Throw out your old sales playbooks. Ari has deconstructed and reconstructed the sales process.
Waymaker podcast: S1:E17
Ari Galper is regarded as the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling.

Ari Galper: Founder & CEO of Unlock the Game®
(Keep reading on for more content.)
Transcript
Ari Galper – Trust-Based Selling
0:00:02.560,0:00:04.240
welcome to leadership talk
0:00:04.800,0:00:15.920
the official waymaker podcast where we explore how
your organization can achieve more by doing less
0:00:23.120,0:00:27.760
well welcome to leadership talk the official
waymaker podcast i’m your host craig Hindman.
0:00:27.760,0:00:33.280
and with me today as always is founder and ceo
of waymaker stu leo first i’ll say hi to you
0:00:33.280,0:00:39.600
how are you stu i’m great good students today
we actually have the honour of talking to ari
0:00:39.600,0:00:46.800
gelper now ari is the founder and ceo of unlock
the game and the world’s number one authority on
0:00:46.800,0:00:51.360
trust-based selling ari welcome to
our podcast thank you for having me
0:00:51.360,0:00:56.080
really appreciate it it’s so great to have
you uh with us stu i’m going to handball to
0:00:56.080,0:01:01.680
you to kickstart this conversation ari um huge
thanks from the waymaker team for joining us
0:01:02.800,0:01:07.200
i have been reading your content and
listening to you for a little while
0:01:07.920,0:01:14.320
so i feel like i’m gonna ask some fanboy
quests i’m gonna ask some useful questions
0:01:14.960,0:01:22.480
that might help our listeners and leaders
sell better but ari before we kick off into
0:01:23.200,0:01:32.160
too much detail you are the number one authority
on trust-based selling tell us how you got there
0:01:33.920,0:01:39.840
well it’s a 20-year journey i’ve been in this
niche for a long long time and been only working
0:01:39.840,0:01:46.400
on this for 20 years and nothing else a classic
overnight success right exactly yeah and really
0:01:46.400,0:01:52.800
focusing on one central problem which is how do
you deconstruct and reconstruct the sales process
0:01:52.800,0:01:59.440
so it does not contain any more chasing
follow-up dehumanization or rejection that
0:01:59.440,0:02:05.680
sounds like nirvana that’s exactly what a lot of
my clients experience when they under when they
0:02:05.680,0:02:13.280
are able to sell without resistance without
convincing without free consulting and giving away
0:02:13.280,0:02:17.440
the store and getting a lot of let me
think about it sounds great call me next
0:02:17.440,0:02:22.400
week and that that was the problem that i was
committed to solving and we’ve now solved it
0:02:22.960,0:02:26.640
uh to the point now where we’re launching a
new book next year called the one call sale
0:02:26.640,0:02:32.480
where we build a compressed sales cycle from
multiple steps now into one single conversation
0:02:32.480,0:02:36.880
with a qualified buyer so lots of exciting things
have been happening in our laboratory over here
0:02:36.880,0:02:42.960
that’s very exciting um we’ll make sure we punch a
link through to a pre-registration or or something
0:02:42.960,0:02:52.160
for listeners so that they can get a hold of
that what was it that jolted you into this idea
0:02:52.160,0:02:56.880
of trust-based selling sure so there’s
a story behind this it happened to me
0:02:57.520,0:03:02.080
early days and that’s what i used to be a sales
manager a software company and i was managing
0:03:02.080,0:03:06.880
18 sales people at the time and we launched the
first online website data collection tools for
0:03:06.880,0:03:10.480
websites now it’s called google analytics
and i’m sure you’ve heard of that before
0:03:11.440,0:03:16.640
maybe but back then it was actually the first one
out the door with that product it cost money and
0:03:16.640,0:03:20.720
we’re offering that product to the market and
the big opportunities came across my desk the
0:03:20.720,0:03:26.720
big leads this one contact called us through our
website i got the phone call he’s a huge company
0:03:26.720,0:03:31.680
big opportunity uh and he agreed to a conference
call and a demo of our product that follow me
0:03:31.680,0:03:36.320
that following week and look it was such a big
opportunity if i close this one sale it would
0:03:36.320,0:03:41.120
double the revenue of the company one transaction
that’s how big it was it was a big global business
0:03:41.680,0:03:46.320
so uh the day finally came friday at four o’clock
the afternoon i was in the conference room with
0:03:46.320,0:03:51.120
my director and i closed door behind me big long
conference table in the middle of the table is an
0:03:51.120,0:03:55.360
old school speakerphone you know over the star
trek three-legged square black speaker phones
0:03:55.920,0:04:01.680
and um i doubt the dalton dial the phone number
my contact picks up the phone he says hey ari
0:04:01.680,0:04:06.160
how’s it going and he says to me ari let
us tell you who’s the room with us today
0:04:06.880,0:04:12.640
and i was like oh dear allies be someone else
there next thing i hear is my name’s nick i’m ceo
0:04:12.640,0:04:18.400
of the company i was like oh wow this is good my
name is chris i’m head of global i.t this is even
0:04:18.400,0:04:24.880
better my name is julium head of marketing this is
