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[00:00:00] Dave Polykoff: Welcome to another episode of personal brand blueprint. I'm Dave Poliakoff, founder of Zen post. com, your branding content partner, helping you become the best known and go to expert in your industry. If you're struggling, struggling with finding the right messaging that resonates with your audience and creating consistent content around that messaging, then check out Zen post.
[00:00:20] com to learn more about our monthly done for you branding and content services, where We'll create your brand messaging and then create monthly content around that messaging that attracts, convinces, and converts your ideal client for you. On today's episode, we have Benjamin Brown owner of three 60 sales consulting and author of master the art of closing the sale, which is going to be a large topic for us today.
[00:00:44] So today we're chatting with Benjamin about how to become better at closing sales for our personal brands so we can grow and monetize them. So Benjamin, welcome to the show.
[00:00:53] Ben Brown: Good morning to you Dave, how's everything?
[00:00:56] Dave Polykoff: I have to be honest. I've been fighting a cold, uh, for the last week [00:01:00] and, uh, I'm at the tail end of it, but you know, I'm about 95%. So I'll, uh, hopefully by the end of this, this podcast will, I'll be energized enough to be a hundred percent.
[00:01:10] Ben Brown: I'll sell you some medicine on the end, you know I'm good at sales.
[00:01:13] Dave Polykoff: There we go. Yeah. By the end of this, I expect to have my credit card out and that's what today's episode is going to be all about. So why don't we kick that off with giving us a little bit of an idea of Who are you? What do you do and who do you do it for?
[00:01:26] Ben Brown: Well, in short, I've been in sales for over 25 years and, uh, started teaching sales about, uh, About nine years ago, find out that I had kind of a talent for it, but like to do it and like to see the results that people get when they understand the concept of what sales actually is. And most people nowadays don't understand what that is from back in the days because technology has fogged that up a lot.
[00:01:50] Uh, popular is not selling. Um, it's a whole concept. It's a language. And once you understand that language, life becomes better and it encompasses in everything that you do, [00:02:00] really.
[00:02:01] Dave Polykoff: All right. So who would you say that is like your ideal client that would work best with you?
[00:02:05] Ben Brown: I've worked with larger companies, but mainly, uh, uh, smaller organizations. Entrepreneurs, kind of, because once they get the concept and understand it, I can work with them. Um, but larger companies encompassing a sales force, I built sales teams from scratch, which means bring them in, hire them, and hold deals.
[00:02:24] So, um, bring in the methodology, and also, uh, you know, when you start dealing with the standard operating procedure and how the company works. And working with the actual, um, culture of the company helps as well. Once you understand a lot of that. Sales is actually fun. Uh, but most people have a negative connotation to it.
[00:02:43] So it's a lot of changing of the mind. So I would say my ideal would be smaller companies, under 5 million, uh, and entrepreneurs, really.
[00:02:52] Dave Polykoff: I want to get back to that point about the negative connotation about sales. Someone put a pin on that, but what's like the main core problem that you [00:03:00] consistently see, like, why are people coming to work with you? What's like the big problem that you're solving typically for these individuals or corporations?
[00:03:08] Ben Brown: Uh, the lack of meaning with the concept of sales. They don't understand and haven't taken a course. Uh, you don't get it in college. Uh, most people get thrown into that field, uh, especially with people that want to be entrepreneurs. The first thing Mark Cuban says, you have to learn how to do is sell. And the first thing you have to do is learn how to sell yourself.
[00:03:26] So most of the time I have to deal with the consciousness of the person, if I work one on one, and also bringing up the confidence. Eighty percent of sales is confidence, because it's about failure. And learning from failure and dealing with failure is the beginning of sales.
[00:03:43] Dave Polykoff: So it sounds like you have a good conceptualization of sales. Kind of give us the origin story. How'd you get into. To being a sales consultant. And what's kind of like the backstory behind that.
[00:03:53] Ben Brown: I tell people it's like the acting bug. I was, got out of the Marine Corps and I was in gym. I was a personal trainer for a while. I was [00:04:00] making like 70 an hour, which was good money. Uh, got recruited, uh, by a sales team that was traveling. And they said, you, you could be a good salesperson. I never did it and they kind of convinced me to get into it.
