Do you know why all employees must be salespeople?
At first glance, many business owners push back on why everyone in the company must be in sales. But whether you realize it or not, everyone in the company is in sales.
The titans of business today didn’t start as titans. Instead, most of the titans of industry were cockroach startups.
At the heart of a cockroach startup is the mindset. The cockroach startup mindset is about doing whatever it takes to live another day. Living another day happens when everyone in the company sells.
But when it comes to sales, please don’t make the fatal mistake of believing popular myths. These myths belong in the category of fiction instead of fact.
I should know. My eLearning business Embanet was a cockroach startup from day one. I launched Embanet with no money, experience, or team. My new best friend was failure. All-day. Every day.
My saving grace was my grit and passion, which kept me in the game long enough for success. With success, I received a knock at the door from a successful and experienced buyer.
I said “no” to a 7-figure offer and “yes” to mastering the art and science of a liquidity event. I said “yes” to a 9-figure offer from a different buyer two years later.
I created a 9-step roadmap of preparation for my liquidity event. Today, I pay it forward. I help business owners through the 90-day Deep Wealth Experience. At the heart of the Deep Wealth Experience is the exact 9-step roadmap.
Five powerful strategies show why everyone must be in sales.
Would you like to read and prosper from these five strategies?
Please keep reading.
Three Sales Myths You Must Stop Believing Today So You Can Prosper Tomorrow
The most important question anyone can ask is: What myth am I living? – Carl Jung.
Do you believe that salespeople are born and not made?
Whether you realize it or not, you have been selling your entire life. When talking with someone, you’re “selling” when you express either how you feel or one of your beliefs.
Read “Cockroach Startups: What You Need To Know To Succeed And Prosper.”
Effective selling has nothing to do with sales. Instead, effective selling is all about educating and enthusiasm.
For the second sales myth, do you believe you can hire a sales team to take care of revenue?
Effective selling is not exclusive to the domain of professional salespeople. Besides customers, effective selling includes employees, vendors, and the media. Your mission is to have all stakeholders buy into your company’s idea.
As an example, you ask future employees to embrace the unknown with your company. When speaking with vendors, you prove why you’re a great company to work with as a new client.
For the third myth, do you believe that selling is only about new clients?
Myth number three picks up where myth number two ends. Your team members are in the business of selling when they talk to their friends about your company. After all, you only attract world-class talent when you have a great company.
Your team is “selling” with every client interaction. Your team has sold well when clients walk away knowing they made the right choice. Clients choose to work with you and can also stop working with you. What keeps clients coming back for more is how effective every team member “sells.”
Do you know who the best salesperson is and always will be?
Please keep reading.
Why You Must Be A Salesperson (Even If You’re A Founder)
Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better – Jim Rohn
Do you know who the world’s best “salesperson” is for your company?
Y.O.U.
You will always be the most passionate person about your company.
Believe it or not, rejections are both your ally and friend. You hear subtle nuances that others may miss of what works and doesn’t work with your offering. You learn as much from your prospects as they learn from you.
Mastering the sales process also protects you from salespeople. Often the best “sales job” a salesperson gives is during the interview.
There are two types of salespeople: order takers and order makers.
Order takers are great at taking orders but can’t prospect and close deals. Order makers convert prospects into paying customers.
Your experience in the trenches selling helps you find the order makers. Your experience enables you to weed out the dreamers from the doers.
Read “Do You Want To Crush It An Win? Here Are 5 Traits Of Successful Business Owners.”
Are you still in sales when you have a salesperson or a team of salespeople?
The short answer is “yes.” Insights from prospects can lead to your next market disruption.
Once you have a salesperson or team, you can maximize results in two ways. First, insert yourself for the larger opportunities to help close the deal. Second, choose when you’re in selling mode. For example, you can reach out to the company’s CEO you’d like to have as a client. Again, your title helps open doors.
Do you know how to ensure that everyone on your team is in sales?
Keep reading.
The Power Of Education For Your Team
Wisdom comes not from age, but from education and learning – Anton Chekhov
How do you ensure that employees must be salespeople in your company?
Educate everyone on your “why.” Create a narrative that is compelling, exciting, and motivating.
Read “5 Important Things You Need To Know When Preparing For An Acquisition.”
A quick story.
At Embanet, technical support was our main customer contact point. Unfortunately, technical support can be stressful with a barrage of emails and calls. It’s all too easy to have a mindset of rushing through emails and calls to “get it done.”
Before ever answering an email or call, training for technical support focused on the “why.”
Embanet’s mission is to change the social fabric of society one learner at a time. There are times when learners look for excuses to drop an online course. Embanet team members knew that we would not be why learners drop courses.
