In our sixth episode of the Sales Throwdown Podcast, we discuss the importance of having a sales process, how it's different than methodology, what it can look like, and how much it has helped us grow as salespeople.
We've all heard about the different sales methodologies out there. There's SPIN selling, value selling, Sandler System, SNAP, NEAT, MEDDIC, etc. The list could go on and on.
While all of these bring certain values and knowledge to your selling skills, nothing is more important than having a sales process.
Your sales process is what will make your success repeatable and scalable.
And if you've taken a DISC personality assessment, you're better able to tailor your process to your personality.
The more you can make your process work for you, the bigger and easier your success will grow.
Ready to take a DISC assessment? Email us at DISC@salesthrowdown.com for more information.
And please subscribe and leave us a review! We read and appreciate every single one!
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This episode, we take it outside of theory itself. And we spend a lot of time talking about how we approach this idea of sales individually, and it gets a little heated. So you're going to hear some argument between myself and Al, myself and Clint, and myself and Nannette and everybody else, because that's what happens. You don't have to be like everybody else. So some things that I want you to take away. Think about how you process information, think about how you think about what happens after a sales call. Are you thoughtful? Are you trying to refine? Or are you just on to the next one? Take the time to figure out how you increase the percentages because that's where all the process is. If you get any value out of this, please share it with someone else, like us on all the social media. Sign up for our email list. Follow us on YouTube, sign up for the notifications. I hope you get a ton out of the show. It's the funnest one we've done so far, in my opinion.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event.
In the D corner we have Clint The Cleaver Bigelow. In the I corner, we have Al The Gambler Daniel. In the S corner, we have Nan The Promoter Fallman. In the C corner, we have John Small Mountain Hill. Let's get ready to Throwdown.
Welcome to Sales Throwdown everybody. We are here today to talk about sales processes versus sales methodology, and what that looks like in the real world. But before we get started, hey,
I gotta interrupt you for just a second. You use the word process. And sorry, guys, I sort of had one of those days where it seemed like, everybody was annoying, and in my way. And part of that, really, uh, you know, apropos for what you're talking about? I'd love to stand 100 people up and ask them five fucking questions, right? And just show the world with a video camera how fucking crazy some of this shit is. Right? And, and how? Because when if I asked you a question, there's a process to answer, right? There's there's an algorithm that you run through your head, right? And most people have no start. No, stop. No. In game though. Beginning. And goals. Yeah. And so yeah, go ahead. From there, we'll figure it out.
Well, Nan had something.
I was just gonna ask him to describe shit. Like, I wasn't sure it.
Call me to the carpet.
Alright, so. So let's get back on track. I love this idea. And whenever, I'll hold the camera, whenever you want to go do this, man.
I'll ask the questions.
So sales process versus sales methodology, right? They're not the same thing. And it's important to think about this, because they're two, they're two different things, right? There's a ton of different sales methodologies out there, right? You know, things like Challenger sale and SPIN Selling and customer centric sales and Sandler. And you know, NEAT, and there's half a million of them. But that's great. That gives you a framework to go sell. What happens after that is on you as the salesperson, right, and I'm a process guy in general, right? I love processes. But the cool thing about what we're all doing here is we all have a process, we all have things that we've got to cover. And they're a little bit different. We all have objections that we're going to have to deal with, and how do we deal with that? How do we deal with people wasting our time and trying to get our information for free? And how do we move the conversation forward. So that's what we're here to talk about today. Because if you don't have a process, every sales conversation you have with a prospect is a unique individual event. And that leaves it open to miss stuff, not know that you're getting taken advantage of, not know that you're wasting your time, or anything else, since we're here today to talk about this idea, because we're in drastically different drastically different industries. But we all have a process of how we get that prospect from a lead to them paying us and it's different.
So we talked about the grocery store before, right? So if they hadn't heard that, go back to that episode, there's a methodology to most of the things that we do, or there isn't. And if there isn't, guys, you suck, right? In most cases, yeah. In medicine, there's an algorithm to just about everything. Now, not that you have, I'm stumbling, what that helps with, you don't have to get out of the zone, it limits the options, because you're right here and you follow a path that takes you to the end, and then you have the win.
Absolutely. Right. Well, pilots, right, they before they before fly away and take off, they've got a checklist and the guy who implemented that checklist, there was an immediate drop in casualties and wrecks and deaths, right, just by having a checklist. So if you're not taking that into your conversations, you're leaving so much value and opportunity on the ground.
And let me add to this. So a jet takes off from New York, going to London, right into Heathrow, the checklist starts at the beginning, but halfway through, they're checking to make sure they're where they should be. Right. Absolutely. And so you don't just put it on autopilot and end up in Heathrow, right. You got cross wins, you got events that occur, you got some stalling? The you know, the endgame is how do I get to my destination? And so many people want, think they deserve, expect more. But their their processes and their How did they get there, this whole wish and hope and, you know, go buy a lottery ticket at that point, because you're doing about the same thing
Yesterday, talking to a pilot, and he was talking about how he, you know, just his whole process. So a few minutes ago, you were, you mentioned the grocery store, we all get, we don't all fly a plane. But we do all go to the grocery store. And do you go to the end so often, it's frustrating, you'll go to the grocery store, and you'll see people just like, and not to say that the people that are wandering around the grocery just haphazardly. They have no idea what they're even, you know, they don't have a plan. You know, it's okay. But you've got to have a plan. So that's what you're saying I, I think to identify everybody, no matter if you're going to the grocery, but you're doing your job, you're raising your family, whatever, you need to have an idea of what your next step is, have steps
For sure.
So I'm going to interject a little bit and say that everybody has a process, you may not know that you have a process, right? It may not be an efficient one. But if you are a traditional salesperson, and you think that taking somebody out to a baseball game, and that's the way you win them over so that they buy from you. That's a process. It's not an efficient one, correct? Yeah, most people don't even know that they have one. What we're implementing in our own lives, and our own sales is a process to make whatever we're doing more efficient. And you build on that you fail. you succeed. You take your successes, you write that down, you take your failures, you write that down, you take all those things, and you build on a process.
So let me take that one step further. Like we talked about leaving New York going to Heathrow, their inflection points. So there's the meeting the gatekeeper, how did that go? And you have these inflection points, and then you grade yourself, or you check to make sure that you got everything covered.
