The New Rules Of Selling

Changing the Buyer/Seller Dynamic

Do you ever feel like you are out of control in the sales process? Sure.

We all have it from time to time. Or, maybe you feel it all the time? This podcast is designed to help you.

In this episode, I teach you how to take control of the Buyer/Seller dance and, in return, take control of the sales process.

If you haven’t already downloaded my FREE guide, “5 Reasons You Don’t Have Enough Clients,” go to http://5reasonsclients.com to get it now!

 

Can this “One Thing” radically improve your closing percentage? Go here to find out: https://resources.billcaskey.com/the-one-thing

Also, if you’d like to schedule a call with me to discuss how I can help you or your team reach your true potential even faster, go to http://scheduleacallwithcaskey.com

Subscribe to The Bill Caskey Podcast to get this delivered to your phone weekly!

 

Is Your Company Sales AND Marketing Minded?

Everyone in your company is in marketing. Everyone. It is not a department any longer. That all changed with the internet.

So what does that actually mean? In this episode, I’ll tell you. I’ll also give you some ways you can become “marketing minded” and give yourself an advantage in the market.

 

 

Can this “One Thing” radically improve your closing percentage? Go here to find out: https://resources.billcaskey.com/the-one-thing

Also, if you’d like to schedule a call with me to discuss how I can help you or your team reach your true potential even faster, go to http://scheduleacallwithcaskey.com

Subscribe to The Bill Caskey Podcast to get this delivered to your phone weekly!

 

If you want a successful career in sales, do these 5 things.

The WSJ just published an article in October ‘22, that suggested there are 700,000 sales jobs open right now in the US. My observations are congruent with that. 

In my client base, EVERY CLIENT is looking for sales help. EVERY. ONE. 

And with 7,000,000 unemployed (and going higher every month) it strikes me as odd that so many sales positions remain open. 

Yet, they have trouble filling these highly paid positions.

My Two Daughters Are Why

I have two lovely, impressive daughters, Kelly, the older, and Kara, the younger. Both are in the tech space and have good jobs, earning good money, with a good future.

But neither one of them wants anything to do with sales. 

And in the tech space, the salesperson can be a high-income earner – and can be extremely mobile.

And all that resistance after having a father (me) who has been in the sales coaching space for nearly 30 years – 5 books, 1000 podcasts, online courses. I guess the biblical quote. “A prophet is without honor in his own home” rings true. 🙂

So why their reluctance?

They’re both easy to talk to and listen to. They’re both engaging. They’re both sharp and don’t let anything slip by them (sometimes annoyingly so 🙂 They’re both good writers and communicators. And they both are unafraid of strangers.

What gives? 

Well, it’s the same thing that ‘gives’ for many people who could be great in the sales profession but have not made the move. They are sales-reluctant. 

This article deals with some myths about selling and some advice (from Dad).

Understand What Sales Is. (It’s not what you think)

    1. Sales is the intersection of your value and their problem. The key is to find where that intersection is. You do not interrogate people to find that intersection. A good questioner — someone who’s curious — can find it quickly. 
    2. Sales is a ‘helping’ career. You help people get from where they are to where they want to be. You are the guide – think Obi-Wan Kenobi. If you can help enough people get from their A to their B, you will be a high performer. 

Get Clear on the Value You Offer Through the Pain You Find and Fix

    1. Clarity is key here. If you take a sales position, make sure you get training to understand HOW your solution fixes their problems. And become fixated on that. Value is ALWAYS tied to the relief of pain. Once you understand this, the pressure is off. 
    2. All you have to do is find people that have problems (and money to fix). Once you show up, you are simply sorting the people who have problems and want to fix them from the people who have neither. You’re a sorter, of sorts 🙂

Value is ALWAYS tied to the relief of pain. Once you understand this, the pressure is off. Share on X

Human Nature is at the Heart

    1. The saying is, “No one wants to be sold – but everyone likes to buy.” Agree. BUT they like to buy from people who they believe have their best interest at heart. The amateur salesperson only thinks about himself (and his commission). The true PRO can jettison that intent and be totally focused on the problems the prospect has.
    2. Human nature hasn’t changed in thousands of years. People do what they believe is in their best interest (not yours) to do.  So don’t make selling about your outcomes – make it about theirs. 