amazing i mean everybody in this room on this call
0:04:24.880,0:04:31.840
was a decision maker like if it’s going to happen
it’s going to happen today they’re all there right
0:04:31.840,0:04:36.960
this is game on correct it’s if it’s going to
happen it’s going to happen now so i i describe
0:04:36.960,0:04:42.000
what we do introduced myself then i gave a live
demo over the web of our product being collected
0:04:42.000,0:04:46.800
on their websites ahead of time i showed all the
live data and we’re logging in they’re seeing this
0:04:46.800,0:04:52.400
and i’m hearing this noise in the phone call like
wow this is great this is amazing i can’t they
0:04:52.400,0:04:56.880
start asking me all kinds of questions how does
it work how do we install it what’s technology
0:04:56.880,0:05:00.960
who are our clients how long been around i mean
every question you can imagine of course i had
0:05:00.960,0:05:05.920
all the answers i was competent there was so
much chemistry on this phone call it was like
0:05:07.520,0:05:14.000
a love fest on the phone you don’t talk about yeah
i do i do i feel like i’ve made this call too many
0:05:14.000,0:05:22.160
times yeah they got the questions you got the
answers you’re saying yourself oh this is perfect
0:05:22.160,0:05:26.960
and so i’m just doing my thing i always read
all the books and sales i listened to cds in
0:05:26.960,0:05:31.040
my car back then with the seminars i i was a
student and i was doing everything i was taught
0:05:31.040,0:05:36.720
to do build relationships building rapport
uh answering objections and the hour goes by
0:05:36.720,0:05:41.360
they’re loving it and the call comes to a close
and my contact says me ari this is great we
0:05:41.360,0:05:47.040
love it look give us a call a couple weeks
follow up with us and we’ll move this thing
0:05:47.040,0:05:53.360
forward say to myself oh thank you god
i was like wow what an amazing ending
0:05:53.360,0:05:57.040
so i said my goodbyes and i took my hand and
i reached for the speakerphone in the middle
0:05:57.040,0:06:01.520
of the table as i’m racing for the off button
on the phone by complete accident now it’s a
0:06:01.520,0:06:07.280
divine intervention my thumb hit the mute button
instead of the off button they were right next to
0:06:07.280,0:06:12.960
each other and a small click happened and they
thought i hung up the phone that’s a good trick
0:06:16.960,0:06:23.360
but that’s not your sales advice is it no no and
that split second a voice inside of me said ari
0:06:23.360,0:06:30.560
go to the dark side be a fly in the wall go where
no one’s ever gone before in the world of sales
0:06:31.600,0:06:36.480
so i pulled my thumb back for a couple seconds
they started talking amongst themselves thinking i
0:06:36.480,0:06:42.080
had left the call now this is not a trick question
but what would you imagine or expect them to
0:06:42.080,0:06:48.480
sit after a call like that well i mean i would
imagine they’d be talking about you the person
0:06:49.200,0:06:51.680
you know do we like that
guy do we like this product
0:06:52.480,0:06:55.680
how you know they’ll be talking about
how they’re going to go forward and buy
0:06:56.320,0:07:00.720
and which would be really interesting that’s what
i expected as well but let me share with you what
0:07:00.720,0:07:05.440
i heard verbatim word for word that’s why we’re
all here today what they said was this they said
0:07:06.880,0:07:14.240
we’re not gonna go with him keep using him for
more information and make sure we shop someplace
0:07:14.240,0:07:25.840
else cheaper i was in a state of shock shut down
oh i hit the off button hell of the wall i said to
0:07:25.840,0:07:34.000
myself what did i do wrong i was professional
i was competent i knew my product i was not
0:07:34.000,0:07:39.680
aggressive i did everything i was trained and
taught to do by the sales gurus yeah and the first
0:07:39.680,0:07:43.600
big epiphany hit me you can tell me if you agree
with this or not there’s somewhere along the way
0:07:43.600,0:07:49.520
it has become socially acceptable not to tell
the truth the people who sell that’s so sad
0:07:49.520,0:07:55.600
it’s so frustrating it’s okay to say things like
sounds good send me information we’re definitely
0:07:55.600,0:08:03.920
interested wait wait wait send me a what proposal
yeah without any intention of buying so were you
0:08:03.920,0:08:08.560
in the room with anybody else no just myself
and my director and he was also did a shock
0:08:09.120,0:08:14.320
and then i had a realization and i realized that
moment that there is a visible river pressure
0:08:14.320,0:08:19.040
that flows underneath every sales competition
you have with somebody pre-sale now you can’t
0:08:19.040,0:08:23.920
see it and they can’t see it but they can feel it
if you are consciously aware of that pressure and
0:08:23.920,0:08:28.960
removing the pressure out of the conversation all
the time but you’ll never get the point where you
0:08:28.960,0:08:34.000
can create what i call a bubble of vulnerability
where they feel comfortable telling you the truth
0:08:35.040,0:08:40.160
and that’s where i created my whole unlock the
game mindset shift concept 20 years ago where you
0:08:40.160,0:08:46.000
let go of the goal of the sale and you focus only
on deep authentic trust building to get the truth
