeople, we unnecessarily subordinate our value; and doing so really harms our positioning with our client, and the perceived value of our brand and what we sell. We tend to undervalue what we do.
We have continually drummed into ourselves that the “customer is king,” and that “the customer is always right,” because they're the ones that are paying us. These things are true to some extent. But our overall value in a transaction is often as high, if not higher, than the customer that we're buying from. After all, there are way more customers to sell to, than there are suitable businesses to buy from, let alone ones that offer great advice and great service.
There are a couple of common phrases that businesses and salespeople tend to use that devalue their position in the eyes of a client. The first one is: “You know, I'll just take 10 minutes of your time,” or “Oh, thanks so much for your time.” There's no reason for it. We're making ourselves sound less important than the people we’re selling to.
I remember a conversation that I had with one of my early mentors when I sold Quicksilver and Ripcurl. We were talking about a particularly prickly retailer who had a habit of speaking very rudely and abruptly to agents.
For a reason that I can't recall, I'd been on the rough end of one of this guy's rants. I remember my mentor saying something that stuck with me: “Sometimes we forget that our clients need us as much, if not more than we need them.”
If you think about it, what would happen if there were no longer any vendors? It’s pretty hard to run a retail store if all the vendors suddenly went away, so it should be an equal exchange of energy when two business equals meet.
You might think, “Oh, you know, my business is so competitive that we have to try to sell at every opportunity we get.” I agree with that, but you don't have to unnecessarily disable your chances before you even get the chance to have the conversation.
So replace “Thank you for your time,” with “Hey, great to meet you.” You don't need to thank the person for their time because they could potentially be thanking you for your time too. Replace “I’ll only take 10 minutes of your time,” with “The process would typically take us between 10 and 15 minutes. Is that okay with you?”
Before, I've talked about a number of other phrases, words and overused clichés that you need to avoid at all costs in a client conversation if you want to improve your chances of starting and finishing a sales conversation that actually results in your client buying from you. I urge you to think about this: make sure that you understand that your time and your value is as valuable, if not more than the person that you are talking to - not to feel elitist or arrogant, but just understand that your time is just as valuable.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Naturally, the more time you’ve got that you can free up, the more time you can allocate to working with clients and generating revenue, which is exactly what we’re all about.
Back in the day, I had a mentor by the name of Chet Holmes, who sadly passed away a few years ago. He was always looking for ways to improve his time-management skills.
One day, he attended a time management course, where he was told to record everything that he did for three whole months… and that was just the first step of many. Unfortunately, this gives you no time to spend on high-impact areas like talking to clients, going through offers with people, writing emails that you can broadcast to your leads. All that stuff suffers, which means your sales results are either stagnant or will begin to go backwards.
So, faced with the irony of this process, he developed his own system to master your time-management.
You want a system that works. You don’t want something that’s going to take an hour to do each day because you know you could be spending that hour on something much more productive. What’s classified as high-impact? If you’re in sales, it’s creating sales, more customers, and more revenue with existing customers.
You can increase sales without working any longer. Work the same hours, make more money. The first thing that we need to do is look at where all our time is going.
If you’ve got people that are coming to you throughout the day saying, “Hey, can I borrow you for a minute?”, Chet used to talk about giving them a notepad. They would list all their questions and they would nail them all in a half-hour. Something like that can make a huge difference – organizing time with people, rather than just giving them random access to you.
The other thing is to block out time. If you’ve got a bunch of telephone calls to make, then block out an hour. You’ll end up with voicemail about seven times out of ten, so you can make 20 calls, speak to six people, and get it over with within the hour.
Onto the important steps, step one is to touch it once. What does that mean? Don’t look at something, read it, put it aside and plan on coming back to it. If you’re going to touch it, smash it out and move onto the next thing.
Step two is to refine your lists. Rather than having 35 things on your to-do list, prioritize the six must-do's. You should ask yourself, which six things will be the most important to tick-off today?
The third step is to plan when, and how much time you’re going to allocate to each task. Once you know what you have to get done in the morning, your subconscious mind will work on it overnight and make it much easier to take-on once you’re up.
Another concept is one that I learned from Brian Tracy, in his book called, “Eat that Frog”. The idea behind this book is that you should do the thing that you least want to do, first. The reason he mentions the frog, is that if the first thing he had to do at the start of the day was eat a frog, then everything else would be pretty smooth-sailing after that. It would, by comparison, be pretty easy.
Step number four, plan the day then prioritize. Make sure that your six must-do's are high-impact things. We’ve sort of touched on this already, but prioritizing is massive.
Similarly, the final step relates to these statistics – 70-80% of all filing is never referred to again. Ask yourself, will I survive if I throw this away? Will I be able to get this information somewhere else?
If so, then it is junk. I urge you to put these steps into practice. We live in a world that is full of distractions. We need a system.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Today, we are going to talk about how to increase your chances of success by 70%, because no matter what you’re doing, in life or in business, you should always be experimenting with new methods to increase your chances of success.
In our quest to increase revenue and attract more clients, we all get to a point where we really do have to start testing our ideas, the point where you've planned something – a new idea, a new product or a new strategy that you really want to implement, but you start to second-guess yourself, and then to second-guess your second-guesses.
I'm speaking from firsthand experience, I’ve been there. The most important advice I can offer is to just try something! Test it out, and see what happens, see what the market returns to you.
When you start to second-guess, that's when you know you've just got to try it out and see what happens.
I read this fascinating article recently, first published around 2005. The article recounts a study of patients who had severe medical conditions and required significant lifestyle changes in order to live.
The unfortunate result was that after only 12 months, 90% of the patients had reverted back to their old lifestyles, virtually guaranteeing an impending death. These were people that were super overweight and were drinking and smoking.
So, faced with the imminent threat of death, the vast majority of people, 90%, still failed to make more productive choices.
Contrastingly, there was another group, a much more successful one, which had an 80% success rate.
How did they achieve an 80% success rate? Well, here's what they did differently: they were involved in peer support sessions.
So essentially, they met on a regular basis and they discussed their progress, their struggles, and the things that they had been challenged within their quest to change. They encouraged each other and supported each other, and as a result, the majority of them stayed on track.
By having others hold them accountable and encouraging them, they increased their chances of success by seven times: a 700% higher chance of success. So what does this mean for us, and how can we learn from this study?
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In a competitive market? Or are things slowing down?
No matter which one, you can smash your sales results with six ideas.
Businesses hit rough spots all the time. Forget about depressions, how can you compete when you’re being undercut left and right? Actually, these are some tactical opportunities that are passing you by.
When we break it down, our advice is all about shifting focus away from your price tag and placing it on your value.
We won’t lie to you; this isn’t a cheat button. But, if you follow my outlines, I’m sure you’ll see positive results.
The first one is to lead with value. While everyone else is pitching ideas, you be the ones to bring out a demo. Actions speak loudly.
We know there’s a balance—not everyone can work for free to provide this upfront value, but a free appraisal or consultation with some description should be an easy option. In most cases, someone may not be aware of everything your business offers.
In the “Book the Challenger” sale, I feature my one-day professional sales masterclass. Then, I highlight a study displaying how your sales process is actually more important than your product.
So, how can we capitalize on this?
In my questionnaire, I asked, “How many times do you follow-up?” Across the entire sales team, it averaged out at around three times.
Most non-converting sales are made during a fifth or sixth follow-up. So, it’s absolutely crucial to maintain a great procedure. Massive opportunities are left out in the cold because clients weren’t ready at the time, and the salesperson gave up too soon. Not to mention the pool of your consistent clients…
There is gold in a network. Build your lists, and one list you can’t forget is the list of potential buyers. Someone already thinking about purchasing is more likely to do so when you follow-up.
After the initial inquiry, I think 50% of your potential crowd will buy within 18 months. However, only 20% will buy within the first 90 days. The missing 30% chunk is the people spread out between those times.
The best way to start this converting process is by email. Ask them if they’re interested. More than likely, the answer is yes.
Last week, a client had a similar success story. One potential buyer was marked as no because they inquired a better service five months earlier. When they emailed her, she just needed that simple prodding and flipped to a yes!