I mean, hopefully, right. And we let, but think about how many people Okay, so to to your earlier point there, there is a subsection of people that are following the process and not even realize, you know, that they're doing it because they're just auto piloting. And those people. I mean, God help them, right. But you probably have enough ego that you don't care. Right? You know
Some people are going to be okay with that. They're gonna succeed. Yeah, right. But if you're not wearing. Oh, well, they're those prodigies, right? They can't figure out what they said two seconds ago, but they still get it done. That's that, you know, that outlier? Yeah. But the vast majority of us have to have something that tells us, are we going the right direction? Are we going the wrong direction.
Exactly. And that's why the the D with the I is so valued as a salesperson, right? Because the D is going to be so task-driven, and you don't really care what people think that you're just gonna keep hammering calls, and eventually, you're going to see success, because you're just consistent. Right? That doesn't work for me as a C, right? I need a process, right? And that's why I like martial arts, right? It is a process for fighting, right? And that I try to process everything because then that means I don't I don't have to recreate the wheel each time I want to go do these things right? I eat the same breakfast pretty much every morning that I'm home. Boring. I know it is boring. But you know what, it's one less decision I have to make.
How is making love with you?
Amazing.
Do you give a manual.
Here are my expectations.
What are yours?
But the other side of that is that some people just get there just by pure consistency, right? You don't realize that you're getting improvement, right? And you could shortcut that learning curve, right? We're talking about how most people go out and hire a salesperson. And it's like you either get it or you don't, you sink or swim. And if you don't make it, well, you know, screw off.
We'll find another one.
Exactly we'll bring someone else in. And it's not great for anybody involved. But it's just how everybody does, unfortunately. But for me, the minute I realized, Oh, I can just run a process, I can run my game as long as I figure out what that game is and what I need to cover, my life as a salesperson changed completely.
Often. I think that there there are people out there right now listening and their process they think is the you're going to bring in lunch, how many offices... that is not a process, that's you think you're wooing the person, all you're doing is feeding the office, you're not wooing them. That is not a process. That is not something I think we're talking about.
And I was going to throw in as well, that even if you have a process, you're still going to get no's. But if your process allows you to see that no coming and get to it quickly, then you move on. It's a numbers game guys, not everybody's going to buy from you. And I know you guys have heard that before. But in your process when you start to see a no, go for it, get that no and, get them gone. Get your ass out of that office and into another one. Yeah. And then start to recognize where you're gaining ground traction interest and working towards the Yes, absolutely.
There's, there's a, there's a word, keyword in there that that really resonates with me as a high D is efficiency. All the processes to me is to gain efficiency of why I'm doing what I'm doing, and how to do it the easiest way least path of resistance and do it as many times as I can and refine it along the way. So even though I'm going to get a few no's, what I don't have in my process is 100 no's, I might have four or five no's, let's say out of 10 and that's okay. But what I don't have is 100 no's out of let's say you know 110 prospects.
Each defeat sharpens you so it's it's okay to get it no. It's actually advantageous to get a no.
But only if you're, only if you can stamp down your ego enough and look for that period of refinement.
But Clint looked, so Clint, what went through your mind when Nan said it's okay to get all those no's.
Well, it does look, it is okay to get a no. I agree with you, Nan, on that. But those no's...
That would be Nanette to you sir.
Miss Nannette, it is okay to get to no. What I like to do in my process is that when I get a no, that's a, that's a very small percentage of people I'm dealing with.
They're usually afraid to say no to you.
Like, well, that's their problem, not mine. No, you know, so if I deal with 10 people on a regular basis, and I let's just say I'm shooting for 10 people, and I get one or two no's out of the, out of that, I expect that. What I don't expect is nine or nine or 10 no's, right? Because that would mean my process is weak. Yeah, absolutely. If I get one or two no's, that tells me my process is strong. Okay, so if we go back to hit ratios, all the time, hit ratios for me, if you're not in the 50% plus range, you have improvement to do.
Okay, but that may be just your industry specific, right? Because I know there are industries out there that they run through a lot of no's to get a yes, that yes means a lot.
I think that it depends.
I think that's a cop out.
I kind of agree with you, honestly. Now,
What if I'm in phone sales? Right?
But here's the deal, right? If you look at some of the best performing sales teams in the world, right, it's things like Salesforce and HubSpot, and these like tech companies, because they are so data driven. And they they were kind of the leaders and making marketing strategies. Well, we're really just taking this thing of sales and taking it outside of the realm of, I feel like I'm pretty good and I close everybody that I sit across from which is, you know, nonsense. And they started to add data to it. And so then what they said is like, everyone's got to cover the same information, everyone needs to be talking about a, b, and c and d on the first call. Sure. And then second call is E F, G, or, or whatever it is. And so then what happens is, when you have enough data, you can then look for correlations and look for like periods of improvement. And what happens is you have to have enough was sort of looking for process, right, for lack of a better term to to go through that work, because otherwise, you're just this guy who who puts it all on the prospect. Oh, screw that prospect. Let
Let me ask you a question, though. How many people because how many of you guys do an analytical analysis of every sales call that you do?
Every time?
Okay, I was guessing that. Do you think I do that?
Absolutely not.
Do you think I'm fairly successful?
Of course, you are.
Okay, I have a process. I just don't have any data.
Absolutely.
Hold on, though. The analytical data...
Oh, my bank account, sorry, I do have data.
That's a great insight.
It is a great insight.
Because Because we talked about a lot. Success in sales is measured by exactly that. So I will say that you...
Bill Gates just laughed.
Giving that disclaimer.
But, Al, I think I think that we would, we would complement each other on this that in our heads, we have data, right? We don't write it down. We don't put it in a spreadsheet. We may not put it in a CRM management tool. In our heads. We know what we're we don't want doesn't, we can do that. For John, very, you know, I'll say analytical, we say that a lot. But you you write that down, you need record, you need data retention, you need all these things to go back on on the history aside. But everybody does that I just maybe in your head or on paper?
Well, here's the deal. I think that if you don't write it down, if you don't have a way of...
It doesn't exist?
