How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy

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It's time to stop selling the way you've always sold. 

In today's world, people want relationships, not transactions. They want to know that they can trust what you say and that you have their best interests in mind. 

In this episode, I'm going to share my takeaways from the book How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy by Ron Willingham. It's a great read for sales professionals who want to develop their skills and create more trust-based relationships with their clients. Sales is a game of trust. If you want to be successful, you need to know how the game works and what it takes to win.

So tune in to hear all the details, and get ready to make some important changes in your sales approach! 

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

• Travis's top three takeaways from the book, How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy  Ron Willingham
• How to go beyond just selling with your clients
• How to identify the client's needs and offer solutions to those problems

Links from this episode:

• Check out the book: How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy by Ron Willingham
• Listen to this episode: Brittany McBean: How to Write Persuasive Sales Copy

Want to give your podcast the boost it needs to stay ahead of the competition? Check out honestpodcasts.com and take the first step toward achieving your podcasting goals!

And if you have a guest in mind who you think would be a great fit for this show, drop me a line at hello@honestpodcasts.com. 

Transcript

Travis Albritton  0:00  
If you could design the perfect sales process for your product or service, where your ideal customer is begging down your door, begging to work with you, where you have virtually zero churn because all of your prospects are qualified leads. And then as they come into your company, as customers, they're also qualified. And so there is no buyer's remorse. There's no haggling about price or things like that, they're all qualified and eager to work with you, and where there's healthy, mutual expectations, where they have healthy expectations about what you do and what you offer and vice versa. That would be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it? Well, in this episode, I'm going to break down three of my top takeaways from my very favorite book on sales in the world. And we'll walk through together how you can incorporate those into your own company's sales process.

Travis Albritton  0:53  
Welcome back to the Honest Marketing Podcast for you to learn proven strategies to grow your business without selling your soul. I'm your host, Travis Albritton. And today, we're talking about sales. Now, you might be asking, Travis, why are we talking about sales on a marketing podcast. I thought this is about marketing. Well, sales and marketing are really two sides of the same coin. And so the way that I like to think about these two things, and how they play well together is that marketing is about exposure. It's about getting the world out there about who you are, and what you do. You're essentially informing the general public, the general populace, and specifically your ideal customer avatars, that you exist, and that you're here to help. And marketing is all about positioning your brand in such a way that when someone forms an opinion about you, it's a positive one. So it's not just about brand awareness, but it's also positive brand affinity, those are legally, you know, buzzwords for the industry. And affinity being that they have a positive impression of you, right? You want to have a good impression, you don't want to be the wish of your industry, you want to be the apple of your industry. So that's what marketing does. But marketing on its own will not grow your company, you also need sales. And sales is not a used car salesman, you know, just parading people on the parking lot until they agree to purchase a lemon and walk off with regret. That's not what sales says at all. Sales is identifying a need in someone's life, and then offering something more valuable to them as a solution than what they're giving you in return. So sales, you're really just trading things, they're trading you money in exchange for a product or a service is going to make their life better. That's all that sales is. And so it's not inherently manipulative. It's not overly persuasive, or toxic, or any of the things that are typically associated with sales, though, there's certainly enough of that on the internet. But for our intents and purposes, sales is simply a transaction takes place between your company and another party. And so when those two things are working in concert together, you're raising awareness, you're raising positive brand affinity around about your company. And then you also have a process to take people through when they express interest in working with you to get them from just starting out to I am now a customer of your company. Both of those things are vitally important. And we want to have integrity and just display honesty throughout that process. So that's why we want to talk about it on this podcast. And I want to share with you three of my top takeaways from my favorite book on sales, the ever written, Integrity Selling. So Integrity Selling for the 21st century, you got it right here, my hands, How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy by Ron Willingham. And the reason that I love this book on sales, is because it starts with the premise that we are going to have integrity, that we're gonna be honest, that we're going to be customer focused, instead of business focus with our sales process. So it's not about how do we extract every ounce of, you know, credit card out of our customers wallets, but it's how can we show up to serve, and then in doing so, really create a valuable scenario for both parties. So I want to share three of my top takeaways, I had a hard time even drilling it down to three, it's really a phenomenal book, I encourage you to read it, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're in marketing, if you're in sales, it's just a phenomenal book, and really as lays out a complete framework for how to think about sales as someone that wants to lead with value, and lead with integrity. Okay, but I had to break down the three, because three is a great number. And so here are my three of my top takeaways from the book. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna walk through each of these things, and I'm explaining what they are. And then we're also going to talk through what it would look like to incorporate that into your business.