[00:04:12] And then I, uh, took it on and, uh, my check blew up. Compared to doing hourly and realize, oh, I could just make money talking coming from the Marine Corps and coming from a farm Where you did everything with your hands your value was with your hands and learning that you know based on your ability to communicate you could make more money without Breaking the bank and I mean i've already done a servitude Growing up on 160 acre farm and being in the Marine Corps and artillery and always working with your hands I paid my dues and I said, man, if I don't have to use my hands again, I'll be much better to do it even though I can do it.
[00:04:51] You know, I can change out a motor if I have to, but, you know, using the mind is, is, is amazing thing and being able to communicate well and selling is a, [00:05:00] an actual career. Uh, you can take your skills anywhere in the world. People can utilize that just like a welder or a plumber. Um, and that could be a skill set that can carry you on through the rest of your years.
[00:05:11] And you can write your own check if you want. If you're really good at it.
[00:05:15] Dave Polykoff: And so you've been growing your career in sales. Obviously it takes a lot of persuasion. What's kind of the core main marketing tactic you've used to help grow your personal brand, to help get clients for your sales consulting business.
[00:05:31] Ben Brown: Well, it's, it's, everybody's selling. So, what is your unique selling point? It's the hardest thing. I tell people I'm great at sales. I, I'm not really good at marketing. That's the deep mindset. That's the, you know, the, another different type of deal to reach a potential client is to get them to, to start to evaluate your platform.
[00:05:51] Just like a podcast, what's gonna make it? Is it the cover? Is it the topic? It's like writing a book. Is it the title? It's the color of the book, it's the image, [00:06:00] all of these things that draws interest, right? So what happens, marketing and sales is two different things, it's always that argument, the chicken or the egg, um, but sales is once you penetrate the skin of the company, which is an email, a phone call, um, you know, uh, a text message, all, a chat, all of these different things.
[00:06:19] Once that is initiated, marketing job is to get that to happen, right? Then once that happens. Sales takes over. So these are two different processes that work in conjunction. Because the feedback from sales is, we could do it better if we did this. Because you're getting the real, uh, aspiration of what's happening on the back end.
[00:06:39] So they do work together.
[00:06:41] Dave Polykoff: You mentioned earlier that there's a bit of a negative connotation around sales. Can you kind of talk to me about that? What is that connotation? Where is it coming from?
[00:06:50] Ben Brown: Oh, well, you know, we live in a society where there's negative everywhere, right? But when it comes to sales, the first thing people think is fear. Uh, car sales, the [00:07:00] things that they don't like. Um, some people have tried sales. They didn't have the right mentor. They didn't have the right program. Uh, it's just like going to play football and then you, you know, first game you go, somebody gets nailed.
[00:07:12] Knocked out cold. You're like, oh, don't want nothing to do with that, you know. Most of the time, don't want that to happen to my child. But, you know, the chances of that happening is very slim. If you don't get yourself into the, on the field, you don't, you're not able to play. Um, in sales you can make a lot of money.
[00:07:27] But main thing is being able to get into the mindset and deal with people that's going to help you take that away because, like I said, 80 percent of sales is what? Confidence. Um, and you have to have that because you're going to get, you're going to go through something. Anything that you do in life, to get to the other side, you have to go through something.
[00:07:46] Most people today is not, uh, willing to work as hard as we did back in the days. A lot of stuff is done through the computers and easy, sit in front of the computer and try to make money, right? Back in my days, we didn't have it. When I first started, we didn't have computers, [00:08:00] we just had a phone. Uh, and a notebook.
[00:08:03] We didn't have email, didn't have any of that. And we did quite well. And before that, they had radio, and they did quite well. And before radio, they had people knocking on doors. They did quite well. Before then, they had a wagon that came into town. So sales have not changed over the years. It really hasn't.
[00:08:20] People always say that. It's just the tools that you use now. You can reach a mass amount of people easier with less, uh, cost.
[00:08:28] Dave Polykoff: So today we're going to learn about tactics around sales, but let's kind of tee up like, why, why do we need to learn sales? What's the importance of. Being a good sales person.