Well, I don't know that I'd go that far. But if you don't write it down, or have it actually someplace else other than your head, it morphs, it changes, right? Because here's the deal. This is what I do in my businesses, I help people create these sales processes for themselves. And then I map that to a CRM so that way, it makes sense. But every person I sit down with it, at least initially is like, Oh, I close everyone that I sit down across from, and it's like "no you don't!"
Liar, liar pants on fire.
Congratulations on having a free product. And I still don't believe you.
I agree with him.
Yeah.
What do you close everyone you sit down in front of?
No. That's a falsity.
You got to get it out of your head. And you got to give it to someone who's going to do that work, right? Because if you it's easy to tell yourself whatever you want, like look at. It's not that far from debt. Right? Like, like personal debt. I mean, everyone has got a little bit of debt. And so you have these people in there underwater, and they have no idea even how much money they owe, because it's so much easier to say...
Bury your head. Yeah, right. I'm making the payment.
Absolutely. So if you are not being
Well you say that like we know this.
We're old. We're geriatrics.
If you're not tracking things, right. If you're not actually measuring, it's open to interpretation. Right. And that's, that's a problem that
Well tracking itself is a process? Absolutely. So that that, let's go back to the basics of what a process is for your sales cycle, for people listening out there that maybe have no idea what we're even talking about, because that's a possibility, myself included, I'll go back quite a few years and say that I had no process.
And the process that I even had, let's say six months ago, is different than the process that I have today, because it's growing. So recognizing strengths, weaknesses, is the beginning portion of a process.
For sure. That's why we're here.
Well, okay, so let me back up. So you said you're refining, and some, some people out there may be thinking, Oh, my God and
Watch them growing.
That there's something wrong with that. But what happens is you run a $30 million portfolio, right? And so as you get those projects up and running, you might have more irons in the fire. So it has to evolve, right, so that you can do more, make more and have a better living, right? Absolutely. I mean, what success makes you change? I'm predicated on the fact that I've got to manage more crap, you got more income?
Matter of fact, I had a conversation today with my with my boss about, okay, we did. We killed it this year. We're planning for next year, we killed it this year. What are we going to do? We got big shoes to fill here, buddy. That's tough for me, because now it's like, Okay, I have a process that was meant to get us here. Now I don't have a process to grow. Yeah, now that's another that's another cycle. That's another add on. And you cannot do that if you don't refine the one that you have. That's daily growth, you can do that daily, monthly, quarterly.
Except when you're that sales guy that has a service team behind them, right? That's not responding. Because you know, there's no sales process. So where's the 'I sold you now, I dumped you off.' And I don't mean that in a bad way, there's just another group that does the rest of the work. That's how it's built. And that's a great job to have. If you have that. What I'm saying is a lot of times like you're in construction, so you have to see that project, because I know you have to fly out and solve problems and do those kind of things. In healthcare, we live in the same arena, right? Where once we take it on now it's a service project, I sold it now I got a service it. And so there's there's different selling cycles, there's different selling processes, depending on what your product is and where you're going. But I guess the the crux of what this is, is you have to be your own manager, you have to hold your own. You roll your eyes, why?
Well I was marinating. I don't, I don't, I don't disagree with you. Right. But like you need to have someone that is holding you accountable. Right? Because it's really hard to hold, hold accountable to yourself, right? Because most people are terrible about goal setting. So if you're terrible about goal setting, and terrible about planning, right, because we're also not great at planning just like as a culture, then all of a sudden, you're Oh, things are great. And I'm good.
I think that's what we're trying to create here though, is creating the 'want to' to plan. So I think it is really vital.
So what does that look like?
What do you mean accountability or planning or
The process? What is the
I think it's different for everybody? Right? Because here's the deal, right? In ya'll's industry, which I which I worked in, if you're not familiar with that, go back and listen to to the earlier episodes. You guys don't get to talk about money with the doctors,
But money is time and resource.
Absolutely. Right.
So there's still a budget process there.
For sure. Right? You got to talk about, you know, one of the things but in most other instances,
Money is everything.
In his world, it's everything.
I think it's easier to either have it or you don't. You're lying to me or you're not.
The grass is always greener.
I disagree. I mean... we'll leave it at that.
But I have to talk about money because as we talked about, no one wakes up in the morning. They're like, you know what, I need to hire someone to come in and document the sales process and customers, my CRM, so, so if I don't, if I don't draw really good awareness around these gaps, potential gaps in your business, my budget conversation is going to be terrible. It's going to be really, really badly.
I can't believe I'm about to say this but let me reign this back on track.
It's never happened before.
So our topic today is process. Do you have one? What is it? Can you refine it? Is it buildable? Is it realistic? John, talk a little bit about your process, what you what you go through daily? Why you have one? What is it?
Thank you Clint.
Good job. Yeah, thank you.
For me, there's a couple things that I got to talk about with like each one is, first of all, I got to get past the ego, right? Like, like salespeople are just inherently ego driven people, you have to be right, to show up in someone's office and say, you should pay me to do this thing that you shouldn't be doing or fire the guy you're currently working with and hire me to do this, requires a little bit of ego, just the fact of the matter. So I gotta get past that. I have to get sales leaders, sale, or business owners and salespeople to admit to the fact that it could be better as a salesperson. And that's really, really difficult. Because if I don't get to that, nothing else, everything else is a non starter, right? Like, we're not going to get to have a good conversation. And I gotta talk about money. I have to do that. I gotta figure out how you get to yes, right. You know, we talked about this, you know, covering for the things that, you know, could blow up later on. Right? Because if you don't have a process, right, I because I've had so many conversations, I know the typical questions that I should be asked. And if I know the typical questions that are going to be asked, I also understand the questions that are way out of left field. And then I can figure out why are you asking me this question right now? Why is this important? Do you have an expectation we should talk about? Because if so, I'd love to hear it? Or are you trying to waste my time?
So part of your biggest, one of your biggest tools and in your process is digging for information?
Well, yeah, but that's me generally. Right? I will ask questions until until the cows come home, because it's kind of my middle name. Right. John asked a lot of questions Hill.
So So how does that work when you when you are trying your that process against somebody that doesn't want to give you information?
So you and I have had this conversation a couple of times, right? Because we we have role played some of these conversations. And that's kind of where this came from.