Travis Albritton  4:22  
So my first takeaway from the book Integrity Selling is interview with no predetermined outcome, interview with no predetermined outcome. So this is when you first start a conversation with someone that could become a customer. And you're in the exploratory phase of discovering where they are in the process of their journey with whatever it is that you do. And so this usually takes place in an interview if you're in B2B sales, where it's much more relational and you're actually talking to people and hopping on Zoom. When people are doing high ticket offers, then you're gonna be talking to people, you're gonna be talking to people before they buy our product or service. If you are selling a lower ticket offer than that interview is simply be done in your sales copy, make sure you go listen to the episode I do with Brittany McBean where we talk all about sales copy and how to do that effectively. But this interview is a conversation that goes back and forth between you as the salesperson or the person selling your product and the person on the receiving and that's considering making a purchase from your company and doing business with you. Now, when you show up to that conversation, with the leverage, that you do not need their money, you were only there to help them, that completely changes the game. Okay, that completely changes the game, it completely changes your posture, it completely changes the tone of the entire sales conversation. If you're showing up and saying, listen, I am just interested in helping you that may mean doing business with me and my company but it may not, and I am open to both possibilities and I'm only interested in exploring what's gonna be best for you. How would you feel if a company did that as you were considering a purchase from them? Would you feel respected? Would you feel listened to? Would you feel considered? Would you trust that company? If you in the end decided that you did want to do business with them. Of course, of course you would. Because you would feel like they are not just showing up trying to convince you to give you give them money, but that they truly have your best interests at heart. Now, here's the thing, that has to actually be true. Like you actually have to show up with that integrity, to say I'm willing to let this sale walk away if it's not in the other person's best interest. And so we're talking about interviewing with no predetermined outcome, when it comes to strategy calls, sales calls, typically, the MO is let's kind of listen to what your problems are. And then let me read through a sales script to convince you to buy the product. Whether or not I feel like it's the best fit for you or not, because that's the scripts, you read the script, you do the script, you make sales, the whole world spins around. But to make this paradigm shift, it really requires showing up without a predetermined outcome in mind, right? Where you're just exploring what this could look like, for both parties, and really drawing out from the person you're talking to, or interacting with, what the real problem is. And sometimes this requires asking questions and follow up questions to really dig down to what is the core problem they're dealing with, that they're hoping to solve. And you will intuitively know, based on your industry and your expertise in what you do, what those core problems are, if you know your product really well, okay. So like for me, and my business, as a podcast production agency, the core problems typically come down to, we need a holistic strategy to start creating content for the internet. And we don't have the expertise to do that in house. And we know that exists somewhere. But we want to do this, but we also want to do it well, we want to make sure that it ties back to our own KPIs and how we're making money. And we want this to be a net positive for the business. And we feel like a podcast is a great way to do that. But at the core of that is we have investors that we want to get out to raise awareness about our company, that's the core need, and then the podcast is just a tool that you can use to attack that core need in order to help create a solution for it. And so I'm listening, whenever I do interviews with potential clients, for some of those key things that will clue me in that this is a person that actually has a need that I solve. If they don't, then I just say, listen, a podcast could be great. And there's nothing wrong with having a podcast. But you may want to do these things first, that might move the needle more for you in terms of sales, in terms of revenue, in terms of building your brand, then having a podcast at this time. And I will say that knowing full well that I'm letting a sale walk away, knowing that, hey, they may have even shown up and wanted to give me money. But if I know it's in their best interest to do something different than that is where coming into an interview with no predetermined outcome in mind comes into play. Okay, so that's the first takeaway.