[00:08:40] Ben Brown: It's a different language that comes with business. So there's a lot of people that talk about their product. But sales is a process to get people to actually move. Let me restate that again. The purpose of a sale is Is to get somebody to actually do something. When you talk at them, constantly, constantly, constantly, constantly.
[00:08:58] They, you're not asking them to do anything. [00:09:00] So nothing happens. That's why people talk too much in most sales type of situations. Now you know there's certain points, there's 30 points for people to actually come to you. That's marketing, right? Before they do something. You see a billboard 20 times. You might see a lawyer 20 times until you get into an accident.
[00:09:15] Now you know who to call because it's in your brain. Right? That's marketing. But to actually sale is to move them. Every sales is asking you to do something. Click on something, go here, give me your email, tell me what your problem is. All these things are action items. So, it's a step, it's a process. I tell people this process will set you free.
[00:09:36] If you don't have a process, you don't know what you're doing in a conversation. Even though your product is good, you make a lot of money, you can't assess what you're doing wrong. And sales is all about performance, like an actor. Right? You could go on Broadway and do that, that play for six months out of the year.
[00:09:52] You know what night you did really good, what night you did really bad. Right?
[00:09:59] Dave Polykoff: So you [00:10:00] have, you've bundled your, your knowledge into a book, master of the art of closing the sale. And in that you have 10 key steps or elements to helping us do that. Can you walk us through what's kind of cherry pick one, um, and kind of walk us through what that is and how we can use it
[00:10:20] Ben Brown: BAM! Master of the Art of Clothing. No, I'm just kidding.
[00:10:25] Dave Polykoff: always be selling
[00:10:26] Ben Brown: No, you, see how thin it is? See, sales is simple, but it's not easy. Right? This book, this thin, if you don't see it, it's not, it's not 113 pages. But the concept is sales is easy. It's simple, but it's not easy, so you have to practice these. So when I wrote the book people, if I wrote this book and it was just thick or thicker, people like, oh, man, I can't concept is just too, too complicated because you have to practice it, right?
[00:10:57] So the steps in there are 10. When [00:11:00] I work for a company, we had 11. So what I did is took all the good steps over the years that I put and put, concised it down to the exact ten that covers every product that's out there. Whether it's a refrigerator, Learjet, stove, mops, same thing. So on Monday you could sell one product.
[00:11:19] And this is a, this is a testament day to a good salesperson. I could sell, like I do, I have multiple businesses, right? So when the phone rang I could do multiple things. So on Friday, uh, we could sell refrigerators. And then on Monday I came in, Dave, we were selling out Learjets. To you it's no problem.
[00:11:36] You're replacing the product with the process. Right? Because you're confident in the process. You've got a lead. You might have a lead. You can go cold calling at that point. But you're redoing the process over and over again. Most people are, concepts are based upon the product. The product is good. The product is good.
[00:11:55] The product is good. The product is good. The product is good. Do you want to buy it? Do you want to buy it? That's great. [00:12:00] You'll get sales. But the process is what you're looking for. And that's basically going back. I'll give you an important step that we have. Step number four is called emotional triggers.
[00:12:09] What is the emotional? People buy emotionally based upon what they want, not what they need. What is the emotional reason or the way you're going to feel when you use my product or when you're not going to use my product? So, here's a key button I tell people. The difference between a good and a great salesperson is the number of questions that you ask.
[00:12:31] And most people are not asking enough questions. They're so focused on the product, they're not asking enough questions for the client. And they're afraid to, uh, and they don't, and they assume. So the first rule in sales, never assume anything. So I'll rule out by questions. So if I see a lead, I'm not, oh.
[00:12:50] This guy, this and that. You know, it goes through the process. Right? So, process will set you free. That way you're not emotional about the results that's going [00:13:00] to happen. So the key component, I always say, Dave, who's most important? The client? Or the salesperson? Who? Huh?
[00:13:10] Dave Polykoff: client.
[00:13:13] Ben Brown: I have the solution. I'm the solution provider. If I have a cure for cancer, who's most important? The person with cancer or the person who could cure it?
[00:13:22] Dave Polykoff: Sure. Yeah.