Stop Selling and Start Finding

    1. I’m blown away by how managers choose salespeople. They think the person who’s the most enthusiastic and the most persuasive will win the day. They won’t. That’s old thinking. The high achiever is a hawk for problems. They don’t create problems for prospects – they simply find them. Once you get really skilled at problem-finding, selling is easy. 
    2. Remember story problems from 8th-grade math? You were unable to solve them until you understood what the problem was. Then it was easy. The skill was in uncovering the problem. Sounds like selling to me.

It’s Not Magic. It’s Process.

    1. It’s a myth to think that great sales professionals have some kind of magic they work on people. Once we get past the “it’s magic” myth, we can work on the real issue – “process.”
    2. Every great performer has a process they work. You’ve heard pro football coaches/players say, “We just followed the process.” Same here.
    3. If you think “process,” you will be successful in the profession. You must have a documented process that illustrates how you will guide people through from start to finish. It must be in their best interest to follow it – not just your best interest. 
    4. If you’re a process-thinker (engineer/technical person), you’ll be great in sales. In fact, in my book “Same Game New Rules“, I suggest that engineers make the best salespeople. Not because they’re smarter – but because they think linearly.

How does it feel now? More confident in your ability to handle this? Thought so. Glad to have helped. 

If you’re considering a move, OR, if you’re in sales now but not achieving at your highest level possible, I created a course called THE NEW RULES OF SELLING

It is a comprehensive, yet an easy-to-consume course that will propel you forward. I’ve lowered the price to $97 so that it’s accessible to the masses.

If you’re considering a move to, or up, check it out. And make the move. You’ll thank me in 10 years.

 

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A Framework For Telling Your Story

Story... It seems like everyone is talking about it these days, but how do I get started?

That’s exactly what Bill will tell you on this week’s episode of The Bill Caskey Podcast. He walks you through a framework on how to not just craft your story, but how to build one that will compel prospects to want to work with you.  

What the hell is going on with your sales team? Not sure? Find out by downloading my BRAND NEW leadership guide. Just go to http://billcaskey.com/wth to get your free copy now!

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Also mentioned in this podcast:

How To Start the First Call

Bill had a coaching session with a client recently, who was struggling with how to start the first call. He decided to record that session and break it down on this week’s episode of The 2X Podcast.

The first call is one of the most important things to get right in the sales process. This is where you set the stage between you and the prospect.

Bill gives you several tips on how to start the conversation and how to engage your prospect.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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7 Skills Every Sales Person Must Master

I often get asked the question, “What do I need to be good at to succeed in sales?” It’s not always the easiest question to answer but there are certain skills that separate high achievers from the low.

On this week’s 2X Podcast, I’ll give you the 7 Skills You Must Master if you want to excel in sales. I’ve compiled this list of 7 over the past 25 years of working with clients.

Author Daniel Pink has one of the most famous TED Talks of all time on Motivation. In that talk, he discusses how competency is one of the highest motivators of all. ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation

If you want to download a self-assessment that goes along with this episode, go to www.billcaskey.com/99download and get your FREE Copy!

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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How Jason Doubled His Income

“We can easily forgive a child when they’re afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” -Plato Share on X

I started my sales career in living in constant fear.

Why would anyone buy something from me ?

How was I to communicate properly to get people to buy?

How was I to create personal wealth in a profession I knew little about?

What if I failed? Then what?

Relate?

I find most sales professionals do.

The problem is never “what” we sell. Or, “who our market is.” Or, “What the price is.”

It’s deeper than that.

And in this article, I will share with you how one of my clients doubled his income in a matter of 120 days.

I share this not to exert my will on you. Whether you follow this process is your call, not mine.

I share it because I find that when a framework appears, it’s a helluva lot easier to make changes and get results.

I’ve read blogs like this before where the author never gives up the gold. That will NOT happen here. My aim is to help you see what is possible in your world, even if you might not.

I’ve been training sales teams for over 30 years…7500 training session…over 2000 coaching sessions…900 podcasts…and a book, Same Game New Rules, one that many companies use as their text book for new and counter-intuitive training.

And one thing I always find…we all want more.

It’s just the way we humans are built. If we are fully human, we express it by wanting to realize our potential on this planet.

But while we all want more…often, it feels out of our reach.

We find ourselves saying, “Well yes, Bill can do that, but I can’t.” Or, “Well, easy for Jason…he has a (built in advantage) but I don’t have that.”

