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[E243] Build Your Confidence – And Network – with Travis Chappell (Part 3)

January 16, 2024


Do you focus on building confidence, in the right areas for the right reasons?


Are you confident? Do you focus on building confidence, in the right areas for the right reasons?


Travis Chappell and I – in this final part of the conversation – finish off talking about what salespeople should focus on most, and how to get there. 


And of course, since he is absolutely focused on his network – we wrap up talking about relationships.



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  • Show Transcript

    Jason: All right. Welcome to part three of my conversation with Travis. If you haven't, make sure to check out part one and two, and please subscribe to the podcast and then share this. Yes. Leave a rating, leave a review. Hopefully you would do that. But more than anything, what I want is for you to share this podcast and all of these type of podcasts.


    Anything valuable you listen to and learn from where it's helping you see things differently or helping improve your life. Share that the world needs more good news. It needs more support. It needs more. Influence to help people operate at a different and higher level. And this part of the conversation, we're talking about relationships.


    We're talking about your network and leaving things better than you found them. And if everyone were to do that in the world, it would make a huge difference to how we are as humans. So please share this. For your sake, for the world, for everybody, not just for me, not for my podcast, but just to get that message out.


    So with that long intro aside, here is part three, the final part of my conversation with Travis. Les Brown says, fall down seven times, get up eight, right? Like it's about being able to withstand those punches and not give up.


    Travis: Yeah, 100 percent man. That's definitely the way that I like to picture it to people because I think it just makes a lot of sense and likening it to something like your actual bank account, make people take it more seriously, I think.


    But yeah, it's just the truth. Like every time you get rejected, just a little bit of confidence gets taken away. But then you make a sale or you get a yes. You just read a book about sales. You put a back deposit in the bank account. You listen to a podcast conversation like this. Like you get another deposit in that bank account.


    That's why I think personal development, self help and continuous learning and education is what makes people awesome at what they do. Because it doesn't just increase their knowledge base, it increases their confidence, which is arguably much more important.


    Jason: Yeah, it's creating this wall and this buffer so that the deposits don't matter as much.


    Yeah. They're bouncing off of it. And I think what's important too is something you touched on, but I want to elaborate like also making sure it's relative, right. And applying the right amount of deposit and withdrawal to the right sources. Because one of the common things you see this a lot, and I've fallen into this trap is let's say You're in sales or you're doing something you post on social media and nobody likes it.


    Nobody cares. You're doing a podcast. Nobody cares. Nobody's downloading. And then you attribute a lot of withdrawals to that because you had this expectation of what it should be. Like your story of knocking on doors and Joe Schmo doesn't like it, but that's okay. Cause there's a neighborhood full of a thousand more people.


    That one's a small withdrawal versus something else. And I think it's always important to be careful about the amount of withdrawal you're willing to let. A rejection or a failure take from you instead of like maybe what's more valid.


    Travis: Yeah. The cool thing about it is if you've been around the block a few times, even if it's a brand new venture that you don't have confidence in, you can at least draw from the past experience of I know what this feeling feels like.


    I know what it feels like to not be sure if I can make this happen or if I can do it. But I did it before with that other thing. So now I can draw on that past experience, which is another thing that helps you to mitigate some of those withdrawals. Cause that's how it was for me. When I started my podcast, the beginning was just like rejection after rejection would have taken huge hits on me.


    Had I not had like years of callous built up from door to door sales, where I was just like, all no worries, move on to the next one. Like one thing also that I would do when I was on Doors was, I would average out the amount of dollars that I made per door instead of the dollars that I made per customer.

    Because anytime somebody told me to get the F off their porch, or they'd cuss me out, or have a gun behind the door, like just weird things that would happen. Anytime something would happen like that, I knew that I just made whatever that dollar amount was like 7 or 8 instead of coming away that day and being like, Oh, I didn't sell anything.