[00:13:23] Ben Brown: Because I could do it multiple times. Right? You might, and you're done. So, I am the, if I feel that way, and I know I'm here, and my product is good, I'm not a used car salesman, I'm not taking advantage, because sales could be used for good and evil.
[00:13:41] Most people know the what side? Because they got taken advantage of because they didn't know what? Sales. You can see it coming. If you know karate, you know somebody else that knows karate. If you don't know karate, you're just going to get your butt kicked. [00:14:00] Right? See, I use these analogies so people can understand simple.
[00:14:04] Right? It's not that complicated, but you have to go through this over and over again. Most of the time, that's what I have to do with people to understand the concept that they thought they knew what sales was. They really don't. And if it's something you've been doing it for years, but once you understand the way I make you want to think about it, it's way more easier.
[00:14:22] It's really more replicable and it becomes more enjoyable. It's not a drudge because sales is not easy. That's why a lot of people don't do it.
[00:14:32] Dave Polykoff: You mentioned asking the right questions. In order to make sure you're speaking to the, uh, to their needs. What are some, you know, two or three questions that we should be asking at the beginning of the call in order to make sure. We're driving the sale and the rest of our pitch correctly. And we're ensuring that we can get to more of a close at the end.
[00:14:54] Ben Brown: Well, the process, like I said, is most important. So the first step is being prepared. That's the [00:15:00] first thing I teach. Are you prepared to sell? People don't know what that means. Are you in the right frame of mind? You had a bad night. That plays a role. You know, is it 3 o'clock in the afternoon? Are you tired?
[00:15:14] It's a performance. So, a lot of these things go in a place of analyzing yourself because most sales, good sales people can analyze what they did wrong and most bad sales people blame fault at everything else. What have you heard over the years? The leads are bad, Dave. It's Christmas time, Dave. It's the end of the year.
[00:15:33] People don't want a pie. Salesman can sell you anything, especially why they're not performing. Right? There's always a sale going on. Right? Somebody's always buying, somebody's always selling. So if you're a sales manager, are you gonna, are you gonna buy that? That the leads are bad? You know? So it's always something going on in the mind.
[00:15:55] It's a lot of mindset type deal. And sometimes, you know, when you get to that unbelievable [00:16:00] point where nobody can mess with you and you're You're on and you're physically fit and you know, you're mentally there and you've eaten well and you slept enough hours and you know your process good. You're, you're indestructible.
[00:16:12] And most people never know what that feeling feels like.
[00:16:17] Dave Polykoff: what's a way, a lot of sales calls I'll get on sometimes it's more so tire kickers versus people who are kind of ready to, to buy what's a way that we can identify maybe pre sale or on the call quickly to understand, is this going to be a qualified person for me? And if so, should we. Should we end the call early?
[00:16:39] Kind of, you know, how do we, how do we avoid wasting our time with certain sales calls?
[00:16:43] Ben Brown: answer the question. Who's most important?
[00:16:46] Dave Polykoff: I am
[00:16:47] Ben Brown: or the customer?
[00:16:49] Dave Polykoff: salesman
[00:16:50] Ben Brown: Why?
[00:16:52] Dave Polykoff: because they have the cure.
[00:16:53] Ben Brown: Right. So if I have the cure, am I going to waste time with people that I can't help?
[00:16:59] Dave Polykoff: How do we identify [00:17:00] that
[00:17:01] Ben Brown: The questions that you ask, if I could. The difference is with your confidence is, the second step in the process of my sales is called connect and relate. The reason you connect and relate is I'm going to ask you more difficult questions normally than the other salesperson because I don't want to waste my what. So if I ask you, if I could provide you with a solution before I even tell you what I provide, And it's going to cost you around 4, 500. Is anything holding us back from doing business today? I really mean it. I haven't even told you, I haven't even went to the presentation. Most people run to the presentation, it's a salvation.
[00:17:41] Once I get to that, boy I'm going to wow you with everything. You get that when you go to the shows on the weekend, and the people are sitting there doing demos. They're wowing you with the presentation, right? It's not really about what you want, it's like what it does. And it does this, and it cuts this, and it cuts that, and it cuts this.