Circumstances change for people (sometimes daily), and you must be on top of their mind when they do. Also, make sure you’re keeping their needs in mind. If you can help them avoid landmines, this can massively improve your credibility for them. Help with no strings attached is a great way to build trust.
This example can be shown through different changes: legislation, local laws, or competitors. You can’t put a price on a trusted network.
The next idea is “clean the shade.” When I was the National Sales Marketing Manager for Onnit Sunglasses, one thing I did exponentially more with retailers in slower markets was to visit each store, rearrange the displays, and clean the eyewear.
This simple process achieved several strategic goals, one of which is attracting people. Customers crowd around the displays, and often, I could sell a few pairs for the retailer.
This allowed us to take inventory, and we often found gaps. Now, I understand that’s not applicable to every business, but it should hold as an example for most. Here’s the key takeaway: how can you polish your act?
Find a valid business reason to contact a potential client and offer them something. This can be in the spirit of spontaneity, or you can simply give them something of value for free.
With our help, they’re avoiding costly mistakes. This tactic is also a great way to cut through the spam and grab someone’s attention. What better way to build a customer base than through trust and a spirit of cooperation?
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Say we have a friend that owns a business, and they might have one or two sales employees. Perhaps that business owner has been selling their own product for years, and they've found success in working hard.
Soon, they reach a spot where they have both a warm market and a successful network for referrals.
In this lucky example, our friend has happened upon a sales type that everyone dreams of: effortless high conversion rates. When they meet, they transform those clients into buyers. But be wary, every success story comes to a tipping point—and it’s crucial to recognize it.
Time and again, I’ve had to fix this mistake because most people just don’t see it coming. Successful business owners say, “Right, I’m going to hire another salesperson.” And they do, but then the salary for a competent sales executive is upwards of a hundred grand. Sometimes, depending on your industry, they’re even more expensive.
Now, the employee’s salary isn’t the problem. The big mistake I see is the lack of systems. When I say “system,” I mean: what is your business’ sales process that your newly hired employee is meant to use?
Often, a fresh employee will implement their own habits, or they’ll try to use skills they learned at their previous job. This can be a huge problem. So, you want to have this conversation with your new employee soon, or even apply this during your selection process.
Don’t hire the wrong person simply because you lack a system. If you have a strong one in place, then it makes it easier to choose a new team member. This goes especially for Australia. I’m always saying to people: if you’re going to pay for a full-time employee, you want to make sure that you have got the best person, right?
As a business owner, time is money. And you need a fresh hire that can be brought up to speed with product confidence quickly, so that they can exceed company goals.
There’s nothing worse for a salesperson than to not find success. It’s soul-crushing to be in a new job for months and come up empty-handed. If you can help, then you’re investing in your new employee.
The best way to assist is with a system.
Every good business needs one to help train employees and get them to the “I am exceeding sales goals” point. This would be even better if it happened during an approved time period. Frame it like this: “This is your induction program. For the first 30 days, we’re focusing on product knowledge. The next 30-day period will be client introductions.”
In worst-case scenarios, a new employee will spin their wheels and then make excuses for not selling. One thing leads to another, and a year later, you’ve invested too much time in this person for no profit.
However, I’ve seen a pattern. There is a specific transition period between “I need a new salesperson” and “I’ve hired the perfect employee.”
The key here is that you must have an ongoing motivation and management system throughout the hiring and onboarding process. Otherwise, bad habits might develop that neither you nor your new hire will benefit from. But what is the easiest way to set up this system?
To start, your best first step is a map.
Unfortunately, most people don’t even realize their process because success often comes from an innate skill set. This makes it harder to map out.
The next part is differentiating between what you as a business owner can do that your new salesperson cannot.
My number one focus is helping you navigate areas like these so that you can hire someone and have the confidence that they’ll succeed. You need reliability first and foremost.
With my help, you’ll not only confidently hire a salesperson, but you’ll also invest well in marketing. This way, your company funds will be placed in the right spots. Everyone wants two or three salespeople for every 10 leads and three to four conversions from these leads.
Having awareness will take you from “I need a salesperson” to “I’ve got a great new employee, and they’re exceeding all expectations.” Remember, a system is your best friend.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
The age-old question: are salespeople made or born?
From my experience, there is a definite answer—some people are born with an innate talent for excellent sales.
Often, natural-born salespeople are questioned about their process. How are they so successful? Can it be explained? For someone wanting to increase their sales (and don’t think they’re a born salesperson), your first step is to be willing to break out of your comfort zone.
If you aren’t willing to improve, then you’re starting out on the wrong foot. No one can teach the obstinate. However, if you begin with a positive mindset, even those without a predisposition can be great at sales.
Even I don’t technically have the personality for it. When I took a psychometric test, I was classified as an introvert. That, paired with other qualities, means I’m not predisposed to be good at sales, but that’s just on paper.
This is exactly why I set up my business. When I first started in sales, I didn’t have any help nor a mentor. These are things everyone deserves to be successful, and I want to be the mentor I wish I had at the beginning.
Over the years, I’ve excelled at sales because I studied, practiced, and taught. The best thing about teaching others is that it gives you a better grasp of the subject. Through student-teacher collaboration, sales techniques can be refined and improved.
Honestly, I’m just a person that believes in the process. Through a genuine hunger for mastery, I’ve collected a series of practices, teachings, and mentorships from the best in the industry. Essentially, this is the reason I’ve found success in sales—even carving a living out of it.
So, can anyone become a world-class, top 5% salesperson?
Let me give you an example. A man, the top salesperson for his coffee company, contacted me recently.
In his mobile coffee franchise, its success brought a system, and through it came scripts. Because of the stagnation, he chose to leave it, and now he sells advertising in hotel lobbies.
So, there are interactive screens in these lobbies that persuade hotel guests to plan their trips. They can easily find local events, etc. to visit. For anyone taking a trip, these lobby screens are an attractive asset for choosing a hotel to stay in.
And this man oversees selling hotels with these interactive screens.
However, he was in over his head and had no idea where to start. Without the familiarity of a system, he felt overwhelmed.
This is the problem most people have; they feel lost when encountering an unfamiliar area. It’s necessary though. How else can you find the right system where you fit if you don’t try new things? It’s easier if you organize.
My question to you is: what is it that you’re doing to systemize your process?
Also, how well are you paying attention to your front-end engagement? I’d say that there are 6-9 leverage points to increase sales.
Let’s start with the stage-to-stage conversion. I’ll break it down into simple ideas:
- What is your conversation rate from inquiry to the first appointment?
- What happens in your initial conversion?
- What happens in your initial chat conversation using social media?
- What does your initial email chat look like?
- How are you enticing people to respond by email?
Your process needs to take all of these into account. The rate of people converting from the first appointment to second (or even straight to a sale) is what determines your actual strategy.
Your plan must consider what works and what doesn’t. Carefully look at your conversion rate through each stage, from initial contact to quote.
This is what separates a good salesperson from an excellent salesperson: proper planning. If you don’t have the innate talent for sales, this is exactly how you get better. In my opinion, the person that plans well, using data and actionable goals, is the most successful.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
If you want to sell well, your biggest asset is your mindset, and today, that’s exactly what we’re going to cover. Once you have the three most important elements, nothing will stand in your way. It’s interesting that most people are unaware of these day-to-day basics for self-improvement.
Imagine a triangle and cut it horizontally into three smaller pieces (more at the top). In this example, you’ll find it compares to your results for sales—with great sales being the outcome.
But how do you reach this outcome?
With these mindset basics mastered, it’ll gift you with accelerated conversion rates. This all stems from people seeing your brand, being wowed by it, and spreading positive word-of-mouth info.
For the best results, there are three key elements to align:
1. How you feel about yourself.
2. How you feel about your product.
3. How you feel about your company.
If you aren’t 100% confident, then you’re compromising any sales action you take. Lack of certainty is the number one killer in business. It’s not always your fault though. Problems at home or anything to conflict your mindset hinder progress in this regard.
One other addition to this list is how you feel about your product. And I can tell you—your product must have 100% of your support as well. Time and again, I’ve worked with salespeople who have no interest in their own product, either it’s too expensive or otherwise.