    If I knocked on 50 doors and I knew that I would made on average 7 store, it's coming home and being like, you know what? I made 350 today. Like it didn't get deposited into my account today, but I still made it because the law of average is always going to work itself out. And tomorrow. I'm probably going to sell two deals instead of just one deal because I know the numbers are going to eventually work out to the point that is positive for me.


    So once you like can figure it out once or twice to like the more you continue to do those actions, the more confidence you just get into that account. Even if you take it into a new venture that has nothing to do with the thing that you were previously successful in.


    Jason: And I love the reminder about the metrics and knowing like knocking on a door.


    It's not about the sales. It's about the action and knowing your numbers, right? So if you have to make 100 calls a day, based on what the conversion for the industry, for your role, even your own history, like what is each call equal, even if it doesn't result into it. However, what I would say in the cautionary side of it, which we talked about earlier.


    Which is also being careful that when you knocked on those 50 doors today, 7, you're like, Hey, it all averages out. It'll be fine. Tomorrow will be fine. Next week will be fine. Unless the issue is you and not just the law of averages. So there's a fine balance between nobody answered or I got a hundred no's today and that's the law of averages.


    And tomorrow I'll get enough to make up for it versus I got a hundred no's today and it's because I'm doing something wrong.


    Travis: Yeah, it definitely need to take into account the fact that you may be half assing your job. Or not putting it all or not leaving it all out on the table on a pitch when you could have pushed more and you didn't, that caveat is definitely built into any of the things that I'm saying for sure.


    Like that has to be there. If you're not that kind of a person, you're probably not listening to this podcast right now. Anyway, you got to be probably not super worried about like how to make yourself better if you're just okay with being mediocre all the time,


    Jason: maybe, or hopefully you find this and this is the key and you make that switch and you're good to go.


    Exactly. That's what I'll hope for. So one other thing that I want to talk about, because this is focused on what you're doing now, so you have your podcast, build your network, amazing guests, amazing kind of vehicle for networking relationships and your focus now, right? Everything in life is sales, right?


    So there's sales in everything. Obviously, you're bringing that to it, but it's more the relationship side. And there was one thing I saw that you had put out there. It said, leave every relationship better than you found it. I thought that was amazing. I've never heard that before. Obviously, you go camping, leave it better than you found it.


    Or when you go to a friend's house, right? Don't leave it worse. But I never thought of that with relationships in that exact way. Hey, it's Jason here. We'll be right back to the podcast. But first, are you ready to change the way you view your selling role and become a sales professional? Do you have a team that is hungry for new ways to improve and grow?

    If so, I have various coaching and consulting programs available that might be great tools to help you achieve your goals. To learn more about the ways we can work together and to book your free sales power call, go to Jason Cutter. Now let's get back to the episode.

    Travis: Yeah, what's interesting was I was trying to come up with a sign off phrase for my show just to end every show with.


    And when I first started, I just hijacked other people, so I didn't really have one. And I used to say it was a hijack of Russell Brunson's. His is you're only one funnel away or whatever. So I was like, Oh, that's a connection. You're only one connection away, which is true.


    Like you are only one connection away. And from whatever you want, any dream, any goal you have, you're one connection away from making it happen. So I thought, okay, I'll just use that. And then after a while, I just didn't feel like it was something that was from me. You know what I mean? It just felt like something I hijacked.


    And so I started having my email signature, which was leave every relationship I already found it. And the more like people started with a couple of people replied to my email and said Oh, I love that phrase. That's really cool. I was like, Oh, that seems like a much better sign off phrase for me, just cause it's something that actually means a lot to me that I came up with.


    And obviously, probably other people have said it too, but I felt a lot more original about it. And so I started using that as my sign off phrase, but ultimately where it came from is the principle that I read through actually one of Gary V's books. Which is he always tries to provide at least 51 percent of the value in every relationship that he has.


    So that's where that stemmed from the lead of relationship better. And you found it because I truly wanted to embody that regardless of if somebody ever paid me for mentorship or coaching or whatever it was. I wanted people's lives to be more valuable. When we parted ways, if we parted ways, then it was when we met, regardless of if I benefited from it or if I had an advantage from it or not, like I wanted people to benefit from having known me.