[00:17:57] It's got the mic, he's going and it's like, he's [00:18:00] hitting your emotional button. He's not really worried about you because he's selling to the masses, right? So it's kind of like that, rather than coming up and going, Dave, last time you had a cooking, what type of cooking material did you use? What kind of pots and pans?
[00:18:14] What kind of knives did you use? Right? How long have you had them? You know, if there was a way that you can get an entire set for you and replace that so you could be a more efficient cook for around three, three hundred dollars, is that something you'd be interested in? No? Okay, great, next person. Rather than going, I got this, I got this, I got this, I got this, and then in the end you go, I gotta think about it.
[00:18:35] Why you gotta think about it? Well, still, and so what happens is the close becomes harder. Let me repeat, the close becomes harder because you're assuming That the presentation will set you free. So when you get toward the end and you close, would you like to move forward? And they go, I gotta think about it.
[00:18:52] Now you got a book of objections rather than a process. You go, Oh, you can lead a horse to water. You know, you start going through these closing techniques people always [00:19:00] have. And if you do a proper sales, the closing becomes automatic. Because you ruled out all the way through to the close. All assumptions are gone.
[00:19:10] So when I get to the close, My closing rate instead of like 50 percent goes to like 85 percent because I really, like a lawyer, put together a case and from a jury that says to me, you should be buying this. So when you say, I got to think about it, I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You told me this. You told me that I've done my homework and you also told me that, right?
[00:19:30] Yeah. So I know the, the different ways some people are going to stop, you know, it's natural not to buy on the first time to be a sucker. But then if I can come back with the evidence. that I've asked you, not made, made an assumption on, and that this problem can be solved by what we provide and you can afford it.
[00:19:51] What's holding us back?
[00:19:54] Dave Polykoff: on that point of objections? I mean, all of us who've are [00:20:00] launching and trying to grow our personal brands and are taking sales calls, we've probably heard, heard them all. Um, what are some of the common objections that you hear or that your clients hear? And what are some of the tactics that you provide them to maybe avoid those objections completely based on just some of the things maybe you said earlier in the, in the call or how to respond to them when they do come up,
[00:20:26] Ben Brown: What's the biggest one you hear, Dave?
[00:20:30] Dave Polykoff: I need to think about it. I'm, you know, I got some other things I'm considering. I'll, I'll get back to you basically is, you know, I just need more time
[00:20:39] Ben Brown: Do you think that's valid?
[00:20:41] Dave Polykoff: now.
[00:20:42] Ben Brown: So how do you handle that? Do
[00:20:45] Dave Polykoff: that's my question to you
[00:20:47] Ben Brown: you have children?
[00:20:49] Dave Polykoff: and that I know about
[00:20:50] Ben Brown: Okay, so when you have children, that'll help you too, because they'll tell you things that's not valid, right? So you go, wait, wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. From what you're telling me [00:21:00] is clarification. We spent all this time together, right?
[00:21:03] You told me this and you told me this and you told me this, right? I'm not assuming anything, right? So in my sales process, I'm going to ask more detailed questions. So when I get toward the end, it's not the fact that I'm trying to close you. I'm just trying to figure out where you're at headwise. Did you lie?
[00:21:19] You know, buyers are liars, right? They say that. But you, you're so, you don't have the confidence to call them out on that. So you'll confirm it. Okay, I'll get back to you. How many people you know got a whole list of people for callbacks? Ain't gonna happen. Cause you thought they were hot. There's no such thing as a warm lead.
[00:21:39] Right? There's no such thing. All go through the process. So, when you get toward the end and they start hammering behind, you go back to the steps that you know to reconfirm and confirm. So once you go back to that, there's somebody at fault here. It's either them or me. And once I take responsibility, then I know I can ask more detailed questions.
[00:21:59] So when [00:22:00] you say you got to think about it, what does that mean? You know, is it you got to think about the product? You got to think about solving the product? You got to think about this? You got to think about dealing with me? Is it me? No. Is it the money? And they'll tell you it's either three things. You got a problem.
[00:22:18] You gotta think about, is it the product? Does the product work for you? Yes. Uh, is it me? My bad breath? What? What is it? Me? No, it's not you. Is it the price? Those who hesitate . So from what you're telling me, it might be down to the price, right? So you have to isolate. So you reconfirm and then you isolate.