A direct result is their sales are poor, or they let their bias lower their quality. Don’t let this happen to you. Believe in your product.
The ideal salesperson needs to own their own product and find it useful. When you have hands-on experience with what you’re selling (and love it), it makes for a genuine sales pitch. Remember, people respond to authenticity much more often than pure information.
Another aspect to work on is how you feel about your company and workforce. Keep in mind that 100% support in this arena will only benefit you overall. When you can trust your team, you can trust the process of getting your product (or service) to the right people with the right energy.
The market has hard to navigate on your own, so building a strong team is essential. Support them, and infuse them with the earlier mindsets so that you all work towards the same goal: selling a useful product that you all believe in.
Let’s reexamine that diagram we spoke of earlier. If its foundation is solid, then you have the proper support for the rest of this mindset change. For a real-life example, think about how you sound on the phone, or in conversation, when you’re having a good day and believe in yourself. You sound better, happier, and more attractive to your customers.
On the phone, 80% of our communication is non-verbal. It's in the tone, the cadence, and the confidence that's portrayed in our voice.
Similarly, in person, 96% of how you communicate is non-verbal. Your body language communicates much faster (and stronger) than your words alone. Think of your facial expressions, and how much a simple eyebrow raised at the right time, or a smile, can change a conversation.
If your mind is aligned, it shows up in how you present yourself, how you sound, and even comes across in what you write.
So, what would your results look like? The outcome will be a change in the market, how your clients see you, how they hear you, how they perceive you, and how they read what you send them.
Remember those three points I mentioned earlier? Use them as the foundation of your triangle. Like pillars, they’ll support everything you do: how you feel about yourself, how you feel about the product you sell, and how you feel about the company that you work for.
I’ll leave you with one last piece of advice: make sure to keep your promises. This builds customer loyalty and trust.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email follow-up templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I spoke with Mandy Hopper, a certified strength and conditioning coach (focusing on netball), with a Master’s in Sports Science.
Mandy works with the West Coast Warriors Netball Club, helping their athletes get even better. She has coordinated the strength and conditioning programs for the State League Squad under the Twenties, and the Men's State League Team.
In addition to this work, she regularly visits the Warriors Academy team and various netball clubs around WA to speak about strength and conditioning--especially as it relates to netball and running strength sessions.
For women’s fitness, Mandy is passionate about helping them lose weight and build muscle. After surmounting personal issues, she crafted an amazing program to help women lose weight, keep fit, and be strong.
Mandy noticed that most Sports Science graduates struggle to get jobs. Some ended up doing things in a commercial gym space, and this is more common if they did not have a master's degree or a Post-grad.
She emphasized that the job market is hard, and she didn't want to end up working in those spaces. Her guiding light was her desire to help athletes. It carried her through the rough, unknown starting period.
Mandy’s vision always included physical therapy, while her mother reminded her to focus on other athletes. Through these competing ideals, she found a balance. Of course, strength and conditioning were important, but she never gave up physical therapy because of her love of working young women.
For her, making an impact was fulfilling. However, she discovered growth from rewriting her boot camps and expanding her focus to a wider scale.
Even though netball and athletic conditioning were her primary goals, Mandy never lost her passion for physical therapy.
Others told her initially that netball had no market, trying to discourage her from a career that might not go anywhere. Looking at it from her inside perspective, Mandy saw the highest amount of injuries (knee and ankle especially) in any female sport. Netball needed someone to help.
The sport is a 10-week private program that they run, which is open to any 12 to 17-year old athletes. They started running seminars and in with the first wave, she ended up helping 10 girls.
Before Mandy knew it, she received even more emails. She got fantastic results in the first 10 weeks in terms of their movement quality and strength improvement. And best yet, the girls weren’t injuring their knees.
With her Warriors affiliation, Mandy already stocked up on email contacts. Using these, she sent out summation emails, reinforcing the importance for girls to join this trending mission.
Her program boomed. With the personal training side, Mandy emphasized the importance of proper sales processes.
She had to open her mind, saying, “You're not a salesperson, but you have the answers to this person’s problem. They need your help.”
Once she became confident with sales, the business soared. It’s easy when you can master both sides of it: personal training and financial matters.
What is her biggest takeaway? For Mandy Hopper, the biggest lesson learned is making sure you have a solid network. Everyone talks and everyone trusts one another—make sure all are on the same page.
To learn more about Mandy Hopper visit: https://linktr.ee/mhperformance1
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
I recently talked to Tracie Parisi on the show and we discussed how you can automate your follow. I recently met Tracy at a Masterminding event that we were both involved with, where we've been talking a lot about this whole idea of automating follow-up.
Tracie started in business in her mid-20s, because as she noted, she hates being told what to do. She started working in the legal profession as a legal secretariat, but it didn't work for her.
Then, she got into property investing. She went on to buy multiple properties and make some great coins out of that. Tracie has four children and she needed something that could work around the kids. They had some criteria and there was nothing they could say that they wanted to buy.
Eventually, they raised nearly a million dollars. Her mom and dad also invested and they started one of Victoria's largest indoor-place inters cafes. She had the kids at work with them. She even noted that she was in labor with her fourth child, serving customers!
Having come from a small business where everything counts, she said that there was a disconnect between where they're generating the leads and inquiries. The conversion side isn't happening, which led her down the path of actually really care about her client's results - not just what she does for them but what happens in the rest of their business and how much revenue they create.
Tracie also noted that the first mistake was here’s no system in place to make sure that there was an opportunity to create meaningful conversations. So, she used to make sure that not only did the leads go through to the CRM, but also it would go to a shared spreadsheet; because she wanted to know what they were doing.
The second one is what's called the ‘law of diminishing intent’. It says that “Today, it's a priority; but the further I get away from today into the future, the more that the intensity of that priority is going to diminish.”
Tracie positions it as: “Let's just keep trying to create the opportunity for a conversation.” It doesn't mean someone can't say no, but it is a conversation that creates sales and everything else we want.
For Tracie, the first most important thing to keep in mind when you're putting together an automated follow-up system is a platform. The platform needs to work and it needs to be simple to use.
The second one is going to a conference and making sure you take one thing away and implemented in your business. As business owners, what's the highest and best use of our time now? Where should we be spending our time?
Is it sitting behind the computer and putting in a follow-up system in place? Or is it having someone else do it for us? If it is you, then great. If it's not, then find someone who can do it for you.
Through Tracie and I’s conversations, I'm in the process of being able to go back to all these people I've worked with; and I've been giving them what to say and what to write and how often to write and giving them how to do all that manually. But being able to help these people to implement the system that I've put in place with them on autopilot is just it.
It just lights me up. I saw all this stuff; and for me, it all exists in timing. It all exists in language. Obviously, the language needs to be contextual to the industry and the relationship and all that sort of stuff. All that nuance is built-in with the stuff I'm already doing and what we're going to be able to do is to make it hands-free.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
On today's episode, we are talking about the Phoenix, because for me, the Phoenix is the perfect metaphor for business, you must be wondering, "why is the Phoenix the perfect metaphor for business?" Well, about seven years ago, I transitioned from being in a partnership with a business partner and I went out on my own.
I had a number of things going on at the time, my first wife had just passed away very suddenly and I had a three and a half-year-old son and a five-month-old son, it was a particularly challenging time. So I created a new brand and I came up using the likeness of a Phoenix.
When I looked into it, I realized how much significance it had. I mean, it had some personal significance for me because I was literally having to relaunch my entire life, not just my entire business, but I had to relaunch myself personally, I had these two children under the age of four, one of which was basically a newborn.
The most popular myth of the Phoenix is Arabic and in Arabic, the Phoenix archetype was for a thousand years, then it dies and it is literally reborn through its own ashes. That had personal significance for me at the time because I literally had to relaunch my entire deal, including my business.
That was why I adopted the Phoenix as my brand and have run with it ever since. But from a business perspective, and this is the main point that I wanted to get to here, is that when you're in business, you get to the end of the month and even if you've had a really good month, the next month doesn't care.