Segue. If you're not role playing some of this stuff...
You're failing.
And everybody hates it. I talked to Nan, you're not a big fan of role playing.
I'm not either.
I love it now. Thank you.
I don't I don't believe it with that tone.
I'm still uncomfortable with it. I like it. I'm still to this day, I don't like it. What I will tell you is that if you role play for 20 minutes, and you pick up 30 seconds of a nugget that might help you. Every minute that you spend in it...
And it's not you talking to a mirror, it's you talking to somebody else that's lobbing a curveball, or just answering correctly.
Yeah, and your big pet peeve about this, if I can put this out there, is that people don't make it realistic.
They don't make it realistic.
They either make it really, really hard or they give you all softballs, which is irrelevant.
So people have a tendency to, for example, if I talked to a buddy of mine that I grew up with, I talk a certain way, right? And then I pick up phone or, or people pick up phones to make a sales call, they instantly changed their tonality, they instantly change their way of speaking. They do all these things, because traditional sales have taught us that we have to be this way. It's called the phone voice, right?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hey, how was your day today?
So it's unnatural. And it doesn't sound great. Yeah, sure. 1-800-Clint?
I heard those were 900 numbers, not 800. Actually, I did. 900, not 800.
And, you know, you know, with that saying is that it's really hard to role play and be yourself. Because usually the person that you're open with is not in your industry, or they're a different personality. But the point of it is, is don't worry about that, right? Get rid of get rid of that. Worry about yourself. And what is, see the reactions, see their body positioning, see their language, their matching, and marry. See all that stuff of what they're doing to you. Because it doesn't matter what industry they're in or how monotone you get or they get. What you're doing is like John said, you're getting in reps, you're, you're repeating things that so when you say it for real, it comes natural, right? You can't do that if you never practice.
Okay, here's what you really should do. That one click where they hung up on you call them again.
Oh, yeah. And again, and again.
We just got disconnected. Is everything okay?
Yeah. Sorry, was there a problem here?
That's great for your roleplay.
Absolutely right, because you're not getting it right. something you've written off, so go back and go back and go back till they threatened to sue you, I think.
Okay, so what I believe you're talking about is creating a habit. If you can't just naturally do something, it's like, Doc is getting ready to do a marathon. And he's talking about, well, I'm going to run this many miles for this long. And you know,
I have some guy doing it for me.
Are you really gonna do marathon?
I've done some before, trying to do it again.
Only if I can go 310 or less, like...
He's training me to run it for him, which is really weird.
That's the only way it's probably going to happen. Anyway.
Oh bitches, you're on. Not not not specific to Nan. I just say that sometimes when I get called out
Has anyone ever called me that? That's rude.
No, sorry. I wouldn't direct that at you, Nan.
So all I'm saying is, I think what we're all talking about is you have to create a habit, and doing the whole role play with someone to create that habit, because you're not going to create a habit by just thinking, you know, I think I'm going to do this. You got to do it, there's got to be some action, it is not a fact of just thinking it in your head, you've got to role play, you've got to actually run the mile to get to the marathon.
It's the martial arts and the military conversation, you know, or metaphor, right. Like in martial arts, you're supposed to be training something over and over and over and over again, until it's muscle memory, you can do it without thinking about it. Right? If you're saying something for the very first time in front of a prospect, you're wrong.
No, not if you've just thrown that as just going to the shooting range, right?
I disagree.
That you're not really in combat or you're training. This is my training. And this is my live episode. It's it's your, your, your way of, so muscle memory, right? But neural pathways is what these are called sure so that you evoke a response. And we have that, it's already built into your system, you don't have to invent this, you were born with this, you have if my hand touches a hot stove, I pull it off pretty damn quickly, right? And I don't really think about that. So that that's a shorter pathway, then go into the, you know, the cortex. But what can happen is, you know, we all have automatic reactions, that we that it kind of annoys us a little bit that we automatically leach out the trigger, right, I get a trigger, you need a sales trigger, that gives a response because you saw it coming, or you felt it coming. And it was a natural response to a particular situation. And you only get these things by repetition.
I think we're saying the same thing. We are in different ways.
We are, in different ways.
And I think we brought this up earlier and one of the other episodes, but I remember whenever I was training someone, and they called, called me and they were like, I don't, I cannot I cannot get out of the car, I cannot hear another no, another just degrading, you know, office person saying, you know, we get we don't need you, like, please go.
They didn't want to buy any Viagra.
I told you to never share the story with anybody else.
No, we don't want a hard erection, alright?
All I'm saying is that person today, after, it takes 30 days, supposedly, to create a new habit. So let's say if that's true, you have to do it, you have to fail, maybe, maybe maybe you won't fail if you're Clint, but you go and you do it, just keep doing it eventually, you know, and so I'm trying to meet the marathon man over here. And so I'm just getting out there. And, you know, if I run 10 steps, I'm out of breath. But I'm like, all right, tomorrow and 15. So my point being, the girl that wouldn't get out of the car to go into the office to call on the the doctor. I was like, just get out of the car, baby, just get out of the car. And she did it. And now she's very successful. She's doing great because she created a good habit. And so that's, I feel like what we're talking about, you know, the thing I always say to my kids is, you know, they'll call me with an issue and I'm like, well, it's an elephant, start eating it and you can't eat that puppy one meal, going to take one bite to it, swallow it be done and then move on you know, you've got to each day create and good habits.
So let's do let's do a personality check right cleanse RD, if someone calls you and says, Hey, I can't get out of the car and I can't take another no, what do you tell them?
Oh dear.
Get the fuck out of the car.
Go
Al?
I'm going to have some sympathy for it. Because I feel I felt that early on. My first question is, or not question. First thing is I'm like, Yes, you can, you can get out and you can take one more, they're not reaching off across the counter, not slapping you, not physically assaulting you. You're a good person, you know, build build your confidence, and go in expecting them to say no, wanting them to say no. So that when they say it, you're like, that's what I was hoping for. Thank you very much.
I didn't know we were going to be insightful. Can I go back?
Go get sensitive now. I'm that guy. Quit stealing my thunder, Clint.
The I spot is already taken, sir.
Exactly. Cuz he's like, I love that guy, man. He's like...