0:08:46.000,0:08:49.360
then you can see if you’re fit or not that
became the whole premise behind our system
0:08:50.400,0:08:58.160
so ari one of the questions i’m sure our listeners
have how do you get across your product messages
0:08:58.160,0:09:07.600
your brand messages but also the vulnerability
to create this trust you don’t you don’t get your
0:09:07.600,0:09:12.480
product information across you don’t get your
brand across yes you don’t it’s not about you
0:09:12.480,0:09:16.480
it’s not about what you have about nothing to do
with what you have to do to build trust the way
0:09:16.480,0:09:23.200
you build trust with someone is you focus in on
the problems that your solution solves for them
0:09:23.200,0:09:30.000
you start in their world you get them to own
the problem you get them to accept the problem
0:09:30.000,0:09:33.520
and commit to the problem you don’t they
don’t really care about how you solve it
0:09:34.560,0:09:38.400
all they care about is if you’re the one to solve
it or not so the whole time they’re not asking
0:09:38.400,0:09:43.760
themselves oh i want to learn about their product
no what they’re asking themselves is do i trust
0:09:43.760,0:09:50.640
him do i trust him this is an issue of trust not
an issue of your product being better than someone
0:09:50.640,0:09:55.120
else’s and that’s what people don’t realize that
we are now living in an age of commoditization
0:09:55.120,0:09:59.920
where every solution appears to look like the
same from the outside world they can’t they’re
0:09:59.920,0:10:04.960
not they’re not qualified to discern your product
being better to someone else so they see those all
0:10:04.960,0:10:09.520
the same so how you’re going to win this new
economy you differentiate not by your product
0:10:10.320,0:10:16.000
you differentiate by your approach i’ll put
a question for you so i’m going to butt in
0:10:16.640,0:10:22.080
wendy firstly when do you think that change
happened in the market um like was there a
0:10:22.080,0:10:27.120
defining point where you see that happening and
the second one is is this kind of like reactionary
0:10:27.120,0:10:35.920
to the straight line sales method is it well
is i think it’s been a brewing revolt against
0:10:36.560,0:10:40.800
traditional selling for a long long
time yeah people have been burnt
0:10:40.800,0:10:46.960
rejected taken advantage of for years and
they know it hello when you’re in that game
0:10:47.760,0:10:53.920
when you call someone say hi my name is i’m with
i’m with a it’s over to hello they know it right
0:10:53.920,0:10:58.720
away so the last three or four years though with
the internet what’s happening is it’s commoditized
0:10:59.280,0:11:07.280
every product to look like basically a website and
now no longer can the market discern what’s right
0:11:07.280,0:11:12.320
or wrong for them because it all appears to be the
same insurance insurance financial advice whatever
0:11:12.320,0:11:19.520
your software software they aren’t experts they
aren’t qualified to determine whether what’s right
0:11:19.520,0:11:24.240
for them or not based upon product knowledge
which is so contrarian because we’re taught
0:11:25.040,0:11:31.600
that we’re supposed to educate our market and
our clients on our product but let me tell you
0:11:31.600,0:11:38.160
right now the last thing your ideal client
wants is education information yeah give
0:11:38.160,0:11:42.800
me more that’s the last thing people want is more
information are you kidding me we’re in the age of
0:11:43.920,0:11:51.520
unlimited information what they want is someone
they can trust to solve their problem it’s like
0:11:51.520,0:11:56.880
a doctor-patient relationship right you go
to the doctor they say where does it hurt
0:11:58.320,0:12:01.440
and the focus is in the problem not what’s
in the medicine bottle and prescription
0:12:03.120,0:12:09.840
so ari i love this idea of blowing up traditional
sales processes on sales methodologies
0:12:11.120,0:12:17.680
how do you teach younger people who maybe
have come through or even older people now
0:12:17.680,0:12:22.640
running a business that have come through that
traditional model how do you teach them to build
0:12:22.640,0:12:30.560
trust so quickly well first they have to be open
open-minded to willing to accept the truth that
0:12:30.560,0:12:36.960
their sales challenge is not their product or
their market it’s themselves think about it their
0:12:36.960,0:12:42.240
clients have a problem they have the solution
straight line of sight what’s the middle of that
0:12:42.960,0:12:48.640
us we fumble the ball with our sales process
and that and so the way they shift is by first
0:12:49.280,0:12:52.720
cleaning out their mental hard drive and the
conditioning what they believe selling is
0:12:52.720,0:12:58.080
redefining i’ll give you a couple myths right now
to do that the first myth and you i know in this
0:12:58.080,0:13:05.280
one is that the sales is a numbers game i’m sure
heard that before over your career all the time
0:13:05.280,0:13:10.320
of course it’s from the 1980s and that came
from the idea that the more contacts you make
0:13:11.840,0:13:15.760
the more sales you’re supposed to make
well we discovered in this economy now
0:13:15.760,0:13:19.200
it’s not about how many contacts
you make anymore it’s about how deep