The Phoenix is such a perfect metaphor for sales because you know, it's not about what you did last month, what did you do for me lightly? And what are you doing now? When was the last time that you got in front of a potential client? How many conversations did you have last month that could have resulted in business taking place?
You know, so many businesses out there can get busy dealing with the clients that they've already got or looking and focusing in the minutia of running a business that they forget about what the actual lifeblood of a business is. And that is generating new business, coming up with new ways that you can help and service and delight your clients and give them a fantastic outcome. Often we get complacent and we sometimes forget to do the things that have made us successful.
It's a very easy thing to lose sight of, busy work can eclipse the things that deep down we know we should be doing. That's why I love the imagery and the branding around the Phoenix, because the Phoenix, every thousand years it dies and it has to be reborn through its own ashes.
I know this is a slightly unusual, subject, it's more of a metaphorical or a philosophical type subject for us to be talking about. But, I've had this brand for a while and I haven't really talked about it that much, but I recently had somebody asked me about it and I explained it to them, it turned out that they were quite fascinated.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
There are a number of serious problems associated with entrepreneurs and depression. This has become more and more prevalent in recent years. I've been looking and examining some of the dominoes that fall along that road: what is it that causes somebody to come into a place where they start to feel surrounded with very few choices.
I think that it's worthwhile exploring that. When people want to begin a business, the first thing that they'll do is need some seed capital. But if you don't have enough money or you don't have a history of being able to borrow money and tie it back, then the banks aren't going to give you any money.
What would you then do? You might go looking for investors. Investors can come in many forms, even in the form of mom and dad.
Let's say you might've had one really successful business. And so, you go to start a second successful business. I expect the second business to be as successful as the first. Often, that's really not the case.
That first success can be isolated. If you go into a different industry that you don't know much about or perhaps you haven't done as much due diligence and research and really set yourself up to take a goal straight off the bat, that second business might not go very well at all.
I think it's the pressure of having to let the people down who are closest to you is what causes people to be depressed. And in extreme cases, and I'm starting to hear about this more and more: entrepreneurs are taking their own life.
And why is that? Because there's science that they've borrowed money off people that had cited them, and they've got to go back to those people, cap in hand and say, “I lost your money. I haven't been able to do the things that I really wanted to do and I haven't been successful in this business.”
Some people dread that conversation. Who wouldn't? I was thinking about what's the antidote to that. That is actually pretty simple and it's about bootstrapping; it's the philosophy that I have myself.
It's the philosophy that I typically work with. I had clients that have come to me that have had an idea that they want us to launch, and they didn't have the first idea about how to do it.
Probably the best example would be the PC client that I've worked with who is just going gray gaps while she's just creating some incredible wins all over the place. When we first started, she had a payday business.
But she had this idea and this vision of what she wanted to create. Now we've grown that business to a point where she's now doing four or five times as much. We bootstrapped that business; we've grown it and established a solid foundation at each level of growth.
If you know somebody who is an entrepreneur or if you are thinking of starting up your own business, before you borrow a whole bunch of money and set up really flash offices and spend a truckload of money on marketing, think about how you can grow that business organically.
Think about how you can get to that first level and build that solid level of growth at that first level. Do that by bootstrapping. And by bootstrapping, I mean, use that time to do your own lead generation.
Look at building your own database. Get off your farm and go knock on doors. Contact some people. You can use your network for introductions and leverage without having to use your network for borrowing money.
The other cool thing about bootstrapping is that you get to market test your idea so you can get feedback before you actually go on down and throw a whole bunch of money into it. Before you go on tip a whole bunch of extra resources in, in the form of money or time into it, you can actually market test your minimal viable product before you go and invest a whole truckload of money.
I know that mental health is a massive thing. Hopefully, if there's somebody who sees this, it'll help them to sort of kick things off on the right foot.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Welcome to Master Dealmaker’s Secrets. Today, we're going to be talking about one of the single most overlooked things in sales that cause a massive disconnect between the number of clients that are being converted and the ones that aren't.
Let me give you a bit of background that one of the biggest requests that I get is people tell me that their guys aren't converting or not converting enough. The word closing has the connotation of something that happens at the end.
Everyone's obsessed with what happens at the end of the actual sales conversation. What they are often not aware of is that the decision to actually work with you or to purchase from you actually happens a lot further upstream in the process than many people are aware of.
It really does boil down to this: a purchase takes place first in the mind of your potential client only when the perceived cost of doing nothing becomes greater than the investment in your product or service. We can boil this down to as simple as an analogy as you sitting on the couch.
Bear with me for a cigarette. You're sitting on the couch, watching television. I'm not talking about getting up off the couch; but my question to you is: at what point do you change positions on that couch?
If you're comfortable on the couch, you are not going to change positions on that couch until one thing happens. As human beings, we won't move from where we are until we become uncomfortable enough to do so.
This analogy can be extrapolated out into almost any area of life. It's most certainly applicable in a sales context.
Let's say I'm talking to somebody and they tell me that they have got a 1% conversion rate and that's ridiculously low. You've got a 1% conversion rate and you have an average transaction size of $10,000. So for every 100 inquiries that you get, you're converting one of them $10,000.
I would ask them how long has it been like that, and they might answer that it has been six months. I will ask again how much they are spending on advertising. And they might say, $10,000 a month.
I might say that they’re spinning $10,000 a month, and for every 100 inquiries, they're making $10,000 in sales. Then I will ask them, how is that impacting things?
It's like if you have a problem in your life, you think about it a lot and you focus on it, it gets bigger. In a sales conversation, the more that we create an environment where the person can examine the problem that they've got, the more that problem gets bigger.
The bigger that problem gets, the smaller your investment in your product or service. So often we talk about what is the return on investment.
But often we need to look at COI. What is the cost of inaction? Because in many cases. that is what is going to get people across the line.
Something that you can measure is a quantitative measure. If you've got a percentage conversion rate that you're looking to improve or you're looking to get a better return on the amount that you're spending on advertising, that's pretty easy.
But the other part of it is there can also be qualitative things - things that you can't measure, but they can be as if not more powerful.
So a qualitative measure could be: I can't sleep at night. I'm stressed and I'm working 80 hours a week. I'm not spending any time with my kids.
Those things can be absolute as if not more powerful than the actual monetary or measurable things. You need language to confirm somebody’s choice to go ahead at the end of a conversation.
But I think people have fixated on it. I think that if you get this bit right: exploring and creating an environment where the person can uncover the cost of doing nothing, a much more powerful place to examine your sales process and to look at how you can increase the likelihood of somebody coming on board.
I wish you all the best in implementing this. If you can get it right, I think it will make a massive difference.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
I was first introduced to this idea through a book called Psycho-Cybernetics, written by a guy called Maxwell Malts. He is a plastic surgeon; and what he realized is that there was a disconnect between how people saw themselves even after he'd done plastic surgery for them.
He would change someone's appearance and they would look in a mirror after he'd done the surgery, saying that they didn't see any difference in how they looked.
One of the things that came out of this book was this process which I was able to adapt to some of the clients that I work with on a coaching basis. I'm going to give you the exact process to do this, but I'm going to do it in the body of a story.
I worked with a sunglass rep and he was working in Victoria, which is a pretty good territory in summer. But in winter, when it gets rainy and miserable over there, the sun doesn't shine a lot. So it's pretty difficult to sell sunglasses during winter.
I was sent down to Victoria to go on the road with this guy and he was having a shocker. They were about to finish this guy up as an agent because he just was not performing.
I decide that I'm going to use this particular process with him. You need to recall an example of a time in your life where you won something or you succeeded in something. The second part is you need to recall what you could see, what you could hear and what you could feel in that moment.
You literally have to go back and relive that moment and experience all of the things that you could see, all the things that you could hear and all the things that you could feel in that moment. And more specifically, in the moment that they announced your name as the winner or that time as if you are receiving an award.
The second step is to visualize yourself. You can do this in two ways. You can do it John Malkovich-style where you're looking through your own eyes, which is probably the best way of doing it. If anyone remembers the movie Being John Malkovich, it is where someone gets reincarnated into John Malkovich’s body and they're experiencing the world through his eyes.