We already know how Nan would respond, because she just told us, right? It's just love and nurture. And you absolutely can. If you call me and you say hey, I can't get in the car. The answer is honestly, what do you, what are you scared of? Like, like, what's the worst thing that's going to happen? And I do this my daughter who's seven. And she and she hates it all the time. She's like, you're gonna ask me what? What's the worst that can happen? Yeah, that's the truth. Because that's my thing. Right? And Clint and I had a conversation the other day that because we're task driven, we look for the negative, right? And it was a very insightful conversation because I thought I was alone in this, right. But we were having this conversation. And I look for the for the bad so that way I can improve it. And Clint, kind of voice the same thing, right Clint.
Yeah, most people don't do that. Most people take their strengths and run with them, right. So most people will look at all their successes and their past successes. And they say, Okay, this is what I'm good with. I'm good at this. So I need to dive into that. Doc, you talked about this question a bit. Like if you're good at that run with it. Some people don't think that way. It's not a majority of the population. Some of us look backwards into the past and say, okay, I've failed at this and this and this, how do I improve all of these things? to go forward? I know you shake your head that in a negative way that that is some of the population think that way. Right. So that correlates pretty well with how your sales process goes. Because if you only dived into the successes, eventually I think those are going to dwindle and run out at some point.
Or you're just complacent..
Well, yes. Which is complacency, yourself. Some of those negatives build that successful process.
Because Al, Al was, Al was a bit of an outlier as far as the I goes, because he can flip to that D so easily because he's been he's been in business for so long. Sure. The average I struggles a lot more with this kind of stuff, because they've got such a compulsive need to be liked. "I can't ask that hard questions because then you might not like me."
But also self reflection. Right. So they they have a hard time going back on themselves on dig into the negative side?
Well, that's the gut driven side of things. "I didn't mess up." Right, great.
Yeah. If you're in sales, and you don't have somebody you can talk to about your sales process. You're missing a lot of things, that would be so much easier, because we these little squirrel starts, they start running in our heads on the positive and the negative, right?
I think that person is outside your company, by the way.
It can't, should be probably.
Why should it be? Because I'm just really curious.
Because you're just not going to get real answers. I don't think unless I'm your boss,
Or a different perspective, right?
I think you might not get real answers if you go to your immediate boss or supervisor or whatever else, or the sales manager, right? Because we talked about the fact that like most companies just promote the highest performing sales rep. And that's not great for management.
I think it should be, I think, I think can be a colleague, be an equal business stature colleague. I think that's a point. I find that way more intellectual conversations happen outside of my own workplace.
I got something for you. How about you competitor, the guy selling?
I have some great conversations there.
Yeah, I talked to the guys that directly. I do sell against me. I did too, because they're, they're guys that I would they go there like me. I like them. They're not bad cats. Some of them are dicks. But most of them, most of them are decent people out there hustling like I am, there's a broad enough market.
But man, what you can learn from them.
Oh, and they learn from you. And once you find that right guy or gal, you're going to find somebody that calls you and says, Hey, I got this account. Do you know anything about it? First of all, is it yours? Am I competing against you? No, I but I know a little bit about that account. So I if it's not on my call list? Or even if it is, I'd like to know, because he's going to try to help me I'm going to try to help him. Right.
So in my world, the way that I've always looked at
John's like, fuck that.
No, I I don't disagree with you. But what if you're not in the flooded industry?
Well, what do you mean by flooded industry? Like you're the lone? So you're the only guy that sells that?
No, I'm not saying that. But I can remember clear as day I went into a doctor's office when I when I was working for you. They hadn't even opened yet. And this woman was already furious with this idea that I that I was in there. And I was like, I feel like you're you're kind of angry. She's like, you know, when people like you, I've talked to you. And we're not even open yet. said how many she's had 36 and three days. So you've got people all over the place.
You kept a log of people that came in? I mean, come on.
I mean, I don't know, it could have been three, and she was just a terrible person. But, you know, for me, when I'm looking for an accountability person, it's someone who has got a genuine interest in seeing me succeed.
I didn't say the gatekeeper. I said people in your industry.
No, I know. But what I'm saying is that, because other salesman, medical device sales people, right, there's tons of them. Yeah, there's a lot of them. Right?
There's what everybody hopes to grow up and be.
There's a ton of consultants, right, which is great, I can go talk to them about different things. But there's not really anyone that I know who's selling it the same way that I sell it, which is might be...
They don't have to sell it the way you sell it, they have to be in the same arena to where you can look at them and say...
Disagree.
Oh. Okay.
So let's, let's get back to what a process is.
Because we got way off task.
Man, Clint is playing my role today.
So looking at you, Nannette.
You can actually call me Nan, I don't really care.
Nope, it's too late.
Calculated and changed.
Oh, Lord, I should have never....
So Miss Nannette. Your process? What is your first step in your process?
Action? I just really, I plan,
So like a jumping jack? Or is that a push ups? Or...
Let me back up a little bit because if you plan, that's kind of more your first step right? What are you planning for it? Are you planning for getting to know somebody on a personal level? on a professional level? On a technical level? What is your driver? What do you do?
What is the office? What are they? What I I want to know what is going to be successful? I don't want to just haphazardly walk in there. I want to know, what are they going to need? And then ...
So you're doing some research,
Research.
How do you do that research?
Well, finding out about if it's a surgeon, what kind of surgeon he is, what kind of products he's using. And then I'm going to go in and the my, my biggest thing is I am going to be persistent. I think it's really important to not just go in there haphazardly and thinking I'm going to win this office. Well, you're not always going to win.
So you've done some upfront research before you walk in the door. Okay, I think that's a really I do that as well. I think we would all have done a little bit.
Dr. Daniel, do you do that?
Sure.
Yeah. Even even if it's a quick but even if it's a quick...
Sorry, he said "sure" so dismissively.
Well, no, I mean, you have the internet, there's just so much information. There's too much info, but I think get bogged down in getting information. That's why I went sure.
But see, doc is a relationship builder. He's a relationship guy. He's going to make some phone calls to ask if somebody else knows about this guy.
Yeah, I don't cold call, I warm call or I no call.
I would love to see the split on how much of our business is referral? versus like he, he initiated the conversation?
Sure. I think the the point of it is, is that what....