Learners changed their lives for the better when they completed their degree programs. The circle of influence for each learner ranges from a few people to tens of thousands. So the stakes are high, and it’s up to Embanet’s support team to help the learners.
Technical support rallied behind the “why” and provided exceptional support. Embanet went a step further by not measuring the time to answer each email or call. Instead, Embanet measured the satisfaction rate of the learner after each contact.
Unlike most call centers, we encouraged the team to spend as much time as needed to resolve the issue.
Your takeaway is to ensure that your team knows the “why” behind what you do.
All employees must be salespeople, but do you know the tools they need?
Keep reading.
All Employees Must Be Salespeople So Please Provide These Three Tools
Give us the tools, and we will finish the job – Winston Churchill
If all employees must be salespeople, what do you do, and how do you do it?
Three powerful strategies are both your ally and friend.
First, educate your team on your “why.” Then, create a narrative that is compelling, exciting, and motivating. Whether you realize it or not, you created your narrative when hiring your team. It’s your narrative that has people decide to leave the comfort of the known of the unknown.
Remind your team about why your company does what it does. Share examples of how your company helps clients. When you educate your team about your “why,” you remove the silos across the company.
Read “Employee Turnover: The 5 Best Strategies To Have You Thrive And Prosper.”
Second, create an elevator pitch for your employees.
Your elevator pitch must be short and inspiring. Your elevator pitch is what employees share when asked what they do. It’s also your elevator pitch that reminds your employees why they work in your company.
Third, have all employees ask for referrals regardless of their department. Everyone knows somebody. At my eLearning company Embanet, our bookkeeper helped land a new client.
A client shared with our bookkeeper how it was a pleasure to deal with Embanet. Our bookkeeper asked, “do you know anyone who would enjoy working with Embanet as much as you?”
As it turned out, the client’s cousin worked in the President’s office at a university. So the bookkeeper shared the President’s contact information with the sales team. Yes, everybody knows somebody.
Now that you know why all employees must be salespeople, do you know how to promote the strategy?
Please keep reading.
The Importance Of Celebrating Your Way To Success To Ensure That All Employees Are Salespeople
Peoples’ currency is often praise and not money – Jeffrey Feldberg
Yes, it’s true. All employees must be salespeople if you want to welcome massive success. The rocket fuel to reinforce this concept in your business is celebrating success.
Read “Here Are 5 Of The Most Powerful Questions Every Business Owner Must Ask.”
How do you celebrate success?
There are three key things you can do to celebrate success.
First, give public recognition when you sign a new client from an employee referral. Then, a company-wide email or recognition at the next company meeting will do the job.
Second, offer a financial reward. The reward can be a gift certificate to a favorite store or restaurant. You may even consider a 10% revenue share for the first 12 months of the client’s orders. You choose, but it makes it worth the while for your employees.
Third, embed the notion of celebrating wins, even small successes, into your business culture. As the saying goes, what gets measured is what gets done.
When your team looks for wins, big and small, they’ll find those wins. Your team will also go out of their way to make the wins happen, especially when there’s recognition.
Study after study validates that people often choose praise and recognition over money. Remember, it’s not what you say but how you make people feel that moves the dial.
You can start by becoming the change you want to see. First, go out of your way to celebrate a win regardless of the size. Then, have your leadership team do the same.
Yes, all employees must be salespeople. But its celebration and praise for wins is the glue that holds everything together.
Conclusion
All employees must be salespeople if you want a thriving and profitable business.
The most effective salespeople never sell and, instead, educate. Whether you realize it or not, you’re the most effective salesperson for your business.
Lead the charge and show your team why everyone must be “salespeople.” A change in mindset for you and your team will forever change your culture in the best possible way.
Your competition with its capital can buy many things and copy what you do. But your competition cannot copy your culture.
I should know, as I started my business right out of school with no money, experience, or team. In the early days, failure was my new best friend. But my grit and passion kept me in the game long enough for success.
The “secret sauce” was a change in mindset to embrace the idea that all employees must be salespeople.
What did I do, and how did I do it? I followed the same strategies revealed in this article.
What are your next steps?
Please start with the first strategy and master it before moving on to the next one. Before you know it, you’ll have mastered all strategies.
You can do it. I know you can.
Here’s to you and your success!
Your Biggest Raving Fan,
Jeffrey Feldberg
Today, Feldberg's passion is helping you extract your deep wealth. The 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program helps create a solid foundation for three areas: increasing profits to enterprise value and optimizing post-exit life. Deep Wealth Mastery offers strategies and insights drawn from Feldberg's rich experience. The strategies from the trenches get results. Jeffrey's vision is to increase the social fabric of society one entrepreneur at a time.
Learn more through https://iapdw.com/prosper