You take yourself out of that triumphant victorious scene and you walk into the scene that you're just about to walk into. It would be a sales type setting. You're walking into someone's office and you pitch everything going really well: the meeting going well, the person being receptive to what you're talking about and everything going particularly well right down to them.
So this is all happening in visualization mode, like if you've got 10 or 15 minutes, or might be five minutes to do it, sitting in your car before you walk into an actual appointment.
The reason it works is that you will be vibrating on the same frequency and the same wavelength as what you were when you were winning, and when you were experiencing that triumphant moment. People pick up on this: if you walk in with that kind of energy to an appointment, you are so much more likely to create a positive result and it'll make you look, sound, and feel so much more confident.
I did it with the guy I mentioned earlier. Turns out this guy was a professional windsurfer so he had won some wind surfing competitions. So he gets out of the car and he walks in. I just sat in the car and waited. He comes out with this massive smile on his face like he is just beaming.
I said, “how many did you say that you're going to visualize?” He had written the exact order that he had visualized in his head. And this happened again at the second and third shop that we went and saw.
I would encourage you to try this. If you have situations, especially ones that where you feel you might be a little bit intimidated, I want you to try this out and see how it goes.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
I'm going to give you a simple process I found powerful and have used it with a number of clients. In the context of your business development and your revenue planning, this forms part of what I actually do with clients when we're tracking their growth.
This is an exercise that you can do on a quarterly or yearly basis. I learned it from the mentor that I've been working with and I think this is particularly powerful in terms of the steps that you go through to make it happen.
We’ll work on a 12-month scenario and then you can boil that down into quarterly and then monthly targets, as we move through.
The first question is if there was a number that you wanted to grow by in the next 12 months, what would that number be? Think about it above and beyond where you are right now, and write that percentage down.
Let's say that you are doing $100,000 in turnover. So what is the growth target that you want beyond a hundred grand?
Let's work on 30%. What does that percentage mean to you in dollar terms?
Write that number down.
In this situation, we want to divide 2,727 by 1,000, which gives us 2.7. That's the number of sales that you need.
What you need to do is you need to multiply that number by 10 and that will give you how many more sales conversations you need to get that growth.
That would assume a 10% conversion rate, or maybe do it by five. 2.7 multiplied by five gives you the number of sales conversations that you need to generate that number. It's 13.5.
In order to do 2.7 sales per month, you need to add a conversion rate of 20%. You need to speak to 13 and a half people per month to bridge the gap and give you that 30% growth.
You might need to generate 26 leads to turn them into 13.5 conversations. This is a super powerful exercise to do because it gives you the amount of activity that you need to generate to give you that result, and what you need to think about beyond that.
Yes, this can be a powerful tool to plan your activity. A lot of people plan their growth and they plan their numbers, but they don't plan their activity. So, let's just go on 13.5 conversations per month.
Divide 13.5 by five working days. And that's 2.7 – which you can call it three appointments. Three conversations per day that you're going to have to create that result.
This is useful to those who use it, given that we're getting to the end of the year and that you are probably looking to work out what you want to generate next year in terms of increased revenue.
I'm very confident that this is going to be a valuable exercise for you to do, for you to start to map that out, put that together. And then you can start to look at the activity, and the strategies that you need to deploy to support that activity to make sure that you're delivering those conversion rates and having those conversations.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Education-based marketing is the most effective way to create separation between you and your competitors in a world where everybody is promising inverted commerce, good service, and a great product that becomes null and void.
I became aware of education-based marketing through the late great Chet Holmes. He wrote a book called The Ultimate Sales Machine. In fact, I quoted him in my book, “High Stakes Selling,” as saying: “The one who gives the market the most and best information will always slaughter the one who just wants to sell products or services.”
I would qualify that by saying, if you just give the market lots of information about your product, then you're not even going to put a scratch on your competition. It is educating the market so that they can become better-informed consumers.
A beautiful example of this is a guy who I just met at the weekend. He has a business where he goes into retirement villages and he refurbishes the units.
There's a relatively higher turnover for units in retirement villages because when people pass away, their family doesn't need that particular unit anymore. They want to resell it to someone else.
This guy is doing these refurbishments, and he has a lot of competition. And what he said is that the competition going there and I under Kadeem on price and they have dodgy workmanship.
His question to me was,
“How do I get in front of these facility managers?”
He said that the three things that they need to keep in mind and that they need to do is to 1) make sure their refurbishment projects are completed on time, 2) they're within budget, and 3) they're completed without any defects - so that they don't have tradespeople traipsing in and out of the place for six months after the unit has been supposedly refurbished.
I said to him, “How do you think you'll go with that?”
He said that'll work for sure.
It's about looking at the world through the lens of the person that you are targeting and putting together a piece of education that has nothing to do with your product, but positions you as an expert in the process.
This is a powerful exercise to do. My thinking for you is, what could you do to educate that particular target on how to avoid those things happening? And if you can work out how to do that, then you're going to get a much bigger percentage of the attention for that market for any product that we talked about.
You're definitely going to get the attention of the 3% that are buying now. You'll get the attention of the 7% that are in the market, but you also get a bigger percentage of that 30% that are open to it, and even the 30% that are not thinking about it.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, I chatted with my old friend, AJ Roberts, an exceptional growth consultant. He is an accomplished marketer in his own right. He is a serial entrepreneur, a podcaster, a speaker, and actually a two-time world-record weightlifter.
AJ first discussed the company he runs called Barbell Business, which is one of the top fitness podcasts on iTunes at the time. They saw how the barbell business would be a great spinoff to work with the listeners of the podcast who owned gyms.
He noted that gym owners like to be coaches. And so, the last thing they ever want to do is sales and marketing. What they taught was: if the owners could pay a fee, they could essentially set them up with a website with the lead magnets, follow-up emails, and conversion mechanisms.
But AJ said that there was another company in the marketplace that’s already built that out on in logic; so, they connected with them. He told his partners at the time that they’re going to say that they want 60%, and they would give them the 40%; and that they own the rights to everything. They agreed and AJ’s team ended up with 150 gyms paying them roughly 100,000 bucks a month!
Some people don't have the cashflow to do heavy-paid advertising. Word of mouth was okay. But AJ said that with gym owners, it's a little different when it's business to business referrals. So what AJ’s team had is this captive audience. It’s a match made in heaven that they had the product and AJ’s team had the audience.
It’s such a valuable service to offer: if you can be the deal maker or the person that puts that together, there's always going to be a great relationship.
AJ pointed out another factor: you can set those initial deals, but the due diligence needs to be done at a lot deeper level.
I also asked AJ if there are any patterns that he is seeing in their day-to-day workings through their webinars. He noted that most people think that ‘sales and marketing’ when they thought of ‘revenue generation.’ Can we sell more to the same person? Can we upgrade the people we have? Can we increase the value of the customers?
It is a constant process and a pain, because nobody likes customer support. Very rarely would write and be like, “Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know you're awesome.”
Everybody's writing would be like, “This doesn't work well,” “I don't know how to do this.” And so, he said that being able to bring customer experience into the metrics would matter. Like, how long does a customer stay and what's the difference between a customer who stays for a year or longer, versus a customer who's only there for a couple of months?
What's the difference between a customer who takes the trial and someone who activates their account and pays? How do we get more of them? And for those that don't, what is it that would've made the difference?
AJ also discussed how most businesses nowadays enter into the subscription business. He noted that one doesn't have to be in the subscription business to have a relationship with the customers beyond the purchase.
You just need to look at the systems that you've got in place for retention, and how is it that you can create an experience where people simply don't want to leave.
With the episode today, we got some powerful take-aways from AJ Roberts. For anyone looking to grow your business, it’s important to have this quality: due diligence about retention and about customer experience.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
There are a lot of coaches out there to choose from and many are awesome. I am absolutely stunned by some clever people out there that can help you with your business, but there are a number who are either starting out and often don't have the specific skills needed to help you, even though they have the best of intentions to get a great return on your investment in their services.