[00:22:42] So the key question that you asked me, the answer is when you do it from a technical standpoint, you reconfirm the only thing, isolate, right? And then handle it and break it down. Cause most of the time when they throw you an objection, it's not real. [00:23:00] So if you validate that and you go down that pipe, that's wrong, right?
[00:23:06] Dave Polykoff: for someone who's in the market. To have someone like you come on and help them with their sales process. What's something that they should have in place? Where should they be in kind of their, their journey and have ready to first have set before they come to you and start that conversation so that you guys can kind of hit the ground running.
[00:23:29] Ben Brown: Well, then to learn. Most people are not willing to learn. I can't work with everyone. Because I'm looking for progress. That's why in the book, in the end, it says what? Get clients that get referrals. I can't get referrals if, if, if I know you're not going to work out. I don't work with people I can't help.
[00:23:50] It's a waste of time. Which most people when they market now, if you go to LinkedIn and everything, everybody's marketing something with no results. Do you know how many products I bought with [00:24:00] Tens of thousands of dollars as an entrepreneur that didn't work and they didn't care about it. They're like, oh, 10, 000.
[00:24:07] We'll get you leads. We do, you know, we, what's the, what's the one, uh, ads. You can buy ads. They get you all the, every, you know, we do all the setup for like a month. Go digging the deep dive into your company, putting ads out. And then they come back, uh, next month. What did they tell you, Dave? Oh, we need to run more ads.
[00:24:24] We're going to need more money. Well, what happened to the. Well, you know, we got to, you know, home back in. I'm like, what, what, you know? And so the thing, the thing I tell people is that, uh, this device right here, which we didn't have 50 years ago, it's a powerful tool. Most people don't use it. Pick up the phone.
[00:24:44] My clients, I love pick up the phone, do it the old school way because everybody else is now still trying to click on and do all this other stuff. If I came in here, you're a, which I used to do back in the days. If I came into your office, I came into a guy's office, had a roofing company, and this and that.
[00:24:59] I [00:25:00] took his laptop, closed it down, and took his cell phone from him. I said, how you gonna get business? Looked at me like I'm crazy. I said, you would get in the truck, and you would go down the street, and you would actually knock on doors. What's the easiest way to do that, rather than being in the heat, burning gas?
[00:25:16] Make phone calls. This is, this is, this is the way, but people wanted to work with the masses and then work with whatever comes out of the masses, right? Which is cool. And they've seen it done for the last 10 years. Man, if I sent 60, 000 emails, I could make 10, 000 a month, you know, low hanging fruit. But can you close?
[00:25:38] Most people can't close.
[00:25:41] Dave Polykoff: So say someone did get started with you or someone like you, what's, what's a typical process for a sales consultant to help support a personal brand and, and help them with their sales? Like what's kind of from initial. Interaction consultation to like [00:26:00] closed
[00:26:01] Ben Brown: well what I, what I have to find out is what you're selling, do you believe it? Do you like a, here's, here's one of the major things I deal with Dan. Do you love or like what you're selling? So, love it, if you don't love it, like it, leave it. Because the people on the other end can feel it. We have that innate ability whether it's an email, text message, the way people speak tells you the generosity that they bring with that.
[00:26:30] And if you don't like or love what you're going to do to get you through the hard times as an entrepreneur, cause entrepreneur, I've been an entrepreneur since 2002. It's not easy. You're going to have down times. I just went through one of my businesses, I have a limo company. I, I left town the second time for a hurricane.
[00:26:46] My phone hasn't rang for three weeks. Right? What do you do during that? Right? You have to get on the phone and start selling. You have to do things that's not easy as an entrepreneur. So the main thing, do I still like being a [00:27:00] limo company? People will leave stuff and then try something else and try something else and continue to fail until they go back to work for somebody.
[00:27:07] Right. So do you like a love the product that you get? I want to work with a client that is staying on the interstate overpass with a sign and go buy my product. Like that's how much you believe in your product. It's easier to sell if you believe in it. And when I do consultations, if you don't believe in it, it's not worth my time.
