Issue #5: How to graduate from salesperson to rainmaker:

When did you last read sales advice that you actually used?

Advice that didn’t make you feel like you were standing naked in a crowd after getting out of an ice-cold pool.

Sales advice for as long as I can remember is filled with platitudes and cliches that teach you everything but how to sell.

They teach you to be weak, needy, annoying, unsuccessful, a commodity — Alright. You get the idea.

It’s safe to say that we’ve all grown tired of the ‘ho-hum go get em sport’ sales advice that fills our ears.

For that very reason, I wanted to present a fresh, and hopefully helpful, look at what it means to be a salesperson today.

• No one cares about where you graduated. They certainly don’t care about the weather.

• What you have is valuable. What the prospect has is money. Even my 6-year-old nephew has a piggy bank.

• Your word is your bond. Don’t break it.

• “More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” - Cicero

• Never take a meeting without an agenda. It’s a waste of time.

• “Why now?” is the most important question you can ask.

• Stop asking for 20 seconds of a prospect's time. You sound like a child.

• Jeans or a suit to a meeting. Nothing in-between.

• Get into a texting relationship with your prospects.

• You need to be convinced by the prospect to sell. Not convince the prospect to buy.

• There’s only one next step. The one you tell them. Control the process, conversation, and the deal.

• It’s better to apply pressure than be pressured.

• If you’re curious and seek clarity, you'll be successful.

• There’s always more reasons to not make a deal with you than make a deal.

• Serve only the sick. Stop serving the healthy.

• Flash a light on the shadow in the corner of the room. Big, scary monsters come from the shadows and kill your deals.

• Priorities drive timelines. Nothing else. Don’t assume you'll be a priority tomorrow if you are one today.

• You make two sales. Sale #1 is away from the status quo. #2? Working with you.

• Ambiguity kills all deals.

• Sometimes saying nothing says it all.

• Who can say yes when everyone else can say no? If you aren’t talking to the person directly — you better know they at least exist.

• Talk 10%. Listen 90%.

• Never wait more than 4 minutes if they are late for a meeting. Cancel and let them reschedule. If they don’t respect your time, they don’t get your respect.

• You don’t need more friends. Stop treating your prospects like you do.

• Never drive your own car to a sales meeting. Rent or take an Uber.

• If you don’t have a next scheduled meeting with a prospect, you don’t have a prospect. You have a pipe dream.

• “So what now?” is the 2nd most important question you can ask.

• The person asking questions is in control. The person answering? Not so much.

• Speaking of questions: Ask more. Less periods, more question marks.

• If you're not at the table, you’re on the menu.

• If you need a deal, you’ve already lost.

• Never take a no from someone who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

• Pick up the phone and start dialing is the only advice in The Wolf Of Wall Street that is worth mentioning.

• No one won a gold medal for being the first person to a meeting.

• The devil is in the details. An unraveled deal starts with a single pulled thread.

• Don’t wear company swag.

• The only metric you need to track is new conversations held per week.

• There’s one rule that rules the rest. Respect yourself. Respect your prospect. At the end of the day, nothing else matters.

Closing Thoughts

This newsletter is for you. My only purpose is to teach you everything I know about getting everything you want.

Eventually, I’ll get to your burning desire topic. Or you can reply back to this email and I’ll put it to the top of the list.

Here’s the ask.

Reply to this email with the single bullet that triggered a thought in your mind.

If it’s worth of a 1,000+ word post, it’ll make it.

if it’s not. You’ll get a personal response from me.

Until next week.

-Chris

P.S. Want to become a rainmaker?

I offer 1:1 coaching to sales executives, founders, and entrepreneurs ready to become top 1% in the world at selling.

I’ll show you my exact system that helped me go from average salesperson to top 1% and 7-figure earner. You’ll learn how to get exactly what you want out of life.

Reply with “Coaching” and I’ll tell you how it works.