If you drink enough, you're going to run into a lot of people.
Hey, it's not a problem if you're networking.
I agree.
I don't need her. She's not buying anything.
No argument here.
Okay, back to you Clint.
Thanks Nan, keep us on task.
So I think that you have some preparation, and I do that as well.
Now, there's not any opportunity. I mean, you need to identify that.
But not everybody thinks like that. Right? So some people think they can go knock on the door, or pitch anybody, and pitch anybody, walk in, I can sell. It doesn't matter. I'm a salesperson, I sell widgets, I can sell these widgets. Anybody... people believe that?
That's silly. That's the piece that that is the sales rep, you know, that does lunch after lunch after lunch? And nobody cares.
They're out there doing it every single day. Right? So if we if, for example, if we can take that person that does that, sells widgets, things they can sell it to anybody, takes people to lunch, waiting for one to hit. If If you can take 20 minutes of research on a LinkedIn account, on a social media, Internet search and deduct a lot of things that you don't have to talk about. You've just increased your sales goal. Your process, you've made it more efficient.
Al is shaking his head over again. I'm really curious to hear what, how Al views this idea.
I think that you Romper Roomed it. And I think the people that listen, do all that already. I really think they do.
Elaborate. I need you to elaborate what you're talking about.
I didn't.
You didn't do what? You didn't, you just described what you do.
I'm saying before that I had a process. I thought you just met people and you ran with it.
Okay, so tell me about that.
Well, for example, if I went to a conference, I thought that the goal of mine was to walk around, collect business cards. Give them a call a week later and say, Hey, buddy, remember a conversation? Are you going to do business with me? Okay, that's a pretty standard cycle. For most business people, I think in my industry, okay. I don't do that anymore. I've already done homework to who's going to be at the conference, I have pinpoints of people that I want to go see, and why I want to go to see them. And I narrowed down all the hard work. So that's a process.
So then at your conferences, they list everybody that's going to attend.
Yeah, I make sure, yeah. And most of them do.
How do you get that information? I know some of them do.
So when you pay for a conference, they're going to give you a list of vendors and exhibitors. Okay, you can get that to show, not everybody gives attendees, but they're going to give you a list of exhibitors. So if you have 1000 exhibitors at a medical conference....
No, no, no, I'm with you there.
So maybe you want to talk to 25 of them...
I kind of know the answers, I'm just asking you.
So maybe you want to talk to 25 of them, don't go to the conference blind, and walk around the room trying to find 25 that you might want to talk to. Go with the intent to talk to 25 people. And whatever happens after the 25 people is gravy, is gravy. It's a it's a high standard, you know.
If you're good at what you do, those 25 will say 'not me, but go talk to Tom over here.' They're gonna say, I'm not the guy but somebody else is.
But look, I'm talking about the very beginning slice of a process.
So back to what I was saying, I think it's really important to investigate, the studying. I don't, you know, there's a million ways to do it. We'll talk about that some future podcast. But I think what I'm trying to find is what I'm going to give them, what they need, not what I'm going to get from them. Because I think if your intent is you're just going to go and going, Oh, gosh, how am I going to make... you need to know what they need, you know. There has to be a need, or don't go in wasting your time, because everyone doesn't have a need, every, so to what Clint was saying. You can't all, everyone doesn't need you. You know, that's....
So I, I kind of agree. And I kind of disagree.
Okay, disagree, talk about that.
Because in my world, I spent a lot of time having a lot of conversations, right, and networking and just kind of getting the word out and stuff like that. And I had to draw awareness around potential pain points. And if I don't do a good job of that, the conversation never segues. So if I don't do a good job of illuminating potential gaps, and things like that, no one wants to follow up. And then they say, Okay, awesome. I appreciate the coffee. If I get, if I think of anybody I will, I will. I will send them your way. So I had had enough of those conversations. So then I said, Okay, how can I up my game on this thing? And so then I started to do a little bit of research beforehand. Right now, I will look at a prospects LinkedIn. And if you're paying for navigator, you can see all their connections. So we have our coffee, I try to draw some some pain points there, if you don't have anything. Okay, awesome. And as opposed to just saying what everybody normally does is "do you know anyone I should be talking to you?" And they say, "I can't think of anybody right now. But I'll call you if I do." I say Okay, awesome. You know, I tried to say, hey, do you know anyone who's struggling with these things? And they say no? Okay, well, before we met today, I took a look at your LinkedIn, I saw a couple of connections who look like someone that I should be talking to. How well do you know them? I'm just trying to increase my percentages. So I don't, I'll take a meeting with pretty much anyone who will sit still long enough to have a conversation with me because my business is new. And, you know, I like networking and making introductions. But if I, I, I have a process to make sure that I that I've got the highest batting percentage possible. Does that make sense?
And I want everybody to hear what just happened, right? You guys went through the conversation of I disagree. This is what people need. This is what sales is lacking, that you're out on an island, this is the conversation and makes you better, because she gleaned something, you explained something, you defend your process. If she can, she should turn around and shoot holes through it. And you just said something really important was that once I build that rapport, that may not be my target. So I get past I accept that this isn't it. And then I inquire because I've looked and I've done my homework. That seems quite reasonable to me. And that's what you need to glean.
Well, the other thing is that Nan is very different from me, and how we approach our conversations and everything else. Because I had spent enough time drinking coffee with people and not getting anything out of it. I finally got mad was like, You know what? Screw this. I've got to figure out if I'm going to spend this time networking and putting out the word...
If I'm spending $1.50, shit, it should mean something.
I don't know where you're drinking coffee. But all my coffees are more expensive than that. Right? And here's the thing...
Oh believe me, I don't drink coffee. And yes, it is more expensive.
When it comes to networking. Like that's part of the tax. If I invite someone else out to coffee, I'm buying your coffee. Right? So it's always like $4 or $5, $6.
High rolling...
It's not about high rolling, it's about, hey, I invited you. Why would I not pay?
Absolutely, I, you know me. I agree. Right? If you invite somebody, bitch pull out the wallet. We're not splitting, your called them. So pay for it.