0:13:19.200,0:13:25.840
you go on each conversation not how good you are
at how many phone calls you make the second myth
0:13:25.840,0:13:29.840
is the idea of the sale is lost at the end of the
process and i should have been there before you
0:13:29.840,0:13:33.360
had a deal pending it looked really good all
every box was ticked at the end it just kind
0:13:33.360,0:13:39.040
of like fell through like what happened like they
were perfect for us and what we discovered in this
0:13:39.040,0:13:44.080
economy now the sale is not lost anymore at the
end of the process is now lost at the beginning
0:13:44.960,0:13:49.600
at hello it’s like i said if someone calls
you in the phone tomorrow morning you hear hi
0:13:49.600,0:13:54.560
my name is i’m with what goes through your
mind about three seconds i do not want to
0:13:54.560,0:13:59.360
talk to this person it’s over hello and i’m not
suggesting that your people listening here are
0:13:59.360,0:14:03.920
doing outbound calls maybe they are but if they’re
not they’ll make the case say they’re losing their
0:14:03.920,0:14:10.480
opportunities not at the end of the process
they’re losing it where at the start at hello
0:14:12.480,0:14:19.360
so if if i’m a business owner and i want
to really reinvigorate my sales process
0:14:20.080,0:14:27.040
where would you suggest we start to invigorate the
sales process you said correct to do an inventory
0:14:27.040,0:14:33.760
of the three to five core problems that you help
your ideal client solve and be very clear on that
0:14:33.760,0:14:39.040
unpack it and have a brainstorming discussion
with your team about this to make sure you know
0:14:39.040,0:14:44.560
all the intricacies of what the problems are that
you solve for your market then you you’re you’re
0:14:44.560,0:14:50.800
you enter the sales conversation talking about
the problems not the solution because you want
0:14:50.800,0:14:56.720
the your market and your clients to prospects to
acknowledge the problem then peel the problem back
0:14:56.720,0:15:01.520
and amplify it to the point where you can roi
the impact of not solving it and ask them this
0:15:01.520,0:15:09.360
question and here’s the profound question you
want to ask is this a priority for you to solve
0:15:09.360,0:15:14.560
once and for all or is it something you have
to live with unresolved and i’m okay either way
0:15:16.400,0:15:24.000
that is a powerful question can i um i made the
observation just um as as i’ve consumed your
0:15:24.000,0:15:30.240
content ari is um it’s a very similar approach to
like chris voss’s approach to hostage negotiation
0:15:30.240,0:15:35.520
like this um putting the onus back on the person
that you’re talking to to actually help you solve
0:15:35.520,0:15:39.680
the problem rather than you coming in with the
solution all the time is that a conscious thing
0:15:39.680,0:15:43.760
or is that just coincidental maybe it’s quite
gentle but uh there’s the differences in how you
0:15:43.760,0:15:49.440
go by doing it from the fbi point of view from my
point of view but but the overall concept is that
0:15:50.080,0:15:55.120
you want it to it’s like a therapist
and a patient if the patient doesn’t
0:15:55.120,0:16:01.440
own the problem acknowledge it they’re the worst
patients to ever have because you’ve got to drag
0:16:01.440,0:16:06.160
them through the process and chase them that’s why
you want to make sure in the beginning the process
0:16:06.880,0:16:10.640
that you they acknowledge the depths of the
problem they’re vulnerable enough to admit to you
0:16:10.640,0:16:15.520
that it’s real and it’s hard because when you meet
someone new or have a first call with somebody or
0:16:15.520,0:16:20.000
scheduled linkedin meeting with someone for the
first time they don’t want to be vulnerable with
0:16:20.000,0:16:24.320
you and share with you the truth their problem
they just want to like give you a few breadcrumbs
0:16:24.320,0:16:27.600
for you to chew on and be excited about it and
then hopefully build a relationship with them and
0:16:27.600,0:16:31.360
hopefully all go as well well good luck with that
one because you get a lot of i’ll think about it
0:16:33.040,0:16:37.280
ari you’ve talked and written a lot
about what you’ve learned from your son
0:16:38.160,0:16:44.160
and there are some human skills that we need
to build around trusts and authenticity and
0:16:44.160,0:16:49.360
building relationships can you talk about that
a little bit for our listeners and give us the
0:16:49.360,0:16:56.400
insights to bring that authenticity and
pithy empathy sorry into our relationships
0:16:57.040,0:17:02.320
sure so when my son toby is born about 18 years
ago after a day after was born we were told that
0:17:02.320,0:17:06.400
he had down syndrome and at first we weren’t sure
what that meant to our lives then we realized
0:17:06.400,0:17:09.840
we had a gift on our hands if you know anybody
who has down syndrome we know the special gifts
0:17:09.840,0:17:14.480
they have yeah you know they’re loving they’re
transparent they have no hidden agenda they’re
0:17:14.480,0:17:19.920
just full of love and he impacted me so much
wrote a book about him called lessons from toby
0:17:19.920,0:17:24.960
how this is centered in your personal business
life and every patient lesson i left from over 365