    So that was where it came from was when I looked at some of the people that I had helped at that time, I was like, you know what people that I had plugged in with jobs made introductions for people. Who were like literally about to move out of their apartment, move back in with their parents because they couldn't afford to pay rent and their credit cards were totally maxed out.


    And then I would make an introduction for them to get a job and help train them for the job totally for free. Didn't ever ask anything. And I was just like, these people it felt really good. It felt when I looked back, it felt really good to know that it seems like when I meet people. And when we get involved in each other's lives, like good things happen for them.


    And that's what I always want to be able to be said about me. It's like Travis helps people. I didn't know him for that long or like we communicated a couple of times, but he made this intro or he gave me this piece of advice or he like did this thing. That's where it stems from is just this desire that I have to, whenever I leave of interaction with somebody, that they feel that they're somewhat better off.


    And obviously I can't make sure that happens all the time. And I'm sure that there's some people that have a bunch of bad things to say about me too. But that's the goal for me is to genuinely try to leave every person better to try to help or offer some sort of value in any way possible.


    Jason: And I think that's amazing.


    And what I love about that is that what it requires is an abundance mindset, an empathetic mindset, a care about other people. And coming from that place, instead of self centered, instead of scarcity, instead of just wanting for yourself. And of course, keeping in mind, everyone's in different seasons, that person who needed your help instead of having to go back home because of their financial situation, at that point, they have to take, they're receiving the gift at some point they can give that gift to somebody else, but fundamentally two things.


    It's what the world needs more of. So I'm glad that you share that. And everything that anybody listening to this can do to promote that attitude internally or externally. I think the world needs more of that. And then obviously it's about how that applies in life and in sales. I know like my mom, the way she is, she's I just want everyone to smile after I'm done talking to them, even if they're just the checkout person at the grocery store and I treat people that same way, like if they're smiling, they're happy because I know maybe they don't like their job, but like this two minutes was nice for them.


    Cool. That's great. I did a good job. And then I carry that into my sales career. Like when I'm talking to somebody, even if I can't help them, even if I tell them to go buy from somebody else or hire somebody else. That's still a gift to them. And I want them to be better off no matter what, because again, there's 8 billion people on the planet.


    Exactly. I don't need them all.


    Travis: Exactly. And ironically, and counterintuitively, it leads to more business in my experience. It always leads to more business. When I was just on the phone the other day with this guy, I was just like, look, man, honestly, I would love to sell you something. I would love to get you to buy something from me right now, but it just doesn't seem like what we do would help your situation.


    And I just gave him a bunch of free advice for 30 minutes and then we hung up and that to me is a win. And I trust that at some point in the future, like something good is probably going to come out of that because I didn't try to sell him something that wouldn't have benefited him. And then he would have paid me money and then been unsatisfied with the results.


    And then which could have ended in a really bad thing that makes people think bad of me and want bad things to happen to me even potentially. But instead of that, you get to turn that into a positive interaction. With somebody who you gave free advice to that's still really good advice that they can take action on and didn't try to sell them something that ultimately wouldn't have fit their needs anyway, which I think obviously comes across a little bit more genuine, especially when you're telling other people that what you do have.


    It's their needs 100 percent because there are people who you actually say no to, you're not just saying that to everybody to take their money. You're like to say I'm here to help you like become successful in this field or in this craft or in this situation, whatever it is, the product or service that you sell.


    Like my goal is to help you with this. And if you believe enough in your product or service. Most people are going to want to buy that at the end of it. If you truly approach it from a helpful standpoint, because if you truly believe that the product service that you have solves that person's problem better than any other product or service that's out there, then if your true genuine desire for that person is to help them, then you are morally obligated to talk about how your product or service helps them.


    If it doesn't help them, then you're also morally obligated. to not sell them your product or service and possibly recommend somebody else's on the market or just give them some advice and tell them to have a good day. If you genuinely just get in it to help people, then you can also make it just like Zig Ziglar said, man, he's the sales OG.