Travis Albritton  8:53  
The second takeaway builds on that and that is to be a fiduciary for your prospects. Now, what does that word fiduciary mean? So back in 2008, when the housing crisis happened here in the United States, and there was a lot of ripple effects with the stock market and financial investing, it became much more common knowledge that money managers, people that manage your investments and your stocks and things like that, would not necessarily sell you packages and options based on what was best for you, the person whose money they were managing, but on what was best for them, that there'd be certain mutual funds, certain indexes, certain offers, that would make them more money. And it wasn't necessarily done to help you increase your investments as much as possible. So then, there was a shift and now a new type of money manager emerged called a fiduciary. A fiduciary is legally obligated to do what is best for you. So small tweaks like before, someone as a money manager could buy a stock, and I'm totally oversimplifying this, but just for the sake of illustration, I'll break this down. Before they could buy a stock on your behalf, they would have to make sure that it was actually in your best interest for what they knew. And they were acting as you. That they were doing exactly what you would do irregardless of how much they will be compensated. And so compensation packages are restructured, and whole, you know, entire new brokerages were built on this new foundation of we're going to be at a fiduciary, we're going to do what's in your best interest, even if it comes at our expense. Because that's ultimately how this thing is going to work and how you are going to trust us with your money, and how we are going to be able to build a long term sustainable business. And it worked. Because who would you rather give your money to, to manage it, someone who's only going to sell things and offer things based on the commission structure, or people that are going to try and help manage your money in a way that increases your return as much as humanly possible? The latter, right? So when you are in a sales conversation, you want to be a fiduciary for your prospect, you want to be putting yourself in their shoes, and speaking for them. And so how this works, if you can just picture this, imagine you're at a sales table, you're having a sales conversation, you're on opposite sides of the table, and you're lobbing things back and forth, you're negotiating, right? But rather than lobbing back and forth, okay, do you do this? Yes, we do this, okay. Can you help me with this? Yes, no. What about this? Rather than being opposed to each other, what if you came around the table? And now you're sitting next to each other, looking at the problem together. It completely changes the picture. Right? So now, again, you're not selling someone, something they don't need, you have come around from your position as the party on the other side, to join them on their side of the table and look at the problem together. And say, what's really going on here? And how do we really discover what it is that you need in order to solve this problem? Again, totally changes the game, when you're thinking about sales, and you can do this, just in a zoom conversation, when you're talking through, okay, well walk me through X, walk me through what this will look like for you. You know, how is this problem manifesting in your business? Oh, I could totally understand that. We've seen that over here. And you're building rapport, you're building trust, because you're not just coming out and saying, I have a product I want to sell you. But you're really taking the time to get to know what their needs are so that you with your wisdom and expertise can give them the best answer, even if it's not you, even if you are not the answer for what is ultimately best for them. Now, if you're a salesperson, you're thinking, that's great and all, but is this really going to help me make more sales? And the answer is yes, 100 percent. That counter intuitively, when you stop approaching sales conversations from a salesperson mentality, but rather approach them from a client first mentality or prospect first mentality, counter intuitively, you will sell more things. And the reason is, because when people are coming into a sales process, they already have a wall up, they're already guarded. They're already trying to brace against whatever magic persuasive words that you have in your sales script. That's the posture they have. But as soon as you reverse those expectations, and come in and say, I'm not here to sell you, I'm here to help you. And whether you buy something from me or not, I'm still going to show up in the same fashion. Now those guards start coming down, and they're actually opening openly engaged in a dialogue with you. And then guess what happens? When they decide actually, I do need to solve this problem. They're gonna choose you. Why? Because they trust you. Because they've seen you play out in real time, what it's like to interact with somebody who truly has their best interests in mind. Okay, so, number one takeaway, interview your prospects with no predetermined outcome, don't come in thinking this has to result in a sale or it's a failure. Don't think about it like that, you're simply helping, connect with someone who could be a potential client. Number two, be a fiduciary of fiduciary for your prospects. So come in to the sales conversation, thinking what is best for you, not as what's best for me, because what's best for you, as the salesperson as the business owner is, I get more money, I get sell more products, sell more services. So not thinking about it like that, but what is best for you as the prospect.