0:17:24.960,0:17:29.120
days for the whole year a lot of my clients have
next to their bedside and basically what i learned
0:17:29.120,0:17:34.160
from him is that he’s the role model we have to
become like him where he doesn’t have any hidden
0:17:34.160,0:17:41.760
agenda he’s not he’s fully present with you you
feel that see in sales we’re not our minds always
0:17:41.760,0:17:46.480
trying to qualify and go to a next step in the
back of our brain oh he’s oh how many want to buy
0:17:46.480,0:17:51.840
oh great if i just came to the next step oh my
god this is great see we’re already over here
0:17:51.840,0:17:56.640
and they’re over here and and the way you make the
shift and learn from him is you got to be present
0:17:56.640,0:18:02.000
with the other person in your sales process
100 in their world and i tell my clients you
0:18:02.000,0:18:09.680
have to fall out of love with your solution and
fall in love with your clients problems because
0:18:09.680,0:18:13.840
you’ll be able to enter their world and stay in
there as long as you can if they ask you for help
0:18:15.040,0:18:21.840
what was it that um practically you were
able to take from that into a sales call
0:18:23.040,0:18:32.240
well it’s helped me and now i teach this to be
to have the courage and the boldness to tell
0:18:32.240,0:18:37.920
prospects in the sales process the truth of their
situation whether they want to hear it or not
0:18:38.480,0:18:43.200
because see we’re in sales we’re taught
to play the game see we think our job is
0:18:43.200,0:18:52.960
to build a relationship with someone in the sales
process first and i tell my clients stop building
0:18:52.960,0:19:00.080
relationships with people in your sales process
you build them post sale not pre-sale they don’t
0:19:00.080,0:19:06.080
want to become your friend they know it’s fake
anyways that’s like 1980s oh how’s it going nice
0:19:06.080,0:19:12.080
to meet you hey mate so what do you do that’s like
oh my god they know right away what’s going on
0:19:12.080,0:19:17.200
it’s fake and they know it so that’s why we strip
out the relationship building now we still have
0:19:17.200,0:19:23.360
bedside manner we still have warmth empathy like
like a doctor but we focus on x-raying the problem
0:19:23.360,0:19:28.880
right away and that’s all they want they want a
spotlight on their own problem they want someone
0:19:28.880,0:19:34.080
to peel the problem back to help them understand
the impact of it they don’t want to become your
0:19:34.080,0:19:40.240
friend so quickly it’s awkward anyways only
wants to become a client people relationship
0:19:40.240,0:19:44.240
with them which i know is very contrarian i
know drops a bomb on the whole thinking around
0:19:44.240,0:19:49.600
sales and relationship building and everyone’s
like oh the relationship first i’m like no i think
0:19:49.600,0:19:55.120
that’s why we like it because we’re as you’ve
probably worked out we’re not born salespeople
0:19:57.120,0:20:04.320
we’ve grown up in business or in work and we’ve
had to learn those skills and you look to other
0:20:04.320,0:20:10.000
leaders and you listen and you try and practice
those things but in reality you’re sometimes
0:20:10.000,0:20:18.080
picking up really bad habits so how would you
suggest business owners or leaders unlearn some
0:20:18.080,0:20:30.240
of those things well the first big idea here is to
stop giving value whoa stop doing free consulting
0:20:31.760,0:20:42.160
stop giving information replace giving value
with providing clarity providing clarity on their
0:20:42.160,0:20:45.760
problem that’s what they really want you know when
you go to a doctor and you see your shoulder hurt
0:20:45.760,0:20:50.240
says let me take a look you go oh wow oh you need
an x-ray we need a little x-ray on that you get
0:20:50.240,0:20:56.640
the x-ray explains you see that little spot right
there that’s what’s going on and you go oh now i
0:20:56.640,0:21:01.920
understand what the problem is there’s a sense
of relief when you find somebody who understands
0:21:01.920,0:21:07.040
your problem in a deep way it’s like it right it’s
like vibration resonance like you you say yourself
0:21:07.040,0:21:13.440
he just gets me there’s more relief from
knowing what the problem is than solving it
0:21:14.080,0:21:18.880
but what do we do in sales i can help you with
that absolutely wait did you see what i got we got
0:21:18.880,0:21:24.560
demos we got insurance we got see we can’t wait to
qualify somebody and immediately start doing what
0:21:25.840,0:21:32.240
yeah pitching educate i’m gonna give you lots of
value lots of value today and i hope that all that
0:21:32.240,0:21:37.520
value really you enjoy that and then hopefully
we’ll go from there how’s that sound oh my god no
0:21:38.400,0:21:44.000
stop talking that’s what happens i have my class
record their phone calls or sales calls for
0:21:44.000,0:21:49.120
our they played those calls and i stopped
the tape and i’m like what are you doing
0:21:51.040,0:21:56.400
stop talking stop trying to build a relationship
stop trying to move it forward stop working so
0:21:56.400,0:22:02.480
hard you got to shift your thinking here to
really x-ray the problem and know how to um
0:22:02.480,0:22:06.400
go down what i call go down the iceberg with
somebody because they’ll start with the top of