    It's just, if you help enough people get what they want, you can have everything that you want. And that's just the truth.


    Jason: And that is my favorite go to quote. It's the one I think about and use as the framework for everything I do. And what you just said is literally the chapter in my book that's coming out called the power of no is one chapter about the power of telling people no from a sales professional standpoint instead of trying to twist everyone's arms and manipulate everybody.


    Because just like you said, when you tell somebody no, and you mean it, and it's what's best for them, when you tell somebody yes, and you mean it, and it's what's best for them, it has a different place, because it's not about you, and it answers that, how do you sleep at night, and are you just trying to convince me, and is this just a commission to you questions?


    It's no, if this wasn't a good fit, I would tell you no, but I'm gonna tell you yes, and we need to do this for your sake.


    Travis: Yep, 100%, I couldn't agree more.


    Jason: Cool. Travis, this has been super fun. I love it. I love that your background was different than mine. You grew up sales. I grew up not sales, but like these philosophies are the same.


    Where's the best place for people to find you? The projects you're doing, the things that you're doing, where can people look you up?


    Travis: Yeah, honestly, man, the best place to connect with me would be my Facebook group. I spend a good amount of time in there getting to know a lot of people. We have 1, 600 people in there now.


    Entrepreneurs, business people, podcasters, content creators, just a big mixture of people who are like just beginning, who don't make any money. And we have multiple people in there who are. Multiple seven figure earners and business owners and entrepreneurs, people that have been guests on my show, people that are in masterminds that I'm in.


    So it's a really large eclectic group of people and there's just so many other people to get to know in that group. So that'd probably be the best way to connect with me. You can find that at Travis chapel. com slash group.


    Jason: Perfect. And I know that I'm in that group and I was referred to you by somebody else.


    And then I'm in there and it's a fantastic group. So it's a great way to connect. And obviously we connected and that's why you're here. So Travis, thank you for this. Thank you for your time. And thank you for all that you're doing to change this landscape of how people operate and building people up.


    Travis: Yes, sir. Thanks a lot, Jason. Thanks for having me.


    Jason: All right, take care. All right, that's it of the conversation with Travis. Please make sure to check him out. Join his Facebook group. It's an amazing group of people. Very diverse. He's very interactive. There's so many people in there that are helpful.


    They're looking for ways to improve other people's lives, to build up their network, to connect them, to form relationships. I know in the short time I've been in that group, which is free, it is an amazing resource, and I've made some great connections, including Travis, who agreed to be on the show. And take time away from his amazing podcast and all the work that he does.


    So please make sure to check him out, support him. If you need any help with anything, look for his information. And as always, keep in mind that everything in life is sales and people remember the experience you gave them.