Travis Albritton  14:04  
And then number three, this is the thing that really has reshaped I think the way I think about sales the most, and that is when to introduce your offer. So in the world of direct marketing, or direct response, or performance marketing, it's all about how do I interrupt your pattern of behavior, drive you over to a sales page, and then very quickly convince you to give me money in exchange for something. Right? And then you track, how many clicks did I get? How much did I pay per click? How much did I earn? What was my average cart value? And then you do a return on investment analysis and say, did I make more money than I spent? But the problem there is that it's very transactional. And it does not build the kind of connection that leads to customers that keep coming back and buying more. And those customers tend to be under educated about what you do and how you can help them. So here are the things that need to happen from integrity selling which I have put into practice and wholeheartedly endorse and agree with is you do not even extend an offer, or offer a solution to the prospects problem until these four criteria are met. If you do that you're jumping the gun, and we'll talk about why. The first thing that needs to happen before we even started talking about pricing, you're talking about packages or talking about options offers, the prospect needs to admit they have a need that they want solved. If the person you're talking to does not admit that they have a need that they need solved, or want solved, is done, the sales process is over. You're not selling them anything, right? Like selling ice to Eskimos, if they have no express need to solve that problem. They're like, I got eyes everywhere, what am I gonna pay you for ice? It's done deal, the sale is dead. Number two, they need to agree that they're open to solutions to fix that problem. Sometimes people have a problem. And they're not even interested in solving it. They just like griping about it. They just like talking about it. They're just like, oh, man, you know, I wish such and such what happened or man, Facebook's changing the algorithm again, where was us, unless they're open to seeking solutions for that problem, there's no desire to actually spend money to fix it. Okay. So they have to acknowledge they have a need, that they want to solve. And then they also have to acknowledge that they're open to solutions. Now here is where most people go astray, they immediately jump, say, okay, you haven't felt need, you're open to solutions. So boom, here's my solution. But that's an assumption, you've actually taken a leap from, they're open to a solution. And you're trying to convince them to be open to your solution. So the third thing that needs to happen before even start talking about what you do, from an offer standpoint, is they need to agree to talk to you about a solution. Now, this all happens in that interview, where you're building rapport, you're getting to know them, you're dialing down to what is their biggest need that you can solve for them. But unless they agree that they're actually interested in hearing about a solution from you, any talk of an offer, or a product or service is premature, right? Like imagine, if you were having a conversation with somebody, let's say you're buying a car, you go to an auto dealer, you've expressed intent, you have a need, you need a vehicle, and you are open to solutions, you're open to purchasing a vehicle. Now, let's assume that you get to the car dealership, and you start talking with a salesperson, and then they just cut you off. They're like, boom, I know exactly what you need, you need this. You need this new Mustang, it's epic, it's awesome. And they didn't even take the time to hear that you actually have five kids, and you're trying to find something that you can drive around all together. Mustangs don't have seven seats. Okay? So until they agree to talk to you about a solution, you have not done enough work, to build the trust to say, I'm actually able to offer you the solution in a way that's going to help the conversation move along until you've crossed that threshold. It's not a sales conversation yet, like don't get into that mindset yet. But once they do make that, flip that switch, and they're like, you know what, I am open to a solution. And I'm open to hearing more about your solution. What can you do for me? And it could simply be that, that's all you're looking for is for them to say, what can you do for me? Or what do you do? Or how do you help people? That's them verbally saying, I'm interested in hearing about a solution from you. And then the fourth thing, and this is really practical, but we can miss it. Because we get really really excited when we get a hot lead, the person you're speaking to and interacting with confirms that they can make purchase decisions. This is one that I have omitted to my own chagrin, so at my own expense. Not every person that you're talking to is going to be in the position to actually sign the contract and give you the credit card information to start the process of buying your product or service. So you want to make sure, as you're talking with this person, and figuring out where they're at what they need, that you identify those people. If it's not the person you're talking to who in the company needs to be involved in this purchasing decision, who's ultimately going to sign the contract, who's going to give you the credit card information, who's going to pay you for your product or service, you need to list of those people, you need to identify who those people are, who those decision makers are in the company. Because until you do that, you can have a great one on one conversation with somebody identify needs, they're open to solutions, they're open to your solution, you start talking about offers and things you can do to help them in their company. And they say, great. Now, we need to convince my manager now we need to events, the CEO, now we need to convince so and so. And you actually have to start the whole process over again. And guess what they might have competing priorities for the person that initially said yes, we need what you offer, the second person now they have their own set of priorities and the things they're looking for, the things they're interested in. And so before you even get to the place of offering something, make sure identify all those people that need to be involved in making that purchasing decision. Weigh all their competing priorities, the things they're looking for the things they want, overcoming any objections. And then once collectively, they said we're interested in you providing a solution for this problem that we recognize. That is when you start getting into sales mode and you say, okay, this is what we do. This is how we help people, here are our packages. But here's the one I recommend for you based on these needs that you've identified that you want fixed. Do you have any questions? So those are the four things that needs to take place. Before you switch into offer mode, before you start talking about your solution. Number one, your prospect needs to admit that they have a need they want solved, first and foremost. Second, they agree that they are open to solutions, they actually want to solve the problem. Number three, they agreed to talk to you about a solution. And then number four, they confirm that they can make purchase decisions. Once all those four boxes are checked, then you move into offer mode, where you start crafting the offer for them based on their needs and based on what they have said they want fixed in their life or in their business or other company if you're in the B2B space.