0:22:06.400,0:22:11.520
the iceberg just give you enough artificial little
things to get you interested then you got to peel
0:22:11.520,0:22:14.880
the onion back to the bottom of the aspirin
make sure they want they want your help or not
0:22:14.880,0:22:22.960
you can’t go forward go down alright is that true
of the marketing of a product as well as the sales
0:22:22.960,0:22:28.880
process or do you see those two as two same
you have to if you want to market your solution
0:22:29.520,0:22:37.360
you market it around the problems not the future
benefits see future selling is dead if you got
0:22:37.360,0:22:42.480
my software it’ll change your life it’ll be so
much more efficient you’ll save so much from
0:22:42.480,0:22:49.360
see we’re so conditioned from the old sales
gurus to sell the future sell sell the benefits
0:22:49.360,0:22:53.840
the problem is in this day and age
now people can’t think past tomorrow
0:22:54.960,0:22:59.760
they can’t think past the next 10 minutes we’re
we’re so fried with all that’s going on the
0:22:59.760,0:23:06.000
world right now and here we are trying to sell
the benefits i’m like no don’t sell the future
0:23:06.800,0:23:14.720
focus on the problems they have now in roi
the problems so the cost to solve it is less
0:23:14.720,0:23:18.240
than almost cost them not to solve it and ask if
they want to solve it or not it’s pretty simple
0:23:19.760,0:23:27.040
and would you say that the changes through covert
and the pandemic have only enhanced that or have
0:23:27.040,0:23:34.000
you seen a a shift due to covert out there in the
marketplace well i think it’s 10x the sensitivity
0:23:34.000,0:23:39.520
in the market now to anybody who’s promoting
themselves who’s selling with any kind of sales
0:23:39.520,0:23:45.520
techniques at all or online who’s using the same
approach through different mediums like like look
0:23:45.520,0:23:49.920
at linkedin right now look at your inbox you get
a lot of hey would you like a free consultation
0:23:49.920,0:23:53.440
i got a free report for you over here now wait a
second i got a survey you should probably take too
0:23:54.000,0:23:58.640
they’re using the same old-school approach
in a new medium no one’s changed anything yet
0:24:00.320,0:24:06.160
i’m feeling guilty as charged all over this code
i’ll tell you one more thing i’m going to ask all
0:24:06.160,0:24:11.680
your viewers right now to take a verbal oath with
me an oath to remove one key phrase forever from
0:24:11.680,0:24:17.040
your vocabulary and never ever use it again okay
what is it this might hurt just a bit if you’ve
0:24:17.040,0:24:22.320
been a sales for a long time but here it is i’m
going to ask you all to never again use the phrase
0:24:24.560,0:24:27.760
follow-up ever again for the
rest of your life in business
0:24:28.560,0:24:31.840
okay what’s the only industry
that uses the word follow-up
0:24:33.920,0:24:41.360
sales hi i’m giving you a call a follow-up to
move things where towards the sale and i’m sure
0:24:41.360,0:24:44.720
if i have them all raise their hand right now i’m
watching and i’d ask how many of you in the last
0:24:44.720,0:24:48.720
few weeks had called someone and said that i’m
gonna follow up or email someone hi i’m ready
0:24:48.720,0:24:54.640
to follow up what are they thinking the other
person’s going oh no they’re chasing me so what
0:24:54.640,0:25:00.160
you say instead is this you say i’m giving you
a ring giving you a call to see if you have any
0:25:02.240,0:25:09.360
feedback on our previous conversation any feedback
on our last meeting any feedback on our last email
0:25:09.360,0:25:16.560
see feedback going where away from the sale
not towards the sale see you’ve got to reverse
0:25:17.680,0:25:26.160
direction on your process on your mindset away
from your goal towards their goal and stay in
0:25:26.160,0:25:31.680
that path as long as you can because if you
jump out there early you’ve lost them that
0:25:31.680,0:25:37.040
actually really surprised me right then ari
when you said the one thing you need to say
0:25:38.000,0:25:45.520
is feedback because naturally that i go that
does take me away from the sale or or even you
0:25:45.520,0:25:52.480
know looking for that closed moment where they can
commit so how do you go from okay give me feedback
0:25:53.200,0:25:59.600
to let’s actually now take action and solve
the problem well you get the the purpose of the
0:25:59.600,0:26:07.520
word feedback is to elicit the truth the truth of
whether there’s a fit between you and them or not
0:26:08.720,0:26:11.360
and you know that by them opening up
to you and telling you where they stand
0:26:12.480,0:26:16.400
if they open up to you and they express the issue
it’s serious they want to solve it then they’re
0:26:16.400,0:26:22.400
going to say to you how can you help me but you
are not allowed to jump in prematurely and offer
0:26:22.400,0:26:29.520
a path to solution until you hear the magic words
which are how do you work or how can you help me
0:26:30.640,0:26:33.840
because yes that’s the hardest thing for us
to do because we want to we don’t want to hold
0:26:33.840,0:26:38.880
back we love what we do we’re so passionate the
moment we find someone it’s a fit we can’t wait
0:26:38.880,0:26:47.840
to what we can’t wait to tell them about it do