I often actually say my biggest blockage to do business with new clients comes from the bad experience that they had with a previous consultant or a coach or mentor that they then assumed would be their experience with anyone else that they decided they were going to work with after that. Some people have a lens that they look through and tells them that all coaches are going to be as bad as the bad experience that they had, which is obviously not accurate. So the situation can become toxic for everyone.
My idea in this episode was to give you some considerations that you can have in mind when you're talking to somebody about working with them. So the first one is make sure that they understand you, your business and what it is that you want or even better, they have a process to help you clarify what you want. Often times, you might want one or you might think that you need or want one thing, but you actually need something very different. That's the cool thing about hiring an expert. Make sure they can help you actually clarify what you want or point you in the right direction for what it is that you need.
Point number two is make sure that you know who specifically is going to be working with you. Try to get the actual guy who owns the business rather than an underling. If it's an underling, there's a good chance that that person will not have the same level of expertise as what the actual main guy will.
Point number three is make sure that you're clear on how you're going to measure your progress. What are the metrics that you're going to use to work out that you have succeeded? That's pretty easy. What do you want your conversion rate to be? What do you want your monthly sales to be? Do I feel confident that I can help you to actually achieve those outcomes? Sometimes the answer to that is no, and it's better to know that upfront.
Fourth one is make sure that the person has a track record in helping people to do what it is that you want to do. Does this person you’re looking to hire has a track record in helping people to do what it is that you want them to do?
Number five is make sure that you can get help when you need it. If you need to get something knotted out, you need to have access to that particular person.
I know that there's a lot of coaches out there. I know that the advice industry is growing but these are the ones that I think would be very worthwhile to keep in mind if you are looking to hire someone.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this week’s podcast, Episode 30, we’re going to talk about psycho-phobic words.
Words are powerful. The words we use all have connotations. In sales, it's the same. There are all these words that we often use as salespeople and they have negative connotations. If you use enough of these, you end up with a situation where someone has got all these red flags being triggered in their brain.
I'm going to share with you some words and the equivalent that you should replace them with.
So, the first one is ‘cost’. Why would I suggest that you don't use the word cost? No one wants to pay the cost. Everyone wants to keep costs down. If you look at the neuro-association with the word ‘cost’, there are all of these different connotations that people had for it. So instead of saying cost, one of the best things you can say is: ‘valued at’
The next one is ‘price’. There are sorts of different ways that you can present price. One of the best things you can use is the number. So rather than saying ‘$4,599’, one of the best ways you can say that is ‘four, five, nine, nine’. It sounds like a low number. This is all happening on a subconscious level, but people make buying decisions for reasons that would blow your mind. And it can make the difference between someone buying from you or not buying from you.
So another word is ‘cancel’. So rather than saying, “Oh, I just had someone cancel an appointment with me.” One of the best things that you can say there is, “I just had somebody to reschedule.” I've been in business now for over 30 years. I've never had anyone ‘cancel an appointment’ with me. I've had lots of people ‘reschedule’. But you can say the reasons. When you're talking to someone and you say, “Oh, I've had a client cancel.” They're going to be thinking, “Why did that person cancel?”
So instead of ‘cancel’, ‘reschedule a contract’. So again, ‘contract’ sounds like someone's being locked in. One of the best things that you can do is refer to that particular document as an ‘agreement’ because they are agreeing with you conceptually, and the paperwork simply confirms that agreement.
Another one is ‘sign’. So rather than getting somebody to sign something, just get them to ‘okay’. If I could get you to ‘okay’ the agreement or if I could just get your ‘okay’, then there it is.
To note: these are making people's buying experience with you smoother and less clunky.
The next one is ‘sold’. Instead of saying, “Oh yeah, we sold him a house on Smith Street.” It should be like: “Oh yay! We help them to move from their previous address to Smith Street.”
If you're trying to catch up with someone, better not use the word ‘meeting’ because what's implied is that there's some kind of obligation and that they are going to be committed to something or obliged to do something. Rather than saying, “I want to organize a meeting,” say “It'd be great to organize a time to catch up.” It sounds a lot less confronting and less formal.
The next one is ‘following up’. What type of people ‘follow up’? Stereotypical pushy-type salespeople. We would be better to not sound like those people. Instead, say “I'm coming back to you,” or, “I thought I'd give you a call.”
Try and get rid of the word ‘proposal’. Why? Because, semantically, you know, the word means it’s not a done deal. It's something that hasn't happened yet. It hasn't been agreed to yet. If you are going to put together a document, you'd be better to call it a ‘fee outline’. You could also call it an ‘action plan’.
The next word you should not use is ‘honestly’. What's implied is that everything else that you’ve said is dishonest. Replace it with ‘quite frankly’ instead.
The other word to get rid of is the word ‘basically’. I would replace it with ‘essentially’, which lifts everything else that comes after it.
There are certainly some more words that I could add to that; but if you were to start with eliminating those from your sales vocabulary, I think that you will do very well.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Now, for the 29th episode, we talked with Justin Brooke, a marketing and lead generation wizard. In this episode, we discussed how to generate 10,000 leads a day on Google.
I was first exposed to Justin back in 2005, and I've been following him. He's the founder of adskills.com - which is one of the most progressive platforms in terms of learning how to use any ad platform. Justin and his team are training the next generation of media buyers and they're connecting them with great clients or jobs. More importantly, all of his courses are backed by millions of dollars in real-life campaign testing and they update them all the time.
So, I asked Justin what it takes to generate 10,000 leads a day on Google. He told the story that before, he felt he already had hit a ceiling around two or three thousand leads a day. But then he saw a business partner of his who shared a screenshot on Facebook one day – with 7,000 leads a day. And that’s where he wondered what the real ceiling is. Justin’s current record is 17,233 a day.
Justin’s success trick is polls. Quizzes are a lead generation type of thing. But the difference with using polls is the latter is usually just A or B, Yes or No, This or That; whereas a quiz has multiple choices. He said to choose an emotional topic for the poll. The reason this works is because human beings want to feel heard. They want to feel like they've given their opinion on an issue.
Moreover, Justin noted that in creating a poll, the page has to be simple because if you're going to do any kind of volume, you have to have fast-loading pages. You don't need them reading a bunch of things. You want them to just be clicking yes or no.
Justin also noted that he likes to use no opt-in form on the page. People call it a pop-up, but the technical definition is it’s an HTML lightbox with an opt-in form. And that is a crucial part of it. He set an example that he blurred a graph or chart, and people would need to enter their email address to see the results of the poll and to “see what others have voted”. Humans cannot resist this thing. There are some free and cheap tools that one can use like typeform.com, which allows you to do what's called conditional logic.
One important thing mentioned is: this is all done with Google ads, specifically Google display ads. They have a smart display campaign, which allows you to put in your creative skill, and you need to just put in a bunch of images and headlines, and they’re going to do all the split testing for you.
Justin also discussed that the question he loves to ask that really trips people up is “What’s your process when the ads are not profitable?” When he was running his agency, he only charged people 15% of ad spend. He said he wanted the bulk of the money going to the ads. Then he’s going to have a much easier time showing an ROI to this customer, which means they're going to put more money into the ads and it's going to be a cycle. That's how he was able to get his clients.
Justin noted that you need to go for high-profits stuff. Creating polls is great. He said that you have to have a strong follow-up sequence behind there - no good sales pages and stuff like that. It’s definitely a volume play.
Justin mentioned lastly about their media buying masters course. He said it’s probably the best course to start with because it teaches you the bigger picture. It teaches you how to fix failing campaigns. It teaches you the difference between behavioral targeting and contextual targets. It gives you the mindset and allows you to think like a pro.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Testimonials, like third-party proof, is massive. There’s a statistic that says people are six or seven times more likely to accept or believe something that someone else says about you, than something that you can say about yourself.
But what we find out is that people are either reluctant to ask for testimonials; or if they do ask someone for a testimonial, sometimes they don't know what to write. They don't get around to it or they forget. And we need a way to make it easy for them.
So, this particular approach has worked really well for me, for a number of years. I got fantastic testimonials using this particular approach. Here's the thing: you are going to be talking to happy clients and you are going to have those conversations.