There was one week and I'm on the board of a local networking group. And I had spent I think it was 10 hours of the week networking. And I followed everything up with the lame version of my initial process, you know anyone I should be talking to. And they were like, No, I'm like, Okay, and so then at the end of the week, I was like, man, I haven't done shit this week. I have nothing to show for this time, except for making asks and getting no's, how can I look at this thing and improve it? And so that's when the LinkedIn thing came in? I do a lot of LinkedIn research, right? Because I'd rather do that than cold call. Sure. And that's just how I view things. Nan's different. And that's okay, right? Because my process doesn't have to make sense for Nan, right. Even if we were in the same industry, it doesn't have to be the same process. But there's got to be following something to cover for the things that you know that are going to come up so that way you're prepared.
But there's a common link here that says that when you reach out to your client, however you get to this sit down, that, you know, there there's a bigger picture here that they know other people and that other salespeople know other people. And so if you're not networking, if you're not expanding the people that you could potentially talk to. Maybe this doesn't make sense to Clint.
Clint does a ton networking.
Oh I thought he did. But he was kind of narrowing his eyes...
I think the bottom line is, do not, you know, when we were talking about creating habits, role playing, you have to have another person. Everything we're talking about is we're all different. Y'all are all different. There. There's different processes. You need to look at this, listen to this, figure out where you are in this dynamic. But don't think you're doing this alone. Because you can't be successful and do everything alone. You have to reach out either listen to this, reach out to other people to role play with. I mean, there's so many...
But I've got a challenge for the for the average listener out there, for the salesperson that's out there in the day to day grind. You woke up this morning, you did something you woke up, you got dressed.
Maybe not, but go ahead.
Maybe, maybe you didn't. And that's why you're failing. Right? Because that happened. Right. Got it. You're so, you're so fearful of what the day brings, it's hard to get out of bed. Yeah. So if you got out of bed, you put your shoes on, put your pants on, like every single person out there does, right? I mean, seriously, that's a big revelation to some people. That guy sitting at the top of a big fortune 500 company put his pants on to just like you did.
He didn't hire that out?
Maybe, maybe, but we're not dealing with that guy.
But But you did a process, right? So you woke up, you did something, you went to work, you did something, you had to have done something otherwise you just don't have a job. Right? You got through the day you went home? Snapshot your day. Write that down on a piece of paper. That is your process? For sure. Yeah. So now take that process. What's your weaknesses? What are your strengths? And maybe you need help with that? That's great. That's what coaches are for. That's what life coaches are for. That's what friends are for. That's what people in this industry bounce ideas off of. That's what networking does, it gives you outlets to go take your process and said, this is what I do. What do you do different than what I do? And how does that work for you? How does it not work? Maybe I can help you versus you help me?
So as a D? Right?
That's not easy.
Okay, so speak to that a little bit more. Because as a D being gut driven and task driven and you know...
Sure, I can measure it up with one word, it's called success. If I'm not successful, then I need I need help.
How do you measure that, is it money in the bank? Is that, is that your hit ratio?
Hit ratio equals money. Okay, right, good. So if my hit ratio is good, because I think I spoke to this a little bit in the past, if I'm failing, if my hit ratio is less than 10%, I would call that a ultimate failure. If my hit ratio is less than 10%, I need help. Or I need to get the hell out of this game. Right.
But your industry is different, right?
So we can talk about industry all day long. But hold on...
This is super important though right? Because of how you guys work, if you have, if you have 10 really good partners, you're set, right?
Until I maximize that potential, then I need 11.
If your quota goes up through the roof. Right. But my industry is different than that. So I'm going to, I'm going to...
But hold on, your process is adjusted to what your industry is?
Well, your expectation is adjusted. Okay.
Right. But the point of it is, is that if you're in one industry, and I'm in another, your success is measured on different wavelengths.
Oh, absolutely.
So if you're measuring your success on the wavelength, the industry that you're in and you're failing, you need to relook at your process.
I mean, I agree with you, but I
I cannot pay an electric bill with attah-boys. It is dollars and freakin sense.
I'm backing up a little bit. Okay, I understand this point that we're making, but I'm trying to illuminate it for people that are listening. So if you're in a very high volume transactional sale, you might have lower than a 10% ratio, that that doesn't mean that you're bad.
No, I agree. I said that earlier on.
If you're listening to this, and you and you think like Clint, and Clint really speaks to you, don't take this idea that if you're closing less than 10% of everyone you talk to you that you should like quit sales.
Well, let me tell you why. Personally, I believe that that's a failure. Right? Because 51% to me is a win. It's a win.
I love that as a gambler, right?
So 51%...
Bring it, Vegas? 51% I own the town.
So the point of it is, is that in my personality spectrum, who I am as a person, 51% to me means I'm winning. Right I how I hold the vote. I'm there, I've accomplished the majority. Now, even though me personally, I get 51%. I'm still shooting for 100. I'm still going to shoot for 100.
By contrast, though, hold on real quick. In Al's industry, you only need, real one good doctor, one good surgeon who's who's doing a lot of cases and is using you, a lot of stuff and you're going to be fine, you're going to be successful, you gotta go, you gotta good...
I'm not saying that 9% is a failure for everybody. In my world, 9% as a failure.
Okay, see that, that that kind of thing is important.
You need to identify your...
What success means.
And that's part of the algorithm.
Look, I say this over and over. If you make a million cold calls, and you close one person, are you not a success? It's not efficient. It's not the best way to do it. It's not scalable. You can't do all those things. But you still sold. So you're successful salesperson.
But if you if you are like, I know a guy that was in oil and gas, and if you sell an a Saudi oil contract, guess what you get to retire?
Agree, right? Yeah, yeah, if a guy is Sultan behind his name, you're done.
That's why the process is so important. And one of the things that I love that Al talks about all the time, is you work with the end in mind, right? Because if you don't have a plan, I know you didn't. But you say it all the time. And I think about it. When I when I think about the term I think about you, and it's so relevant, because if you don't do that, you're just stuck in 'I need more, and more.
Well, okay, but in health care, here's what happens. Greed gets you thrown in jail, right? Because you break the bond of trust, because we have third party payers, right? This isn't 711 it's $1.98 for the cup of coffee, right? It is one person with a problem and another person who pays, which is your insurance company. So there are rules and regs. And there are people who attempt shortcuts all the time. And that works for a little while, then greed gets in the way and they see you know, people going to jail.