you find that the australian market is different
0:26:48.640,0:26:53.520
uh culturally to the way that they respond
to sales than any other part of the world i
0:26:53.520,0:26:58.080
think it’s the same i’ve been doing both sides of
the of the of the pond for a long long time now
0:26:58.080,0:27:05.840
and people here are clients over there everyone
hates being sold to and they hate having to sell
0:27:07.120,0:27:17.440
no difference we’ve got listeners uh i guess
across asia pack um uk island north america um
0:27:17.440,0:27:24.320
and spattering across asia do you have any
recommendations in a post-covered world
0:27:25.040,0:27:33.920
on the best way to maximize the next actions in
sales what do you mean i mean where should people
0:27:33.920,0:27:40.720
go right now to to restart their business to get
back the momentum and get things flowing again
0:27:42.160,0:27:48.160
they have to shift their own thinking first
there’s no action to take until they’re first open
0:27:48.960,0:27:52.880
to being willing to accept
the fact their conditioning
0:27:53.680,0:28:00.160
from their past experience of selling is the
problem they are the problem don’t take any action
0:28:01.200,0:28:06.720
until you flip the switch on what you should be
doing in terms of repurposing your approach at
0:28:06.720,0:28:12.240
the market away from your solution to focusing
on the problem and having a language path and a
0:28:12.240,0:28:18.880
roadmap for that process that’s great advice
i know we’re running short of time so i want
0:28:18.880,0:28:24.720
to give a huge thanks i know i’ve learned a
lot i’m sure our listeners have learnt a lot
0:28:25.280,0:28:32.240
of being challenged um and i’m feeling somewhat
conscious about going to the whiteboard now
0:28:32.240,0:28:35.520
and writing up a whole bunch of things
i’m going to change about my sales process
0:28:36.160,0:28:42.800
um i want to thank you do you have any last
recommendations or suggestions on where people
0:28:42.800,0:28:49.440
can get more content from you uh to help them
well first i’m very accessible come to linkedin
0:28:49.440,0:28:54.080
introduce yourself connect with me let us know
that you heard us here uh if you want to actually
0:28:54.080,0:28:59.840
take a step forward we have a free intro course
unlockthegame.com you can grab a course free
0:28:59.840,0:29:05.600
course the intro course there and also i i host
a show once a month called stump the guru yeah i
0:29:05.600,0:29:11.200
love that if you have not got onto that show
uh get on to stop the guru and and try and
0:29:11.200,0:29:14.880
harry that’s through linkedin you can just jump
in and um you can just ask me any question you
0:29:14.880,0:29:20.320
want and give me your toughest challenge i’ve
heard many over the last 20 years that’s so well
0:29:20.320,0:29:26.400
i have i have one last question what for you has
been when a sales call has gone horribly wrong
0:29:28.400,0:29:35.120
great question it happened to me it’s the it
slipped through my my my radar system one recently
0:29:35.680,0:29:40.880
and i just can’t i keep kicking myself for
this so i know what my my rules should be
0:29:42.160,0:29:47.680
uh someone came to our website full contact us
form and so we’re looking to bring someone in
0:29:47.680,0:29:51.120
right away to train our whole global
sales team we’re deciding on tuesday
0:29:51.680,0:29:55.040
and uh we’re making a decision quickly we
wanted to talk to all as fast as possible
0:29:57.120,0:30:03.680
now pre what i know now you know that would
my alarm would go off right away because
0:30:05.200,0:30:11.280
there i i i i i just debated with hit the call
or not and i’ve got a process for high range
0:30:11.280,0:30:15.920
phone calls but i took the call right away which
i shouldn’t have done and i got my call with them
0:30:16.560,0:30:20.320
and they put the whole ball in my
court wanted me to pitch to them
0:30:20.320,0:30:28.320
as to why they should choose me over someone
else which is so counter to everything that i do
0:30:28.880,0:30:35.440
and i slap myself and i just we disengage a
nicely very short amount of time because i
0:30:35.440,0:30:39.120
started asking them questions but they didn’t
want to answer it i knew right away this is going
0:30:39.120,0:30:46.160
to be bad quick so i recommend they go see someone
else and i learn from my and i remind myself again
0:30:47.520,0:30:53.920
never engage with someone who is not
open to talking about their problem first
0:30:56.640,0:31:02.640
that’s so good ari your website
unlockedthegame.com yes is that
0:31:02.640,0:31:07.520
right correct jump on linkedin anywhere else
people come back with me on linkedin say hello
0:31:07.520,0:31:10.080
we can we can connect there i’ll give you
some resources if you like from that point
0:31:10.080,0:31:14.400
but i think it’s the best place to hold me
on unlockthegame.com or linkedin yeah thank
0:31:14.400,0:31:21.440
you so much stu where can people find us of
course uh visit waymaker.io and uh you can
0:31:21.440,0:31:28.000
download resources listen to this podcast uh
subscribe to us on all your favorite channels
0:31:28.000,0:31:45.840
and tell your friends all about ari alright thanks
for joining us i appreciate it thank you so much
0:31:51.440,0:31:51.940
you
Let me think about?!
