E309 – Do sales with integrity and understanding, by not disregarding other people | with Deb Brown Maher
Deb Brown is the president of Deb Brown Sales and Author of Sell Like Jesus, Seven Characteristics of Christ for Ethical Sales. After realizing how many people associated her with the pushy used car salesman type everyone hates, she took a professional sales course and recognized principles being taught that resonated with her faith. As a child, she loved the idea of making and selling things to make money. When she graduated from college, she came to the conclusion that she had to find a way to sell that which she was comfortable with.
It took years before she found someone that was teaching a trustworthy sales approach that was also Christian. He was very careful not to teach techniques that would disregard another person. Those sales where you have to talk to someone to consummate a sale even when doing lead gen online. There comes a point in your sales process where you have the conversation to gain understanding and see whether you have a good fit between what you have and what they need.
She believes that conversation needs to have structure. Most people think sales is by the seat of their pants, and people develop their own mojo. They were doing and saying certain things every time in a certain way. If you just set the expectations at the beginning of the conversation, you’ll have a chance to get back on track. If you’ve gotten off track, you can point back to the expectations that were set and reset the course for the conversation.
At the end of the sales conversation, which isn’t necessarily the end of the sales process. Set expectations to make sure everyone is clear on what’s going to happen next. Establish what was accomplished and what deliverables each party might have before you meet again. Deb made the decision long ago to only work with people who want to learn. When talking to a company with a sales team, she always makes sure to engage with the sales manager and individual salespeople themselves to get buy-in because if someone doesn’t want to learn, they could put up obstacles that derail the teaching and learning of everyone in the room.
She believes it’s essential to master each of the steps and transition between them. There are some phrases that she asks people to memorize because they work 100% of the time. A lot of people think this person can sell because it’s in their nature and they just have the personality for it, and you could never do what they do. The truth is that there are specific ways to engage in conversation with people when selling.
No matter what your personality is, whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, Deb will teach you perfect phrases. When you approach sales as a conversation by giving and taking, you are learning more than you’re telling. In the early stages, you’re learning someone’s story and gaining the information you need to guide them to the best possible solution for them.
In this episode:
[01:49] Deb describes her journey of getting into sales
- Having to find a way to sell which was oblivious to as a child, became a really big issue
- Not being able to do to people what she didn’t want to be done to herself
[06:04] Using sales tactics in the digital marketing world and getting pushback
- Invite people to an open conversation about their reaction
- Have the conversation and gain the understanding to see whether you are a good fit
[09:33] The goal is to create an environment that you and the prospect can discover together
- Setting expectations is about starting the conversation by stating the objectives
- Mapping out the first phone call all the way through the multiple phone calls until closing
[12:22] Made a decision a long time ago to only work with people who want to learn
- When working with companies, also do a lot of work with individuals to avoid obstacles
- It’s important to be able to master each of the steps to transition between them
[15:00] Once you qualify someone, how to move from there to closing
- Give the prospect control over what comes next instead of telling them what comes next
- Ways you can reel it back in when they say no
- Put yourself in a position where you’re leading and guiding the conversation, yet respecting the boundaries
Watch the Interview:
Learn more and reach out:
- LinkedIn: Deb Brown Maher
- Website: Deb Brown Sales