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By Jason Cutter February 19, 2025
What does it take to build the ideal Sales Experience? Why does it even matter? Maybe you think you already have one. You are a professional sales ops leader. You have put everything you can in place to help your salespeople sell more. You have optimized the processes so that your sales team can focus on one thing – selling. But I promise – even if you think all of that is true, it’s not. The Reality: No Perfect Sales Experience Exists I have never seen any company or team with the ‘ideal’ Sales Experience and operation. And to be honest – I have never built one successfully. Why would I admit that? Because the ideal Sales Experience is aspirational and business, teams, processes, and customer needs/desires are constantly changing. So as soon as you put new processes in place, something else needs to change and evolve. The Scalable Sales Success Iceberg In my Scalable Sales Success Iceberg – there are 24 categories that, when built out, create a scalable sales machine – where you can add in an input and get way more output. I would love to see companies have all 24 categories set up and running optimally. But that’s not even possible – because, as I mentioned, things are always changing. Focusing on the Biggest Levers Here is the key – to build the ideal Sales Experience takes focus on the biggest levers. The ones that, when pulled, create the biggest and best results. There are many processes and systems that you can put in place – but those are going to get you a few percentage points of improvement. Instead of putting it all in here, I want to make you a special offer. Email me at jason@sellingeffectiveness.com with your mailing address, and I will mail you the book that I co-wrote with Nick Glimsdahl called Reasons Not To Focus On The Sales Experience. It will be your starter guide, facilitating the creation of your ideal Sales Experience.
By Jason Cutter February 18, 2025
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By Jason Cutter February 17, 2025
The Abundance of Options Today we all have lots of options. While writing this I could speak into my phone and order whatever I want. I can get food delivered before I finish writing this article. I could get a TV delivered to my door before I wake up tomorrow. When someone wants to buy something, they are armed with as much information as they want to access. They can research, read reviews, and watch videos about a product or company. The Shift in Power to the Buyer Because of this, the power balance of sales has shifted away from the salesperson and company to the buyer. Knowledge is power – and they now have all the knowledge they want. With knowing that they have ultimate choice of what to buy (internet and globalization has led to the ability to order anything you want from anywhere…so you are no longer limited to the stores you can drive to and what they have on hand), it means that everything is a commodity in their minds. Nothing is unique or special. Everything is interchangeable. Does the Sales Experience Even Matter? So, this means the sales experience doesn’t matter anymore. There is no reason to put effort into the sales process, the conversations with potential customers. No value in spending time trying to ‘help’ people – since they just view products, salespeople, and companies as interchangeable. You are not special, so there is no benefit in caring. They will walk into your store, and they will decide what they want. They fill out your online for, and they decide if they answer when you call and how the call will go. They walk up to your event/booth, and they decide how the interaction will go and if they want to listen to your elevator pitch. They will let you know if they are interested in moving forward. They will let you know how they want to buy. So, like I said above, there is no real value anymore in the sales experience. Or could it actually be valuable? Is it possible that all that matters IS the sales experience? If people feel they have ultimate information and control of the buying process, how do they decide on what to buy and who to buy from? When I search on Amazon for a product type I have never purchased before, how do I pick? When I want to go shopping for garden supplies for the house, how do I pick where to go? When I need to buy a new fridge, who will I hand my money over to? The cheapest place with terrible service? The place with reasonable prices and great service? The Sales Experience Shapes the Decision I choose based on the sales experience that I will receive. With everything else being equal, I (and I believe most people) will select the place to shop at or the products to buy online based on the experience I receive. To me all that matters is the experience. While I am trying to buy something. Once I receive it – ensure it does what I need it to do. With the feeling of unlimited choices, it can actually be harder now to buy something that in the past. People get into analysis paralysis more often. Which means that for consumers to buy something new they need help. They need a professional salesperson. They need a sales experience that matches their expectations. They want a guide who will help them make the right decision for them, with an experience that goes above and beyond what more people receive any more when they walk into a store, call a company’s toll-free number, or visit a website and have to fill out a form. If you want to succeed in sales – the only thing that matters is the sales experience you provide.
By Jason Cutter February 13, 2025