And that was the thing that eventually ran me out of, of that industry.
But look, that happens, that happens in all industries, right? There's underhanded deals or brown bag money changing hands to make sure you buy from this guy, you're going to run into those. Absolutely, that's going to happen. What I would suggest...
I disagree though.
But hold on. So I suggest...
In every industry? That's such a blanket...
Yes, 100%. If there's ever sales, there's backdoor people that work around sales.
Okay, are you including kind of like, like referral agreements and things like that?
No, what I'm talking about? Is this some people buy from some people because they got paid to buy from some people? I think that happens across every industry, though, but don't get hung up on that. Because those are...
Don't be butthurt, that happens. Okay.
It's not about being butthurt, but I don't buy business.
So a lot of so in my industry...
You can obviously.
But look, guys.
Okay, I mean, but if you could, I, I'm racking my brain trying to get your wallet out.
My construction industry of all industries. That's probably where it's known the most that that happens.
I think it happens way more in the medical world than it does in construction.
Maybe, maybe.
Sorry.
So here's, here's what happens with that, though. A lot of people get tied up on the fact that well, I can't win that guy. Because he gets paid. Right? He gets paid on the table, and I can't pay him under the table. That's not my problem. My point of it is, is that's probably a small majority, don't get hung up on that, okay. puts out in your process as a lose, lose. Find people that do business the way that you do
Exactly the industry standard.
Stay in your lane.
Paint between the lines, because yeah, you're just getting out in the weeds. And it'll bite ya in the ass.
It is way better during arbitration to be the guy on the good side that was honest.
Absolutely. And when you're sitting in a court of law, that's why I say think with the end in mind, where will this ultimately land you?
And I always say, there's a million...
That $2,000 cash in a brown bag is not worth it.
And you can't consistently repeat that. That is not a repeatable process.
Because you want to talk about not scalable...
$2,000 a day it's $4,000 a month. Yeah, I mean, yeah, thousand dollars, keep your mouth shut.
Sure, it never ends.
It doesn't.
Don't even
Yeah, don't go there. I will,
I will say, winding this down. Right now we're going to wrap up talking about process. I challenge you personally, myself to write down what you do on a day to day improve, see your failure, see your successes. And if you add some improvement, every day, just a just a skosh. Just a little bit.
Skosh?
That's a good word, right?
I love that word actually.
Just a little bit to improve from Monday to Tuesday, and Tuesday to Wednesday and Wednesday to Wednesday, well, and then, and then August to September. That is a process that is a process that you can improve on and build on.
And I go to say no man is an island. But to thy own self be true. And I say that because we live in communities. We love it. We, we we live in communities for a reason, we need each other, I don't want to make my electricity, I don't want to pump my own water. I like the fact that it cuts a switch on and lights appear. So build a network that helps support that idea that you don't do it alone.
It supports your process
Right and and you support there's, you, to give it to get you got to give.
I will say this on every podcast until it becomes very apparent that you are needed. If you're selling something who are needed.
On both sides of the fence.
That's what I'm saying.
Right? Your company needs you and your prospects need you. Yeah, and we talk about the mindset, right. And it's so important if you don't feel like you deserve to talk to the president of a company or the owner, or the founder. You've already lost, you've already lost. Absolutely right. And that's so important. That was one of the hardest things for me to wrap my head around.
That's the hardest part for most of us up here. Even as a D, it's hard for me.
That's interesting to me, because I would not think that.
I can tell you why because I don't want to be embarrassed.
When I said this before, but it's so true. I remember whenever I first started calling on surgeons, I think I said it last podcast, you know, you're like, Oh my gosh, it's a surgereon.
This guy knows everything.
And you know, you just think they're just so amazing. They are amazing. But that's their gift that they get to. They learned how to do that. You learn, you have gifts too, like don't...
Can I put that in perspective just a little bit. Absolutely. If a guy can tear apart a Harley, all the way down to the jets of a carburetor and put it back together. Is that not the same as somebody repairing a hip inside of a body?
It's not the same. But the thing is,
What I'm saying is that certain people have certain or you're a hero in your own industry.
Everyone has skills, don't discount who you are, you know, just they they've learned a different skill. Your skill is identify it.
Here's what, here's what I do know about process. If you don't have one, you can't track what you're doing. For sure. I do know that.
Let me add to this. You also need to be a superhero. You do need to be bulletproof, you do need to be able to leap over.
That's pretty easy for me.
Okay, but
It's actually easy for me too.
I've seen Nan be a superhero in the in the healthcare side of things where people come to her, they gravitate towards her if you're not building a dynamic along with that process. Because if you're vanilla ice cream, guess what? Somebody wants hot chocolate over you and putting bananas next to you. You know, and so at a certain point, you need to be a little more you got to figure out how to stretch yourself and get out there.
Right again, you have to be uncomfortable to succeed. Eventually you won't be uncomfortable, but you need to not be afraid of that.
Yeah. Anybody else? Guys before we wrap up? I mean, this was an awesome episode. I'm pretty excited about this. I know you got a little heated. Yeah.
All right. Well, let's listen back.
You throw out Oh, awesome. Let's see what the response is.
Right? Absolutely. So with that being said, right, if you're listening to this, if you got anything out of it. Or if you know anyone in sales, if you know that they're struggling, send this to them. If you got anything out of it. Imagine how much someone else who's not as far as you on the path could get from this. Inspect what you expect, right? That's not my line. I learned it from someone else. But I love it. If you're not thinking about what you should be expecting from a sales call. You're winging it, don't do that. Hope is not a sales strategy. So follow us on social media at sales throwdown is everything if you're watching us on YouTube, thank you. Go subscribe. Get on the email list. We're doing some crazy stuff on there. And and comment, comment, let's hear that stuff. Give us an honest review. If you think this sucks, tell us ask questions we want to Absolutely. We want to do Q and A's like we want to help you right? If you see me wants you to help us. Absolutely. Yeah. So I've learned a lot from the people at this table. And honestly, you know, I kind of felt like I had it all figured out for a while. I don't but it's all good here so far from that. Absolutely. Alright, so before we go off on a tangent, thanks, everybody. We'll see you guys next week. Somebody
Did somebody pass gas?
It was you.
Always you.