What you need to do is tune your ear for when you hear a client says something that is complimentary or glowing about your product or service.
Example conversation would be:
You: How's everything going? Have you been happy with the process so far?
Client: Yeah, it’s been great. We’ve had this result. I can't believe how easy the process has been. You guys have been so easy to work with.
You: I'm really happy that you've been excited and that our services work well for you. That's so great to hear. Would it be possible for me to use your comments to promote what it is that we do?
Client: Yes, no problem at all.
You: I'll summarize the conversation that we just had in an email and I'll send it to you. All you need to do is read it, make any changes that you'd like to make sure that it's consistent with the conversation that we just had, and then if you could email it back to me with your ‘okay’, that would be fantastic.
What you should do is write the testimonial because you can summarize what they said, and send it through. You've just made it much easier for people.
The best testimonials are the ones where there is a sort of an index, where someone's being meaningful and specific. Look out for testimonials where they're saying that their sales doubled, or that they've saved X amount of money, or that they're saving X number of hours per week. It’s important to include testimonials where there's a recognizable before-and-after type shift.
It’s important to note: you should tune your ears when you hear your clients saying something glowing about your product or service. Ask them permission first if you can include what they said, to promote what you do.
If they say yes (which almost all would possibly do so), send them the summary of your conversation so they could approve or make necessary changes. And there you go, you’ve got a great testimonial.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Recently, we had talked with Erin Pheil. She is a BS Psychology graduate, who blended her understanding of people and technology to run an award-winning nationally-ranked web agency for 16 years. Erin's work and words have been featured in books, magazines, podcasts, webinars, news columns, and events.
She has given keynote talks and presentations on instincts and human behavior is Kolbe and DiSC-certified and has trained with the leaders of a variety of personal and professional development programs over the last decade and a half, ranging from Sandler to strategic coach.
We look at some of the mindsets, tools, approaches, and tactics that our guests have used to put together either the biggest deals of their own career or their impact on someone else’s career.
With Erin’s introduction, she had shared with us the story of her fellow named Philip – an amazing salesperson but did not have the confidence in him, and was struggling to do the work for himself.
Erin and her team worked with him a couple of months and discovered that in that kind of circumstance, they need to figure out where that person is getting stuck. They found a lot of the root causes and old programming and beliefs that he had been holding onto.
What happened next was: within two months of graduating their program, he landed a project that was bigger than the entire sum of his revenue for the entire previous year.
His mindset went from being, "The only thing I see is fear and doubt. I can't do this," to feeling unstoppable.
Erin noted that Philip still has the same skills, knowledge, and personality. Nothing about him has changed, but that sense inside is completely different. That sense changed his thoughts, emotions and actions as he goes about each workday.
But we also discussed that not everything can fall into place. Erin noticed a pattern in her prospective clients: they don’t want to believe, at first. She found out that no matter how the conversation goes or how much information she shared with them, none of that matters if the person has that belief that “This can't work for me," or "This is too good to be true."
With this scenario, Erin said that she remembered listening to Dan Kennedy talking about infomercials. He said that they’ve got the best copywriters, television producers, and editors. They've got the best of everything. But out of every 10 infomercials that they pilot, 80% of them fail miserably, and only 20% of them see the light of day. There's always a possibility that something's not going to work.
When you form a belief and an expectation, it acts like a pair of glasses over your eyes. And the reticular activation system of your brain goes around looking for pieces of evidence or events that it can point to as evidence that it’s true. Same goes with how some people contradict and do not trust someone who wants to help them.
We also talked about opportunities for improving the mindset that people are not aware of. Erin noted that our behaviors, habits, and actions are based off what we think and how we feel. And so if we try to change our habits, but we don't change what we're thinking and how we're feeling, our behaviors are never going to last.
So what can one do to address beliefs that potentially aren't serving them? Erin suggested that people should be clear first on what it is they actually want to work on and what would really move the needle for them.
We're made up of hundreds of thousands of beliefs. We want to change and get rid of the ones that are holding us back, and that are costing us hundreds or thousands of dollars every month. Erin added that pattern can be something that's holding us back. It can be a counter-productive emotion.
Everyone has that little part of ourselves that doubts. Erin discussed that you can replace those negative thoughts because your subconscious programs can be changed through massive amounts of repetition. Some people will meditate for ten years. Some people will work with hypnotherapists and they'll do lots of repetition.
They'll listen to recordings for three or four months and try to reprogram some of the old beliefs and belief structures that are getting in their way. She said that repetition is the cheapest form because it's often free, but it's also the least efficient. Nevertheless, with massive repetition, change is possible.
The discussion with Erin Pheil has taught us that mindset is very vital. Unless you get it right, the rest is compromised and you won't be firing off all cylinders. And as you know, we need all cylinders firing to be able to compete.
To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
In this episode, John interviews Michael Griffiths about his winning referral marketing. Michael is the #1 Authority in building Referral Marketing Systems for service providers. He guarantees 10-15 warm, qualified leads per week, within the next 30 days. Michael's biggest deal using referrals happens to be when he took his business from serving two clients to 4,500 clients and overnight building a global agency.
Michael shares the sequence of a successful referral in 4 steps:
"The sequence works with firstly, curiosity. You've got to get on their radar. They've got to be firstly curious about what did she do. Then, the second part is around the environment. So for us it's about showing it's a fun environment to be around us. So they've got to enjoy the environment. The third part is trust. You must create a level of trust because, people only buy from people that they know, like, and trust. Fourthly, desire; we've got to create the desire for them to actually need what it is that you have..." Listen to podcast episode 26 for the complete program. Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform and get more in-depth strategies to maximize your sales process with new episodes every week.
And to DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.
Did you know that 85-90% of sales training has no lasting effect on results after 120 days?
In this episode, John talks about the reasons why sales training fail.
Here are the Top 5 Reasons Training Fails: 1. It's too complicated 2. There is no follow-through nor accountability 3. Too much of a RAH RAH session more about mindset and less practical, real-world application 4. It's irrelevant and not tailored for the product, market or sales context 5. No clear outcomes or measures to track the effectiveness So those are the reasons why they fail. Here are some of John's recommended solutions: 1. Get clear on your training outcomes and measures 2. Keep it simple 3. Make sure that it's relevant 4. Get rid of the RAH RAH 5. Ensure accountability, coaching and support is provided on an ongoing basis Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform and get more in-depth strategies to maximize your sales process with new episodes every week.
And to DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide.
Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.
Nicky Thomas joins us to share her journey going from the military to running a unique coaching business for women. Nicky shares how close she came to quitting and going back to corporate a few short years ago to now having built a business that serves women all round Australia
Crafting offers that convert with Tim Hyde
You can find out more about Tim Hyde at the below link https://winmoreclients.com.au/
In this episode, you'll not only learn how to increase sales using the Corporate Parable Framework, I will show you exactly how to create your own sales stories and exactly how and where in your sales process you should introduce them
Today I'm sharing the story of an online fitness program business owner and the step by step process we used to help her to double her facebook lead conversions within 60 days.
In this episode, I will share with you the 4 step process we used to recently help a landscaping client to increase sales by almost 400% with exactly the same number of enquiries.
Confidence is the foundation upon all communication. If your confidence suffers your communication suffers. In sales or in any deal making situation, if your communication suffers, your sales will undoubtedly suffer. Use this simple 3 step process to re-establish confidence in any situation.
As I recall the last 10 years coaching mentoring
and training sales people (plus the previous
15 as a sales manager, sales agent and sales rep
there’s one thing that has stood head and shoulders
above anything else in terms of results.
It's putting great ideas into practice
It’s the bridge between an idea or a theory and
the practice and transformation of results
In fact, when I see people trotting out the
same old sales rhetoric that they borrowed
from someone who borrowed it from someone
else it really annoys me.
It’s the exact same reason why I am so strict with
what I train in my programs and have the criteria
that every idea I teach has to be...
- Proven and tested by me and
- At least 1 pilot client before I roll it out to
bigger groups
So below, I have outlined the 4 fastest ways to
bring a strategy, idea or an approach to life.
