Sales Lessons From a Half-Billion Dollar Executive

Yes, that’s billion with a “b”.  One of the guys in my mastermind group used to be a big-time radio executive who generated a half-billion dollars in sales.  Whenever he offers business development counsel in our mastermind group, everyone feverishly takes notes!  I thought I’d share a few of his  gems with you.

• Appeal to all four personality types:  drivers, analytics, expressives, and amiables.  Your messaging should have elements to reach all of the above.  For instance, have some black and white very direct statements to appeal to drivers, some quantifiable facts and information presented logically to appeal to the analytics, some enthusiastic and animated language for the expressives, and messages about connections for the amiables who resonate with the friendly, “come play with us” approach.  As an amiable myself, I have to be careful not to have all my messaging be in amiable mode, or I could alienate or not engage great people.  In other words, don’t let your personality trump your message!
• Hit ’em between the eyes in the first 3 seconds. Just like headlines serve as attention-grabbers for news stories, your promotion of anything will be more effective if you can hit a nerve right out of the gate.
• Social proof is an important element of sales.  Make a big, fat claim, explain it, give a powerful example, all while focusing on your prospective buyer.
• Tell your story in four steps:  VPSI:  Value, Pain, Solution, Implementation.  1.  establish value in terms of setting up the pain or pleasure of what your buyer will ultimately be able to do and achieve. 2.  delve into the top problems your market has, or the top mistakes they make and share insights about what that is costing them 3.  offer evidence-based solutions with proof of efficacy. 4.  choose one solution for the buyer to implement, make a bold offer of the solution you think will serve them best and implement that solution.
• Pain is a more powerful motivator than opportunity.  If your message is not compelling enough, the buyer will choose his pain over your solution.
• Reasons people engage with any form of content is ICEE:  they want to be Informed, they want Companionship, they want to be Entertained, and they want to Escape
• The ICE approach to sales:  Identify the problem, Clarify the problem, Explain or expand the problem.