7 Attributes of a Successful Sales Person with Neal Tricarico, Head of Sales at Scalable

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Business Lunch

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Learn the importance of systems when it comes to inside sales.   Before Neal Tricarico joined Scalable as Director of Sales, inside sales was one of the biggest missing pieces in the business. Scalable was born from a digital marketing company, and they didn’t have anybody on the phones. They were literally missing out on half the sales they could have made.   They snagged Neal from the Tony Robbins organization, and he brought his vast experience, impressive credentials, and his great personality with him. He has developed several systems that have proven wildly successful with sales teams, and he amped up Scalable’s inside sales in no time.   In today’s episode, he sits down with host Roland Frasier to share some valuable information with listeners, including exclusive access to his brilliant Sales Strengths Identifier (SSI). Whether you’re hoping to improve your inside sales—or get it started in your business—Neal has just what you need.    An In-House Sales Team vs. an Outsourced Solution What are the pros and cons of hiring your own sales team vs an outside sales team? Basically, the biggest advantage to an outside team is a lower investment risk. And an internal team is more aligned with the culture and values of your company, which is a huge advantage.    Neal says that hiring your own team means your sales reps “have an opportunity to eat their own dog food.” They can experience what they’re selling. An outside sales team, on the other hand, has a potential disconnect from the products they’re offering. There’s no buy-in. They’re just doing their job.   What’s the First Step to Bringing Sales In House? That first hire is most important. Scalable brought in Neal, and he brought in his own successful system. Then he recruited and hired sales reps who understand and work in that system.   If you’re just starting out, you’re looking for a player-coach, someone to roll up their sleeves, be sales rep #1 so they understand what’s actually happening on the front lines. They can build out the framework of success. Then you can scale and hire more reps.   Great. So, how do you find that person?   Neal believes there’s a confluence of science and skills. There are specific capabilities required. You can assess someone to see if they have those skills with The Sales Strengths Identifier, which Neal invented. It’s both data-driven and experiential, and you can match it with your interview process.   So, what are those strengths/skills?   Strength #1: Mindset Mindset is the critical foundational step in this process. You need someone who has the ability to shift their focus from their own needs/wants to the client’s. Mindset-wise, you’ll never feel bad or smarmy when doing sales, because you know the value of what you’re offering exceeds the price. You’ll feel good about it the whole way through.   Strength #2: Rapport You want someone who has the capability of establishing rapport with clients—and quickly. You have to earn your customer’s trust and respect as soon as possible. First impressions are huge.   You establish this rapport by focusing first on the client. Seek to understand before being understood. No old school small talk; that’s a turnoff. Instead, ask an open-ended question: What led us to this call today?   Strength #3: Diagnose Needs A doctor who prescribes without diagnosis is guilty of malpractice. It’s the same with sales. When we pitch or present our solution before we’ve actually diagnosed the client’s needs, we’re guilty of malpractice. Your moral obligation is to conduct a gap analysis that helps the prospect understand what they actually need.   Strength #4: Build Value  In old school terms, this is your pitch or presentation. This is where you’ve won the right to engage the how. You’re tying their needs to your product or service. You can solve their wants and whys.   Strength #5: Create Buy-In  You can ask the client: “I’m curious. Why is this something you must move forward with now?” Then the client articulates in their own words the value that would make it worth investing in. If you reach “create buy-in,” and the client can’t tell you why they must move forward, they’ll ask questions and you can provide answers.    Strength #6: Overcome Objections  Here’s some good news: if you do #1-5 well, you don’t have to do #6. If the value is there, price will never be an objection. The value always has to exceed the price, or there’s no need to do it. Price is only an issue when the value is not clear. If you’ve made the value clear in steps #1-5, there should be no objections.   Strength #7: Enrollment As a sales rep for any company, your responsibility is to unlock the value in their eyes that would make it worth it for that client to invest their time, money, and effort. When you do that, you’ll have an enrolled client.   Success loves sequence. Order matters. In old school sales, it would be the other way around. We would spend very little time developing rapport; we’d ask a question or two; then start pitching, asking for the sale; then get in negotiations, spend a ton of time overcoming objections, and finally closing.    Get the Sales Strengths Identifier For You and Your Team Roland and Ryan can’t recommend Neal’s SSI highly enough. You can use it to find sales people to hire for your business—or even a sales director. You can use it to determine whether or not you’d be good at sales (if you’ve never tried it) or how you can get better.   The questions in the assessment actually have nothing to do with sales. They’re grounded in the DISC profile. Take the Sales Strengths Identifier and get a report across the seven stops. Within each of the steps, there are 5-7 sub-attributes and recommendations. There’s no perfect assessment, but this one is very thorough.   Attributes like establishing rapport and overcoming objections tend to be much more innate. If you don’t score at least a 7 out of 10, sales is not likely a career for you. Some of the other attributes are more trainable.    Roland and Ryan want their listeners to have access to this awesome program. Click here to take the SSI.