This is a common response many people hear from prospects when making sales calls. It’s those passive dismissives that often get thrown back at you at the end of a call to politely tell you – “we’re not interested.”
One story in particular that Ari shares is the time he made a sales call to an executive team of a large company. In Ari’s words “there was so much chemistry in that call it was like a love-fest!” By the end of the call, Ari was convinced he had made the sale. He had followed every step in the classic sales cycle… building rapport, handling objections, the close etc.
At the end of the call, the prospect said “Ari this is great we love it! Look, give us a call in a couple of weeks. Follow up with us and we’ll move this thing forward.” Ari thought he’d hit a home run. But in a twist of fate, he didn’t hang up the call properly and unintentionally got to listen in on the prospect’s conversation in the board room moments later. In essence, they made the call not to work with him, but to use him for information and engage with a cheaper vendor.
This was the pivotal moment that drove Ari to look at a new way of selling. A way that brought trust and honesty back into the sales process.
The Bubble of Vulnerability
Ari began to shift his mindset away from focussing on the sale and rather building trust with qualified prospects. It set the foundation for the next 20 years of his professional career. Unlock The Game is the result of Ari’s transformative approach to selling based on trust, integrity and authenticity.
The number one goal is not to promote your product, brand or solution – but rather focus in on, and understand the problem your prospect is trying to solve. It is only then, when you have demonstrated your genuine concern for the problem your prospect is trying to solve, that you have the trust needed to offer a solution.
So What is Trust-based Selling?
According to Ari, there has been “a brewing revolt against traditional sales methods for a long long time. for a long long time. People have been burnt, rejected, taken advantage of for years, and they know at ‘Hello’ when you’re in that game [or not]. Trust-based selling is a response to traditional sales methods. Individuals and organizations genuinely want to partner with and purchase from people they trust. Many times, people already know what their problem is and what solutions or products they should be considering. In a world where every product looks the same, what buyers are looking for is someone they trust to deliver the solution for them.
Ari says it this way: “They don’t really care about how you solve [their problem] – they just care about whether you’re the one to solve it or not.”
Three Sales Myths
For sales people and business owners who have read all the sales books over the years, such a paradigm shift to you sales approach might be hard to process. If this is the case, Ari offers three myths about sales that might help re-program your thinking.
Myth #1 – Sales is a Numbers Game
This idea permeates the sales world. It’s been around since the 1980s and came from the idea that the more contacts you make, the more sales you make. What Ari and his team have discovered is that in the new economy, it’s not about how many contacts you make anymore. It’s about how deep you go on each conversation. The emphasis is no longer how good you are and how many phone calls you make.
Myth #2 – The Sale is Lost at the End of the Process.
Traditional sales methodology suggests a sale is lost at the end of the process. That you didn’t nail your close, or you mishandled an objection. What Ari has discovered is that in the new economy the sale is not lost at the end of the process but rather at the beginning. At “Hello.”
Myth #3 – Rejection is a Part of the Sales Game.
Traditionally, based on a numbers approach to sales, rejection HAD to be a part of the sales process. The old attitude was to suck it up and grow a thick skin. That’s just what happens in sales. What Ari discovered in his research is that rejection only happens when we lose trust with our prospect. There are certain things we do and say in the process that force the prospect to put up their guard.
Talk About Problems Not Solutions
Ari suggests that when you enter a sales call, you should do so armed with an inventory of the two or 3 problems that your organization solves. then you begin the conversation acknowledging the problems your prospect is experiencing. Peeling back the layers on these problems and showing empathy for the situation, means you can begin to talk about the ROI for solving the problem and the impact that NOT solving the problem might have on the business.
There is a point in the conversation at which Ari identifies a key question that needs to be asked: “Is this a priority for you?” He is so intentional with this question that when describing it to us, he said every word with a period! Is. This. A . Priority. For. You?
Ari describes the conversation to be similar to a therapist and their patient. A patient who doesnot acknowledge they have a problem (or doesn’t want to fix it!) is the worst patient to have. So ownership is an important part of this process.
The One Phrase You Should Never Use Again!
There is one phrase that is only used in the world of sales. “Follow-up.” “I’m calling to follow-up.” “I just wanted to follow up on our conversation last week.” “Hi, this is just a follow-up call.” Ari suggests this puts the prospect in a defensive frame of mind, where they may feel on the back foot or taken off guard. Rather than the words, “follow-up,” Ari invites salespeople to shift their language. “Hi, I’m calling to ask if you have any feedback on our last conversation? Any feedback on our last meeting? Any feedback on the last email?”
The purpose of asking for feedback is to elicit the truth. You are going to determine whether or not you are a good fit to do business together. They are going to raise their concerns if they have any, or they are going to talk about their thoughts around next steps.
Most of the thoughts and ideas Ari shares in this podcast seem antithetical to the way you have always learned to approach sales. For this reason, we encourage you to listen in to this conversation and hear Ari talk more about why Trust-Based Selling is so crucial in the new economy.