1.Bounce the idea off a friendly
We all have "friendlies" in business. These are
the clients, associates and friends who
know, like and trust you. They are the people
who’s opinion you trust and respect and
who have your back. Got a new idea ?
Bounce it off 10 friendless before you take
it to market
2. Be aware of statistical significance
I learned this idea from an incredibly
talented marketing lady Leela Cosgrove
- often we start something and get an
average result and then give up on it
What we often fail to recognise is that
we don’t really start to see a significant
pattern until we’ve done something
enough times
I recently read that until you have tried
something 150 times you won’t really know
if it’s good or not.
Mike Patton, avant garde singer, song writer and
composer said
“if it comes from inside you it’s already
valid’
What that means is that you can like
a new idea or think it has legs but it’s
only once you have actually market tested
something that you will know if other
people think it’s good also
3. Put your own stamp on it
I often say this when I am writing sales
scripting phraseology for clients.
We need to internalise an idea and make it
our own if we are to sound authentic.
In that respect we need to put our spin
on it so it sounds like us and is in
keeping with our personality or our
brand if we are implementing as a
company.
Clients and people in general can
spot, sense and very easily reject
inauthenticity.
Keep it real and you will go far
4. Keep testing and trying new things
Famous CEO Jack Welch said
“When the rate of change outside the
organisation exceeds the rate of change
within the organisation, the end is
in sight”
I’ll leave you with one and another
question…
What are you trying that’s new right now ?
What have you tried that’s new in the last
30, 60 or 90 days ?
Find something you can test. Something that can change your current results
I started up a business helping sales people to become the guy I wish I knew when I was starting out.
I have learned so many things in sales the hard way and my goal has always been to help people circumnavigate that “hard way” learning curve.
So It makes sense that I would have a list of the big rocks that I have learned in sales - some of these things I learned quickly or the easy way but most of them I learned there hard way.
Here are my top 12 - there's bound to be more than a few that will help you
I have been seeing and hearing a heap of debate and discussion out there on sales scripts lately and seeing as one of the main things I do for clients is create language-ing for all aspects of their client contact, I thought I would weigh in
What I am going to cover are 3 crucial aspect of creating the sales language and subsequent conversations within an organisations that if ignored, can leave you with a system that will in all likelihood fail miserably.
Plus You'll hear an actual client case study where we created an instant shift in results simply with the use of a well worded script
1. Context
Each piece of language - ing MUST acknowledge context to be effective.
As an example, language-ing for calling back a web lead needs to be different to calling back a referral as will making a cold call.
Each situation needs a different approach as the context in each situation is different
2. Personality vs System based language-ing
What this means is…
There are certain pieces of scripting or language-ing that only certain personalities can get away with saying
What many companies fail to ask is - what can only our top sales person get away with saying versus what can we teach our new junior sales representative ?
What can our senior BD guy say that our new guy can’t?
Again, failure to make this distinction can mean your people will sound canned and uncomfortable trying to use language that only a certain individual can get away with using.
3. Speak TO the script don’t READ FROM the script
80% of telephone communication is tonality, pitch, cadence and speed of speech and only 20% is the actual words.
In Face to Face communication only 6% are the words you use, the rest is tonality and body language.
Therefore scripting is twice as important on the phone however, it’s HOW what is said that is most important.
Therefore, the delivery of the script itself is CRUCIAL.
To make this happen, the script needs to be worded so that your sales team can SPEAK TO the script.
Just like an actor delivers a convincing performance in one of your favourite films, your sales person needs the freedom to use the script in his or her own way so it sounds like them.
Listen in to learn my proven 3 step process to helping you make a script your own so it sounds perfectly natural and not the least bit wooden or "scripted"
How to make a direct play to your dream clients that aren't coming to you through your normal marketing.
Most businesses deal only with the clients that come to them through their normal marketing.
In this week's podcast I give you the strategy that put together for my clients that allows them to go direct to their dream clients in a way that allows them to show up with AUTHORITY POSITIONING so they are receptive to your message, your business and your initial contact.
If you would like help putting your own direct strategy together, got to http://john-blake.com.au/total-sales-control-training/
Recently, I have been reminded about the power of language and the role it plays in making or destroying your sales.
The words we use are infinitely powerful and many people in sales and business, regardless of what business you're in tend to pay little or no attention to this.
In this podcast, I will outline the most important words and phrases to avoid if you want more of your sales conversations resulting in paying clients.
I'll also give you some words you can use to replace them with that won't set off red flags in the mind of your buyer's mind.
The 3 Biggest Problems with Sales Systems 3 reasons why not having a proven sales system in place is likely to spell disaster in your business In this podcast we'll cover... 1. Why most companies don't even know what their best guys are doing to win sales
-
How good leads and potential long terms clients are being burned with sales
people who haven't been taught a proven approach -
How customers get too varied an experience of the company's service to feel
happy enough to refer future business to the company
And most importantly what you, as a business owner can do about it..
click the episode now to listen
The big thing with Time Management is – you don’t actually manage time – you manage your own energy. Time itself is largely unmanageable, it’s what we do with our time and more importantly our energy that determines if we are effective or not.
Many people have typical days that look like this.
- A list in front of them with way more things on it that they could possibly do in one day.
- Constant distraction of office phone ringing, mobile phone ringing email beeping (the you’ve got mail icon beaming from the bottom of the computer monitor)
- The occasional text message, and
- A random array of people “calling by their office ” saying “got a minute?”
And a unfulfilled feeling at the end of the day that they didn’t really get anything done. No wonder people want time management info eh?
I am interested in time management for two reasons:
- I run my business with no staff
- Because of this I need to be really good at it
So I have studied with the likes of Stephen Covey, Brian Tracey and others where I have learned good systems that work. But in today’s distraction filled world its just not enough. In fact, some time management systems are a bigger waste of time than the time they supposedly save. Ok, so here’s the 5 step process has worked best for me most recently – this is what I do, especially when I have a deadline or things I simply have to get done within a tight period of time.
How to use digital marketing to create a steady flow of qualified leads into your business Contact Ed at http://www.onlineimpact.com.au/
How to take the journey in your consulting business from feast or famine to large scale, high ticket consulting projects. Culture and Leadership expert Dawn Russell explains how she went from selling sigle days of training to clients for $4,000 to selling high end $60,000 projects
Franchise optimisation expert Yvette Sholdas explains how she transitioned her buiness from low value work to developing a highly niche'd, high value growth consultancy, specialising in working with franchises.
Victoria Gibson shares some of her biggest lessons in creating Australia's premier coaching mastermind for women. Find out more about Victoria's program http://victoriagibson.com/
A step by step business case study on how 1 business grew 300% in just one year and then doubled again in just a few short years after. Nichaola Caddy owner of BCA debt and the creator of the Debt Risk Control System www.creditriskcontrol.com.au explains how she had every system in place EXCEPT for a high converting sales system and the journey toward 300% growth and then 600% growth in just a few short years.
In this episode, David Osborne reveals his key principals for selecting and keeping the best salespeople possible for your team.
In this episode, Jody Jelas explains her entrpreneural journey and shares what in her experience it takes to get your business to the next level !
Kerwin Rae internationally renowned business coach, trainer and consultant shares his journey being a partner in a multi million dollar coaching franchise to running his own business
In this interview, Authority Marketing and Film making expert Matthew Peters shares a rare insight into what took him from selling $97 average transaction size online courses to selling $75,000 worth of sales in just one webinar that was attended by just 30 people. You'll not only learn that the biggest shift you need to make in making bigger deals is a mental one, you'll also get the step by step process that Matthew shares about exactly how he did it.
In this highly entertaining and somewhat controversial episode, Ryan Stewman owner of Hard Core Closer and Break Free Acadamy walks us through the biggest deal that he did early in his career. Ryan also shares with us a massive deal that didn'ot get across the line. We can all learn a stack from what you will hear in this episode about what it takes to get deals done.
In this show, Martin Howey, the Maverick consultant walks us through the recent sale of his business that resulted in a 8 fugure deal. Not only will you learn the anatomy of what got that deal across the line, you'll also learn about a similar deal that didn't go ahead and what we can ALL learn from Martin's experience.