Learn From Experts

In sales, superstars bring in the big money. How do you join the heavy earners? Madly successful salesperson Brandon Bornancin says: Learn from the best sales pros and do as they do. While the advice he collated is sound – if not terribly original – Bornancin’s book indulges in coarse, crude language, which, depending on your perspective, might prove either entertaining or irritatingly adolescent. And, it may render the book less useful for professional presentations and discussions despite the utility of its information on selling.

Successful Salespeople

At 18, Bornancin experimented with online gambling, playing Texas Hold ‘Em. He lost steadily. Then he attended an online seminar led by Tony Robbins, who suggested mimicking the behavior of successful people.

Anything you want to achieve, you just have to learn from and model the experts!Brandon Bornancin

Then Bornancin researched how Texas Hold ‘Em experts make money at the game. In the first game he played after his immersive research, Bornancin won $750. He studied 10 more books by successful players. When he returned to the table, he won $10,000 in a day.

Sales Secrets

Bornancin bought every book on sales he could find and studied the experts, including Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Jill Konrath and Tom Hopkins.

His study of effective sales techniques became Bornancin’s pathway to sales success. He doubled his sales income annually. Subsequently, he interviewed hundreds of top salespeople, including Jordan Belfort — the Wolf of Wall Street. For this book, Bornancin collected practical, actionable tips and advice — sales suggestions he personally tested and validated — to help you close more sales.

Motivation

The best prospects are those Craig Elias, CEO of Shift Selling Inc., calls “mobilizers”: Influential executives who are new at their jobs, are at least vice presidents and wield purchasing authority.

Four out of 10 new executives with decision-making power will, in their first three months, make choices valued at a million dollars.

Everyone has their walls up because we live in a society where we are bombarded with sales pitches at every turn.Brandon Bornancin

Target these mobilizers and move fast because their sales window will close as they make their million-dollar decisions.Linkedin is a helpful resource for staying informed about executives who take new jobs with your prospect firms.

Irritating Questions

Nearly nine out of ten B2B buyers say salespeople repeat the same irritating questions about budgets and who makes buying decisions.

No matter what niche, and no matter what product, you’re still gonna sell to a person. You still have to convince a person to change their behavior because of your communication style. Kevin Dorsey, VP, PatientPop, Inc.

Ask prospects intelligent questions that serve their purposes — not yours. Study their companies so you can present yourself as an informed professional who understands business in the prospect’s industry.

Ask questions that uncover the potential client’s pain points and derive creative solutions to earn prospects’ respect. Then ask the necessary questions to determine what matters to the prospect, the nature of his or her firm’s pertinent problems and needs, and whether the prospect might be inclined to buy what you have to sell.

Compelling Storytellers

When you speak with prospects, focus on their needs. Address and then cure their problems. Offer specific help, for example, by saying, “I can eliminate your inventory write-downs” or “I can reduce the vendor incompatibility in your infrastructure.”

Consultant Mike Adams believes that when it comes to closing prospects, facts are secondary to stories.

To be a good salesperson, you also have to be a good storyteller. Mike Adams

A compelling story should include an unexpected turn of events and convey a pertinent business message. The best B2B salespeople use stories to communicate that they are responsible, ethical businesspeople and that their word is their bond. Prospects need to hear this story from you — especially if you want them to sign a substantial deal.

Dollarization

Juliano Sarinelli, the senior sales development manager at Reciprocity, Inc., warns that you must stand out from the crowd. Rob Jeppsen, founder and CEO of Xvoyant, a popular sales-improvement platform, agrees. To elevate yourself above the pack, he says, offer a solid business case and state the fiscal benefit in terms of the dollars the client will realize from using your offering.

When you market to everybody, you miss everybody. You have to drill it down.Brandon Bornancin

Your dollarization presentation might go something like this: Should you and I resolve this issue, your organization stands to make $200,000 more over a year and $500,000 over three years. 

Discussing your solution in financial terms gives your prospect solid information to pass along to upper management. Since most organizations don’t present their goals in terms of dollars, this will make your contacts look good with their higher-ups, moving you farther along toward closing the sale.  

You need specific information from your prospects. Ask: What problem do you hope to solve? What is the expected dollar value of that solution? What would you like that dollar value to be? “What’s the value of the difference?” What would you project the value of the difference to be over an extended period of time, such as three years? Dollarization helps the prospect justify buying your offering and and positioning your solution in financial terms differentiates you from your competition. Of course, for dollarization to be a successful tactic, you must thoroughly research your prospect, his or her needs and likely budget before your first call.

Don’t Waste Time

Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectAndSell, advises finding situations in which you can close sales straightforwardly, and you never need to force anything.  

Saying ‘no’ to the wrong opportunities and ‘yes’ to the right ones will be one of the greatest factors in propelling you to succeed.Brandon Bornancin

Sell to prospects whose relevant values coincide with yours, Beall says. Focus on the prospects who seem most likely to want your offerings after you make a good case for them.

Useful Sales Basics

Bornancin writes for beginning salespeople and for those who could use a little juicing up before they pick up the phone and reach out to a prospect. It works against Bornancin that he cites interviewing the famed Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort. The author seemingly tries to imitate Belfort’s renowned over the top – almost preaching – style of speaking. That might work from the stage. On the page, its appeal diminishes quickly, especially since Bornancin’s suggestions are useful and workmanlike, but not original or exciting. While his basic sales information will be quite handy for new salespeople, they may not want to use his presentation style as a model.

Brandon Bornancin also wrote Seven Figure Social Selling: Over 400 Pages of Proven Social Selling Scripts, Strategies, and Secrets to Increase Sales and Make More Money Today! and Whatever It Takes: Master the Habits to Transform Your Business, Relationships, and Life.