Yes you do. And we’ll get to that.

Today, I will share with you the story of Jason and how he used our sales philosophy and methodology to significantly grow his business quickly.

He came to me struggling in his sales territory. No, he wasn’t about to get fired – but he was the classic underachiever. On the surface he looked like he could be a killer. But the results were never there. And he was becoming frustrated.

Sales philosophy jason case studyJason was 35 years old with a new wife and a new house. He’d been in his current position for 5 years. He was a pretty good sales person -always in the middle of the pack. But…he knew he could do better.

His manager was always telling him, “Hey Jason, you can crush this thing. You have tons of opportunity in your territory. What’s going on?”

Ever have someone tell you that?

Or have you ever told yourself that? (That might be more painful).

Those conversations shamed him – they certainly didn’t inspire him. He needed a plan and a way of thinking – a philosophy – which he wasn’t getting. He was not a real ambitious bloak – not a trained killer. He’d always been average – earning about $80,000/year. BUT, he knew there was more.

One thing you should know about Jason: A born sales person he was not. Not sure anyone is – but there is a worldview that there IS such a thing.

There is NOT.

And, worse, he started to question himself if sales was even the right profession. Not a good place to be.

As I said at the top, I questioned myself almost every day when I began in sales.

“Is this what I really want to do?”

“Will this get me to my goals?”

“Am I cut out for this?”

Just like me, Jason began to doubt himself and his skills. He lost confidence in his ability and his natural talent.

We call this the “doubt spiral.” And it’s ugly.

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” Share on X

As a coach, if I can’t get the “doubt” turned around, there is almost no hope for high achievement. It will continue to be the same, day after day, year after year.

I want to share how we turned it around. I say “we” because it was both of us.

RESULTS

So in the 6 months I worked with him, here were his results:

  • Tripled his average monthly appointment count.
  • Went from a closing rate of 10% to 65%.
  • Monthly income went up 3x.
  • And the biggest result was his confidence level – hard to measure, but hard to be without.

Finding Help To Tame The Demons

The Process: Sales Philosophy, Methodology, & Process.

As he got down on himself, a friend suggested he find someone to help him…a coach…a peer group…somewhere to acquire the right skills and the right attitudes.

He began to research online. He found a mastermind / learning group I run and set up an appointment with me where he shared his plight.

He was very specific and very open, the first step to getting help and creating change.
Read more

Three Tips That Will Improve Your Mindset Right Now

I’ve heard many authors say that once they write a book, they never look at it again. That is definitely not me. I wrote Same Game New Rules over 12 years ago, but I still refer to it when I want to create content for a blog or to offer people useful advice.

I often find myself referring back to Chapter 20 in Same Games New Rules. This chapter is one of my favorites because I discuss the laws of money. It is vital that you understand the laws of money if you want to improve your work ethic and your mindset.

Law #1: The less you care about money, the more you’ll make.

When you become needy of money or business, you push away the very people who can help you. If you approach your client with more interest in solving problems than getting money, and the client is someone you can and want to help, you’ll automatically attract more business and money to you than you ever thought possible.

Law # 2: Push your clients too hard and their money will leave with them.

Your goal should be to create an environment in which your client pulls you along. The optimum strategy is to have your prospect selling you on why he needs you. On your first call, simply lay out your intent with a non-threatening, servant-like attitude.

During this time, resist the temptation to close the deal. Even when you know you can help, continue to explore options with your client, allowing him to pull you along. Never get more excited than your prospect.

Law #3 If you trap your clients, they’ll run.

When you pursue a sale in the traditional way, you, in essence, stand over your client, trapping them so that it is nowhere for them to go but out the door. Your goal should always be to leave your client an escape hatch.

If you have found these tips useful, click the button below to check out the full version of Same Games New Rules.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SAME GAME NEW RULES

When Deals Drag On, You Must Change The Game

I had a call today from a client who was struggling to keep a deal moving.

That’s not unusual if you’ve been in sales for longer than…say…3 hours, is it?

What was unusual is the prospect always agreed to see James when he called, BUT nothing moved.

Lots of social visits – but no movement. Been there?

And James was getting fatigued.

He had to keep telling his manager that the deal was still alive. But his manager was growing skeptical, as he should have been.

What He Did

With a little of my guidance, but most of all his ‘detachment’, he made the move. Here’s what he told his prospect: Read more