- Sales 101, how to follow the Funnel.
This is the Funnel.
The Fantastic Funnel of Freedom.
(upbeat music)
The 3-Step Process to Sales.
This is 101 stuff, but if you've ever felt like you
really don't understand how a sales conversation flows,
or you've got a call coming up that you're a little bit
nervous about. Maybe you're hiring somebody.
You're talking to a new customer for the first time.
I'm gonna walk you through exactly how to do it,
so you that you can feel confident, have the courage,
even maybe do some cold calls, and feel like a champ.
You know, maybe you're trying to pre-sell a pilot
to some new product that you're building.
This process literally is 101 stuff, but nobody ever
teaches it this way, and I really just want to simplify it,
demystify it, and make it approachable for anybody
watching this video.
So sales first comes down to one step,
and it's got two parts to the step:
Connect and Qualify.
You know, if I was doing customer development
or pre-selling a product,
if I was walking around the mall or a farmer's market,
or the grocery store, depending on who your customer is,
the first thing you wanna do is just, Connect and Qualify.
Are they in-market or not?
If you sell a product for people that
want to put their animals, they have like, pets,
and put it in like, I was gonna say storage.
Obviously, you're not gonna put your kid,
or your dog, in storage.
But this beautiful little home, right?
Like doggy vay-cay.
First question you're going to ask somebody, to Qualify,
after you Connect, which is saying hello,
is, "Do you have a pet?"
And if their answer is no, then move on.
Now, this may sound trite, and people are like,
"Why would I ask that question?"
Trust me.
There's so many entrepreneurs out there that talk
to customers that would never be a customer of theirs.
They don't Qualify.
If I'm selling software to gamers, first thing I'm gonna
ask is them is, "Do you play World of Warcraft,"
and if they say, "No," then I'll be like,
"What other games do you play?"
Because I don't even play World of Warcraft,
but I'm just saying, you need to ask them if they game,
and then at what level.
That's the Qualify part.
I really think that most of sales,
and the challenge around sales,
is that entrepreneurs are talking to people that are
not in market, that don't have the problem,
that are not even a fit for your solutions.
So, first step in this Simplified Funnel,
is Connect and Qualify.
Number Two, is to, Close...
well, Needs Assessment and Close.
So, here's the second, kind of, step.
There's two parts to it as well.
It's understanding what their needs are
because when you're trying to sell,
which I really think is enthusiasm transferred,
first thing you need to do is customize it.
The way you customize your offer or your pitch or whatever
is to try to understand, what are their needs?
In the conversation, you can ask exploratory questions like
"How often do you game?"
"How often to you buy spi-"
I mean, I literally, the spice one I'm just gonna talk
about real quick.
I was talking to an entrepreneur,
and he was doing like
a subscription spice business, and he was like,
I asked him, "How many customers do you have?"
He's like, "We've got seven customers buying."
I have this question called "unaffiliated customers,"
which is "How many people have bought from you that don't
"know you, that didn't get a warm introduction to you,
"that literally you approached through an ad or a cold call,
"and got them involved?"
He's like, "Zero."
And we're sitting at this restaurant
because it's a big dinner, and I'm looking across the street
through the window, and there's a grocery store, okay?
And I'm like, "Why are you not across the street
"in the grocery store talking to people at the spice rack?"
And he's like, "What're you talking about?"
Again, and I'm walking him through these three steps.
Literally, it's Connect and Qualify.
You know that they're in market because they're buying
spices off of the rack.
Do you know how incredibly awesome that would be,
if I could just find the place where all my customers
showed me that they were in market ready to buy
and about to actually transact?
That's incredible!
You're so lucky you can do that!
And he's like, "Well, what would I say to them?"
And I'm like, "Well, needs aside, just like literally
"ask exploratory questions like,
"'How often do you buy this spice?'"
"'Do you buy other spices?'"
"'Is there any spice here that you would want
"'that you can't get?'"
"'Who tells you about the right spices to buy?'"
"'How did you decide that that was the right brand?'"
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Those are the questions that will lead to the Close, okay?
So you really understand the Needs Assessment.
What are their needs?
And then you move it over to the Close.
Here's what I got.
Do you want to hear more about it?
They might say, no, but always ask.
Always try to put the control back in the other person,
so that they can kinda take the conversation
somewheres else. It's not about selling.
It's literally just about being excited and enthusiastic
about what you have, and then letting them say,
"Well, tell me more about it."
Then, you go for the Close.
Here is how it works.
Here is how, you know, here's our guarantee, et cetera,
and then you say, "This is the price."
Now, this all leads to the third part in selling,
which is the ultimate part, is Follow Up.
Many times, when you go, and you've probably experienced
this if you ever tried to pre-sell something,
get a new customer, have a sales call,
you get to the price, and then they're like,
"Well, now I gotta talk to my business partner."
"I gotta talk to my wife."
"I gotta talk to this other person."
Here's what I'm gonna suggest, okay?
It's BAMFAM, okay, remember this acronom:
BAMFAM.
It's the Follow Up, okay?
So the Step Three is the Follow Up, but here's where
BAMFAM fits into this, okay?
I don't want to lose you right here.
BAMFAM is "Book A Meeting From A Meeting."
So, Follow Up is literally, until somebody says, "No,"
stop connecting with, and it's not about harassing,
but it's literally just setting up a schedule
to follow up, you know.
Like 70% of your sales are gonna come from Follow Up.
And then, unless they say, "Well, I bought something else,"
an alternative, so they bought a competitor.
Unless they say one of those two things, you should
always follow up.
BAMFAM is saying, okay, they need to connect with
somebody else to review the decision, then,
"Book A Meeting From A Meeting" is saying,
"Great, when do you think you'll have that meeting
"or that conversation?"
They'll say, "Well, I've got a meeting with them tomorrow."
"Okay, cool! Why don't we schedule a meeting the exa-"
I always do the exact same time because you know
if you're talking to them today at two,
then probably, two days from now at two will work.
Say, "Why don't we book a meeting, quick fifteen
"minutes to reconnect to just close the loop on this.
"Does that make sense?"
They go, "Alright, cool!"
Put in the calendar, invite them to it, boom!
Locked and loaded.
Follow up, okay?
Three part sales...literally, the simplified sales process.
Here's how it works.
Number One: Connect and Qualify.
That's a call.
That's an email.
But then, it's Qualify.
Are they even in market?
Are they even an ideal or target customer
based on the qualification?
Two is the Needs Assessment.
What are the challenges you're having around this problem?
And then customize the Close, or the offer, or the pitch,
to their needs, so that you can connect those two.
Go for the Close, and then Three, you gotta Follow Up
'cause they may not by then,
but you might ask them, "Can I follow up?"
And if you're in a meeting, on a phone call,
pull out a BAMFAM, "Book A Meeting From A Meeting,"
and get that into the calendar to follow up.
That is the simplified sales process for you
to close more deals, get more customers,
and just, generally, have a funner time.
So as per usual, I want to challenge you to
live a bigger life and a bigger business,
and I'll see you next Monday.
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