The Ultimate Guide to Become a Sales Assassin

Times are rapidly changing. The old style of sales is obsolete. The new age of sales is dominating. Businesses are getting killed by the internet. Consumers are losing “brand loyalty,” as if they ever even had it. Businesses are crumbling. Management is blaming. Salespeople are panicking. The solution? Change the way you do business to the new age of sales. An answer so simple yet people still refuse to make the change. Doing nothing is perhaps doing the most. The future is here and it's best to embrace it! The Old Age of Sales By now you may be wondering “what is the old age of sales?” While I don’t have a definition, I can easily describe it for you. It’s that sleazy salesman that’s trying to rip you off. The one that’s continuously smooth talking and trying to get your money. They don’t care about you or your wants, needs, or the problem you’re trying to solve. You wonder if they’re even listening to you when you speak to them. Throughout the sales interaction, they’...

Knowing your inventory inside and out is essential for your success in sales. You’ll become an expert in your products or services and can properly recommend the best possible solution for your client’s wants, needs, and problems. The time investment will seem like a lot up front but will pay off handsomely in the long run. Not only that, but being an expert in your inventory will allow you to properly use the inventory close. The inventory close works by changing the product, service, or package on your client to something that fits their needs or budget more. Typically, the best time to do this is when the client is trying to negotiate for a better deal, fixated on a price, or not completely sold on what you are selling. This technique changes up the game on them. Instead of discounting or slashing margins you downgrade them to something similar that would fit their budget. Also, you can upgrade them to something they would value more. Now, if they’re sold on the first option th...

It’s no secret that sales is a profession that will push you to your mental limits. The highs are unreal and the lows can make you question your whole existence. A while back, my team and I hit this wall where we didn’t see any movement in our close rates. It was frustrating. I had us practicing and training different closing techniques and tactics and none of them helped much. After doing extensive research it dawned on me. We weren’t breaking down during the close or with overcoming objections, we just weren’t taking enough swings of the bat! Now, I know that may confuse you at first but stay with me. So let’s take a small test group of 20 customers. Out of those 20 customers we only closed about 25% which is 5 customers. Of those 20 customers, we only presented pricing to about 40% of them which is 8 customers. So from the proposals that we presented we closed 5 out of 8 and that’s a 62.5% close rate (very strong)! So, we weren’t hitting this wall because we sucked at closing. ...

Cognitive Bias 9 out of 25: Reciprocation Tendency Reciprocity is one of my favorite topics. It’s like a mental time bomb that most people have no clue about! This tendency derives from exchanging things to benefit both parties. More times than not it’s typically pretty one sided. The salesperson is the one that typically benefits more from reciprocation. Some examples of reciprocity could include something as simple as giving your customer something for free like food, pens, a bottle of water, etc. In turn, the customer sees this nice gesture and wants to repay the favor. People get all chivalrous like the Lannisters from Game of Thrones always paying their debts and what not… You can subtly use this throughout your sales process to your advantage ( if you need a killer sales process check out mine here ). The goal of reciprocity is to get your foot in the door. You go above and beyond and this captures your client’s attention. Standing out every way possible is important in ...

If you haven’t mastered the art of upselling, you’re leaving money on the table. There seems to be a common trend from salespeople and businesses of focusing solely on customer acquisition. I am not sure why the love for upselling has disappeared. Mastering the upsell was one of the major factors that helped grow the business I was managing 24.4% year over year. You can master the art of the upsell too because it’s pretty easy once you get it down. Set yourself up for success by asking the right questions ( check out my post on the best questions to ask your customers ). If you establish trust first, you’re going to be a lot more successful. Think of upselling as a recommendation. You’re recommending the next higher model or package because you feel it’ll suit the needs of the client more. You’ll only be able to do this if you are engaging and finding out the main problem that the client is trying to solve. That’s the best way to sell is when you have a full understanding of your c...

The feel, felt, found is a timeless closing technique and works like a charm. I am not sure who or where the feel, felt, found closing technique came from but it has been around forever in sales. The technique can be used for many different scenarios. It is normally used to overcome the current objection that a client gives you. Once you hear the objection is when you can rattle off this closing technique.

Cognitive Bias 8 out of 25: Envy/Jealousy Tendency Envy and Jealousy are staples of the great American economy. These are the building blocks that our forefathers built this great country on. Emotions like these are what make us the poster child of greatness and what keep the American dream afloat… Alright that may be a little overboard. Now, these emotions do drive a ton of money into the economy of any country. People tend to let envy and jealousy dictate a lot of their actions and desires. Have you ever wanted someone’s nice car, dream house, girlfriend, boyfriend, shoes, six pack, positive outlook on life, etc.? I’m going to go ahead and guess that the answer is yes. No need to be ashamed! Everyone experiences this so you are not alone. What this does is drive a ton of money into the economy. All it takes is for one person in the family to get the new iPhone X and then soon everyone will want one. We get jealous of what other people have and instantly want it for ourselves...

So there you are in your sales cycle. Ready to show your client your product or service and build value. You are so excited and so passionate about what you are selling you tell yourself that there’s no way your client won’t fall in love with it. You start to talk about the specs, features, benefits, and maybe even how this can solve your client’s problem. Everything is going perfectly. You are crushing the demo. Confidence is sinking in and you are sure that your client will buy and even pay full price. You finish up your demonstration only to get this reaction from your client… DEVASTATION! Your heart is literally ripped out of your chest and you are suffocating like a fish out of water. You go to what’s easy… slashing prices and hoping something sticks. You client smells desperation and sees you backpedaling. This typically ends one of two ways. First, you get the sale (hey a sale is a sale) but you are at your bottom dollar and margin. Second, your client perceives your d...

I see it all the time. Unprepared and untrained salespeople trying to sell without even knowing why people buy. Their success may be hit or miss. Most of the time salespeople struggle due to training. They get eager to get out there and sell that sometimes we neglect to think about some important factors. You can study the most complex and effective selling strategies in the world but if you don’t understand the root cause as to why people even make decisions you will struggle. Either that or you could be selling a lot more. I have reverse engineered the entire buying process to understand why people even make decisions. There are many factors that could help push people into making a decision but people ultimately make decisions for two reasons.

Have you ever wondered the number one reason why we make impulse buys? It’s simple. The answer is urgency! Or because you really needed that 15th Starbucks cup or that snuggie… well, whatever the true reason is urgency plays a major role. Urgency is defined as the importance requiring a swift action. Basically, there are reasons that cause us to make these swift decisions. Our job as sales assassins is to use or add urgency to help us close more sales. If urgency is used right it can be deadly and make you a ton of money. You are going to want to master urgency and even become versed in it. Having more insight on it will give you a better understand of when and how to properly use it. Not only that but you can use multiple avenues of urgency throughout the sales process. You are not limited to using only one. Incorporating urgency into the buying cycle will set off alarms in your client's brain. It is an effective technique to get people to decide now. 5 Killer Ways to Use U...