Travis Albritton  20:50  
So if you just take those three things that we talked about, and implement them in your sales process, both from a mindset standpoint, from a process standpoint, and just from just the vibe of like, as a sales team, we're here to help people, we're not here to sell people. If you can make that pivot, and shift into this way of thinking, it's going to drastically increase the number of things that you sell. Because now when people interact with you, in your company, with your sales team, they don't think, oh, yeah, that's the company that's trying to sell me things before they even know if I need it. They're gonna think about you and your company. Those are the people that help me. Those are the people that helped me through this process, helped me understand what my options were, helped me to discover what my real felt needs were, because sometimes were several layers deeper than we acknowledge. And they were there to help me regardless of whether I gave them money and that builds trust. That's an authentic connection that you cannot replicate elsewhere. Okay, so those are my top three takeaways from the book Integrity Selling. It is my favorite book of all time on sales. I highly recommend that you go and pick it up, I'll leave an Amazon link in the episode description below. So if you want to go and purchase it, get it on Kindle, whatever, I highly recommend it. And I'll probably do another episode in the future, digging in some more takeaways from this book. But hopefully, this gave you some really great things to latch on to, some really tangible concepts and practices, that if you're involved in the sales process at your company at all, whether it's you actually doing the sales or you're managing a team of salesperson or marketers, or you're trying to figure out how do we mesh these things together. These takeaways should really help you with that. So if you love this episode, I would love to hear what your number one takeaway is. You can leave a comment below the YouTube video version of this episode or you can listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Just hop over to YouTube, Honest Marketing Podcast, and leave a comment. I'd love to interact with you there. And until next week. Be honest.