[00:27:28] And most people out here just selling stuff just to sell it. They're not really, they're not really into it. Three, four, five years down the road. That's why most businesses don't make it past five years. Their heart is not in it. They're trying to do something quick, the quick money to try to do this and try to sell this.
[00:27:43] Three years later, are you still doing it? No. People still ask me, you still got your limo company? How long have you been in business? 14 years. It's like unheard of. Right? Like, where did you get this product from? Well, somebody told me I could sell this and make a lot of money. How [00:28:00] long you been in? Six months.
[00:28:01] Oh, goodness. Have you taken a sales course before? No. What do you used to do? I used to work at this company and I decided to be an entrepreneur and start my own deal. Hmm. Or I worked for a company for 15 years, uh, you know, started my own deal, entrepreneur. What'd you do? Oh, I was head of, uh, HR. You've never been in sales?
[00:28:23] No. Have you taken a sales course? No. That's why I got you. I want you to sell. No, that's not my job. The first person that's supposed to be able to sell is the one who started the company. You build the culture. Another problem that I find, Dave, is that people don't know how to hire. So how do you hire a salesperson if you've never been in sales?
[00:28:50] One thing a salesperson do know how to do is get a job. Doesn't mean they're going to sell it. So you go through that rotation as well. So I've been on that deal where companies hired [00:29:00] me to hire salespeople because I could see through the wall, right? So it's the same kind, it's the same kind of, how can you coach football?
[00:29:07] You never played football, right? So it's, it's that kind of deal that people have to understand. And my deal is most of the sales people you're supposed to work with you're supposed to be able to 10x the business If you're making a hundred Successfully based upon what you're doing with no sales experience No sales process if you work with somebody they're supposed to be able to get you to a million most of the time That's what i'm looking at at least 40 Right, so if I took away everything that you did and I give you a phone list Uh, we can still be in business.
[00:29:40] We still can make a lot of money. You just gotta work. And most people don't want to work. They want somebody to just click on and buy. Buy my program, read this and buy. Huh?
[00:29:50] Dave Polykoff: If someone was interested then and using you as a, their sales consultant, what's kind of the initial pitch that you, you give to people as to what you do and then how do you tell [00:30:00] them to get ahold of you to take next steps?
[00:30:02] Ben Brown: Well, I have meetwithbenjamin. com. It's uh, very easy and I tell people that and you can schedule a call. I'll also have a number 863 274 3898 directly because I, I have to qualify you just like the same way you have to qualify me. I'm one of the guys, you're working with me, you're not working with a team or some AI bot or some, some program you have to click on with CD ROMs and, or an online course.
[00:30:26] Uh, I tell people sales is a skill. A skill is not something you can read about. That's theory. This right here, it's not going to make you money. Right? This is a concept. Right? You have to practice the concept. It's a skill. So if I told you, we're going to learn, you, we're going to, Dave, we're going to learn how to weld.
[00:30:46] Next, in the next year, year and a half, you're going to be a professional welder. Read this book. You think that's going to work? No, you have to be what first? An apprentice. You have to sit down with somebody who knows what they're doing to teach you the ways of how it's doing. A [00:31:00] mentorship, right? That type of deal in order to learn.
[00:31:02] Because once you learn how to do this, you can go anywhere in the world and sell. Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, you have a skill that's replicable. Just like a welder or a plumber or anything like that. And there's not a lot of people that have skills anymore. They just, they just do businesses or just try to, Bitcoin or, you know, something on Amazon.
[00:31:21] Or something quick that they see that they can make money on. And then the people who have the experience, that are coaches out there, um, have this vast experience that they've had for 15, 20 years, built a company around it, and they still don't know how to have the conversation or the language of selling.
[00:31:38] So it's difficult for them, right?
[00:31:42] Dave Polykoff: Well, that's all for today's episode of personal brand blueprint. A big thank you to Benjamin for being on today's show and walking us through some key steps on how we can become better salespeople to learn more about how to launch and grow a business. And monetize your personal brand. Please check out, uh, Zen post.
[00:31:59] com [00:32:00] for details on how we can work together. Subscribe to the personal brand blueprint podcast and follow me, Dave poly cough on LinkedIn, as well as Benjamin links to all of that will be in the show notes below. Thanks. And see you on the next episode of personal brand blueprint.
