If you’re like me, you suck at sales
(it’s okay, it’s not your fault)

But it is your problem.

Because money makes the world go round and most of us like nice things.
(and successfully running payroll and paying rent).

sigh.

Brandon was in the same spot.

So 15 years ago he got a job in sales so he could make his business, well, run.

He boybossed too close to the sun and ended up running sales for 2 companies at once and flipping houses. (Go, go Brandon!)

Which made him really, really good at getting his sales process tight and right like Kris Jenner’s new face. (Have you seen that thing lately?! incredible.)

Brandon has been helping me work on my sales process and today i’m sharing what he’s taught me in a newsletter takeover!

I touch on sales in my 5 Marketing Foundations (Number 4 - get a CRM!!!) but actually having a sales process that works for you is TOUGH - but it doesn’t have to be.

So today, we’re breaking down sales fundamentals

• what is sales, and where it breaks down from marketing

• the 3 mistakes you’re making in sales (and how to snap out of it)

• what a sales process should look like

• anatomy of a sales call(s)

• plus pitfalls to avoid and how to keep sales going so it’s not a revenue rollercoaster

It’s a long one, but boy, will this makes sales work for you!

Let’s get to it.

First off - what is sales? and how does it differ from marketing?

The line between sales and marketing should NOT be fuzzy wuzzy.

Marketing - marketing is that thing where we are broadcasting to everyone

Sales - sales is the thing where we are talking to individual people who can buy our things

Marketing is A LOT more passive.

Sales is a lot more… “in your face”.

If you’re scared of marketing…You’re almost definitely afraid of sales too.

But, like with marketing, if you’re not proactive about what and why you’re doing this, it’s not gonna work at all.

if you remember just one thing, let it be this:

And on that note, lets get into the 3 fails Brandon sees the most from founders.

(Yes, it includes how to map your sales process to get that toe-curling close!)

The 3 biggest founder sales faux-pas 🤦🏽‍♀️

1. going too high in the org

The CEO has no idea what the middle-managers or frontline workers are going through. so don’t try to sell to the CEO

Sell to the person with the most painful problem, and know how to escalate it up to the person with decision making power (and power of the purse!)

There are 4 people to keep in mind:

• Users → The hands-on people who feel the pain

• Champions → The people who care about solving it

• Decision Makers → The ones who say yes

• Budget Holders → The ones who pay

Psst - this is why in the B2B messaging matrix (Part of foundation #3: Branding) is broken into different kinds of users → you need different messaging for each of the buyers and be able to push them through the system. More on this in a later issue!

2. Not scheduling the next meeting in a meeting!

It doesn’t matter if you need the meeting. You can cancel it!

It matters that they have to make a decision because there’s time on the table.

It makes it that much harder to ghost you (or for you to lose them!)

“Hey, before we jump off, let’s get that next meeting on the books.”

3. Disappearing between meetings.

• Send recap emails (“Here’s what I heard, here’s what’s next”)

• Share tailored insights, content, or mini case studies that map to their pain

• Ask for intros to other stakeholders early (“Who else needs to be part of this?”)

Which goes right back to…

What your sales process should look like

(told you we’d get to it!)

Brandon organizes his by phases, and knows that there are specific things to accomplish for each—and the skills needed to do them right.

Here’s what that looks like:

So about dem calls…

So glad you asked, because now it’s time to talk about:

The anatomy of your sales calls

You need a min of 3 calls.
Yes. really.

That one-call close is (probably) dead. 😭

If it isn’t you’re that annoying guy on YouTube talking about how he closes “87% of business in one call!”

Yay you Hormozi.

Now for the rest of us…

Here’s how those first 3 calls need to go

Call #1: (30 min) tell me about your problems…

You want to know the reasons why they want to buy and how painful their problems actually are.

That way you’re not trying to sell to the wrong problem and making the prospect feel unheard - or worse - misunderstood.

30 min will give you just enough time to hear them out all the way.