The Balance of Effort in Sales The blogs this week have been about the other person going most of the way. Whether it’s a prospective customer and your salesperson, where the salesperson truly can’t want the deal or make most of it happen for that customer to truly be successful. On the path for that prospect to becoming a customer, they should go at least 51/49. Whether it’s your team and their manager, the manager can’t want the team to succeed more than the team actually wants it for themselves. It’s not scalable for the coach (manager) to run on the field every play to win the game for the salespeople. What about sales ops processes and systems? What about the tools available to the sales team and the ones that are classified as sales enablement? In a reversal of philosophy, I believe the sales ops processes should go 90, the team should only have to go 10. Why Do We Need Salespeople? Let’s start where it matters – what is the point of having salespeople? I know many owners question the need and desire to have salespeople. They are hard to manage, tough to deal with, always want more money (potentially for doing less work and closing less deals), and are very resistant to change. Of course, that is a generalization. Of course, there are salespeople who don’t check those boxes. However, having worked with a lot of teams in a lot of industries, that generalization isn’t completely wrong or unfair. So if there is even a small part of that which is accurate, why would we even mess with the messiness of having salespeople? Of needing to employ and manage humans? The Human Element in Sales We need them. That’s why. Even in 2025, AI and technology has not successfully replicated the requirements of sales – which is about helping a human (prospect/customer) make the right decision and move outside of their comfort zone to buy something new. It still takes your human (salesperson) to persuade that other human. It’s why I say all the time that its not B2B, B2C, Retail, SaaS, etc. – it’s H2H. Sure, people can buy something online or even in a store without speaking to someone. But if it’s a considered purchase where there are options and decisions to be considered – it still takes a human being involved. That means ultimately your human (salesperson) has one job, and one job only – persuade the right prospective humans to buy. Minimizing Distractions for Salespeople Everything outside of that mission, task, focus is a distraction that takes away from their highest and best use. Imagine if we had a surgeon who had to prep the room, prep the patient, schedule the surgery and meetings, and do all the parts of the surgery themselves. Nope – they show up for the surgery and do what they do best. Then they take off their gown, gloves, and walk away to get cleaned up and move on to the next thing. Your goal as a sales ops leader is to support the team with systems and processes that allow them to focus on the one thing you need them for. The human part. It would be amazing if they could show up, talk to people, and make sales happen. Of course, there is more that they (and any professional) need to do before, during, and after the sales conversation. But your goal is to minimize all that. Every hour that your salespeople aren’t selling or doing sales-related activities, they aren’t moving revenue forward. The Ultimate Goal of Sales Ops What processes can you put in place that go 90 percent of the way, where the salesperson can do the last 10 percent? An example would be building an email campaign that runs automatically, and when the right people reply, the salesperson gets involved in getting that person from email to phone call. Another example would be your CRM serving up people for the salesperson to call – leads or anyone in the sales pipeline flow – with all the backstory, research, data, intel needed for them to review it then take action. What can you put into place that takes away as much distraction and effort from your sales team such that they can focus on the one thing you need to focus on – other humans?
By Jason Cutter February 12, 2025
The Danger of Doing Too Much as a Sales Leader Alright – so maybe they don’t need to go 90. In true servant leadership mode, you would go way more than 10% of the way to your team. But you have to be careful, as a sales leader. The inclination might be to do it all for them. To help them close their sales. To make excuses for them to your leadership as to why they aren’t closing more sales. Especially considering the very high likelihood that you are a sales manager because you were a great salesperson in the role that you are now managing. And there is a slight chance that you are a player-coach…so you are leading and selling. This can make it really tough not to want to run out on the field to win the game each time. But that doesn’t scale. That doesn’t lead to increased results. You can only sell so much as one person. Creating a Culture of Ownership So, you need to have people on your team that are coming to you. What does that look like? The pinnacle is a salesperson who doesn’t close a deal, comes to you right away and asks for feedback. They want some critiques as to where they could have done things better, different that would have led to the desired result – a closed sale. That takes a healthy level of ego by a professional who has the ultimate growth mindset. They know there are always ways to improve. They want to improve. And they are willing to risk their ego (and the internal, protective, primal part of our brain that doesn’t want to risk our place in the tribe) by asking for feedback that could be negative. Whenever you can, encourage that type of response. Ensure that the team knows that the team itself, and you as their leader, is a safe space – where the goal is to improve, grow, win and that everything done to support each other is done in that mode. They truly have to feel safe to share their mistakes and to get support in learning how to do more, better. Feedback That Drives Growth Part of this takes team and individual meetings that are actually filled with positive support. That doesn’t mean it’s always positive, motivational fluff. It’s not even about the shallow strategy of the feedback sandwich. Its about being real, honest, and empathetic – meaning “I see you are here, I know you want to be there, I will help you get there – even if its hard and it means saying hard things.” It should never feel mean or abusive or like an attack. But you can give some really direct feedback that will sting that ego I mentioned, but the person will know the intent behind it. The second part is hiring this type of person. Hiring people for the team that wants to win, grow, succeed. And they know that you don’t get better by being coddled, sheltered, or protected. You want people who don’t like the thought of perpetually living safely in their comfort zone. And they are excited about the opportunity to be a part of a team that pushes everyone, empathetically, outside of their comfort zone. Are You Leading or Just Managing? If you find yourself as a leader having to push your team, or going to them most of the time, or most of the way mentally – then they see you as a manager not a leader. They see you as someone who manages them, pushes them, and wants them to do things they don’t want to do. I have written some blogs here that go into what your role should be – as a leader, not a manager. Pulling people along with you, inspiring people, and supporting yourself with a team of people who want to win. Not just those that want to show up, do as little as they can and hopefully go unnoticed (yet – complain about not making enough money and how the comp plan isn’t fair, or the leads are bad, or their schedule means they can’t be successful.) Make sure your team knows that they need to come to you – at least 51/49. They should be asking for help, guidance, training, feedback, and support more than you are having to push it down onto them.
By Jason Cutter February 3, 2025
If you have seen the movie Hitch, then you know the scene. Will Smith’s character (Hitch) is trying to coach Kevin James’ character (Albert) on how to finish out his upcoming first date. He is giving him pointers, one being that if his date fumbles with her keys at the door, it could mean she wants a kiss. So Hitch wants to see if Albert knows what to do – for a good night kiss. Hitch gives him the advice “you go 90 percent, and then wait for her to go 10%” which Albert then asks “wait for how long?” Hitch: “as long as it takes.” Albert leads in, Hitch is holding back to see if Albert will wait, and then Albert goes all the way and gives him a kiss. Hitch gets upset, and says “You go 90, I go 10 – you don’t go the whole 100%.” The Sales Analogy Kissing our prospective customers is not acceptable (just ask HR!). But the concept is the same. You don’t want to ever make 100% of the effort for your prospective customers. You don’t want to be the one who is doing all the work. Fundamentally, it is not good practice to want the deal more than the other person. When you go your 90, you need to wait – as long as it takes – for the prospect to go to their 10. And I would say that you want to go somewhere between 10-49, in reality. How Successful Sales Professionals Balance Effort Successful sales professionals know how far they have to go to meet the prospect where they are, while also knowing how much effort the prospect needs to put in to show they are committed. Where most salespeople get in trouble is they get desperate. They want the sale (kiss) more than the other person and they go the full 100%. Of course, persistence is important. And you won’t get what you don’t ask for (although…if you have followed me for any length of time, you will know I am very against having to ask for the sale). But you also have to ensure that your prospects actually want what you are selling. And they want it for their reasons and their motivations. They are driven to pursue your production option(s). They must go 10, 40, 60% of the way to you. The Pitfall of Chasing Your Prospect Just like courtship and relationships – if you find yourself chasing and one-sided-pursing the other person then it means you want it more than they do. It also means they own you. You are essentially begging them for the relationship – convincing, manipulating, begging, bribing, persuading your way forward. Which means they consciously and/or subconsciously know that they are in control. Because if they say no, you will keep pursuing and offering solutions. In sales – that looks like a salesperson who is calling, emailing, stalking a prospect – making offers, offering discounts and trials, and trying to find any way to make deal work. They are going 90-100% of the way for the prospect, not requiring them to go anywhere towards the agreement. This will end terribly. If they do decide to buy – taking the discount, free trial, taking the sale bait – they will not be happy (since they weren’t bought in for their reasons), they will look for reasons confirming why they didn’t really want to buy anyway, and they will know that they own you. Your company will have to convince them on a regular basis to stay in the relationship. The Right Balance for Customer Ownership You fundamentally need that prospective customer to come to you. Not 100% where you are just an Order Taker. But potentially 51% of the way – so they want it more than you. The more you can get them across that 50/50 threshold, the more they will be a satisfied customer. But remember – at 51/49 – they still need persuading, they still need to understand the value of your product for where they ultimately want to be in their life/business, and they still need your support. They lean in the right amount, you lean in the right amount = sales magic!
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