And decide whether they are actually a good fit for you(r product!).

(Warning for the loquacious (also, me)

Most importantly, put yourself in their shoes and ask questions that will give you more context

• Who else is involved in affected by this problem?

• How does this impact your goals?

This helps you create urgency!

In a 30-min call, this breaks down into:

• 5min - get to know you

• 20min - take them through the pain tunnel

  • You want deep discovery into the prospect's business, challenges, and reasons for considering a solution

• 5 min - schedule the next meeting for the fix it presentation </this helps you create urgency!

Call #2: 30-45mins where you show you can solve their problem; “Prove it presentation”

This is the time to showcase how your product (or service!) is the solution to their problems.
The light at the end of their pain tunnel!

Show them the product -to-solution (or service-to-solution) and then be quiet.
You want them to give the value in their own words.

You can use questions like;

• How would you/ your team use this tool to accomplish [insert the value of the feature]

  • Ex. “How would you/your team use this API integration to streamline repeat tasks?”

• To confirm, there’s no way for you to currently do [insert value of feature]

  • Ex. “There’s no way for your team to visualize individualized data that you need to make tailored decisions?”

• Which of these features is most important to you?

  • Ex. “We have a lot of alignment here. Which feature(s) make this a must-have. If it isn’t, what’s missing in this scope?”

Map each person’s problem to your solution!

That’s when a proposal (next call!) feels like a no-brainer.

In a 30-min call, this breaks down into:

• 2-3/5min banter

• 15min - walk them through the solution, do some call and response

• 5min - schedule the next call to review the proposal, discuss next steps, and address any objections.

Call #3: Proposal review and Objection handling

Aaah, finally, when they can be go/no go on paying you!

this is your time to pull out and answer objections on the spot.

So they don’t read over the proposal,
find the one thing they have a question about
and say “Nahhh” instead of asking the question and getting an answer.
(This is especially true when selling to technical buyers.)

In a 30-min call, this breaks down into:

• 2-min ice breaker chat

• 5-8 min walk through it, connecting to their pain points they discussed, the solution that can save them, and the outcomes tied to business goals

• 3 min objection handling

• 2 min next steps + schedule the next call (can be an onboarding call!)

Ta daaaaa!

You did it! you closed!!

How to keep it going

To avoid the revenue rollercoaster (and have nice things like payroll running) you can’t hit it and quit it with sales.

You have to keep going on dates (aka sales calls).

Here’s how to keep the party going;

Track sales efforts by output NOT time spent

that way you can accurately see how you’re being productive. And don’t track proposals as your key KPI, or else you’ll be incentivized to send proposals to people who are not qualified enough.

Instead, have your top KPI be reaching out to every sales opportunity at least once a week.

and speaking of KPI’s…

Only track the KPI’s that matter

What to track weekly:

• Number of outreach messages (calls, emails, DMs)

• Referrals asked

• Meetings booked

• Follow-ups sent to active leads

• Touches on every deal in progress (no cold leads!)

What not to track:

• Proposals sent — because bad proposals kill momentum.

and speaking of talking to people….

Be more pushy (yes, you read that right!)

Talk to people. a lot.

Brandon is over here giving you permission to follow up more!

keep. saying hi. every week (or month if they say “talk to me next month).
until they give you a decision.

See? You can do this sales thing!

But if you’re like “yeah, but i’ve been doing that sales thing FOR MONTHS and stuff just won’t close!”

Then you should probably talk to Brandon and get his sales goodness for yourself.

Follow his weekly newsletter and book a call with him.
You can do this!
All you need is the right support.

We’ll see you and your inbox next week!

Cheers!

Sophia ⚡👩🏽‍💻 & Brandon 🙋🏽‍♂️ & Aelia 🪄🧕🏽 & Naa 🧚🏿‍♀️

Powered by mindblowing sales calls leading to some 😱 wild 😱 opportunities (We have SO many cool things to report!)