Master Deal Maker Secrets

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Recently, I’ve been helping clients with a fundamental step. The transition from being the managing director or the business owner that does all the sales, to hiring the first person in sales or business development.  This is a pretty big step for any business, as you can imagine, there are some things that must be considered in order to have an excellent hiring process where you can make sure that you have the right people and also, that you know what to do with them after they’ve been hired.  What I’ve seen happen over the years is that people tend to make one or all of the four mistakes I’m sharing with you today when they choose to hire a salesperson.  Let’s start from the very beginning of the process, which leads us to the first mistake. People often don't create a profile of the person that they want.  You are so much more likely to attract the type of person that you wan

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Getting in front of your dream clients may seem unreachable at first glance, more so if they haven’t even heard of you before. You may think they are in another league, that they wouldn’t be interested in doing business with anybody that isn’t as renowned as them.  That couldn’t be farther from the truth, there are quite some things you can do to get to them, and most importantly, to make yourself relevant to them.  Today, I'm going to share with you the six keys that you need to be aware of to get appointments with your dream clients. They are essential to get the job done.  Picture this, in most cases, businesses have got a list of clients that they would love to work with, but those clients are not beating a path to their door, they're not coming to them through their normal marketing. They know who they are, but they don't have a strategy to get in front of them.   Let's fac

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today we are going to talk about the difference between training alone and training with ongoing coaching. This is a particularly crucial topic if you're looking at training either yourself or your actual sales team.  I'm reminded of a conversation that I had with a retail client that I’ve worked with on and off. They were a client of mine in a previous business, and when I set up the training business, I used to do a retail sales masterclass. I used to call this guy every time I ran one because I had a really good relationship with him.   I remember ringing him one day and saying, “Is there anyone that you'd like to send along to the retail sales masterclass?” He said no. I did a lot of those masterclasses and I called him for every one of them but the same thing kept on happening so, one day, I said to him, “Look, I reckon I've rung at least eight times and offered you the chance

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today, we are going to talk about a two-step process that you can use to generate referrals from your existing clients. This is a really simple strategy that you can use to produce amazing results.  The people that you want to get referrals from are your better clients. Think about it, your long-term clients, the people that are the easiest to deal with, the people that give you the least amount of grief and drama are the ones that you would ideally love to refer some business to.   It happens both ways. It is most likely that if you have a long and ongoing relationship with your clients is because they appreciate what you do and how you work with them so, it is easier for them to refer somebody that is struggling with something to you if you are the right person for the job.  Having good business relationships and keeping constant communication with your clients is great but it’s

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. First, I want to elucidate why this episode is named like this. I know that it sounds awesome and it’s accurate, but not completely. I was never in the SAS, I didn’t train with the SAS, but what I did do was train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with three guys who were in the SAS.  Some of you may be asking, what is this SAS? The Special Air Service is a special forces unit of the British army. These fellows are as tough as nails, and relentless when it comes to completing the task. They stop at nothing.  I learned three really big lessons from those guys, and I think it's worthwhile sharing them with you because they are directly applicable to a sales context.   An important part of the training they do in the SAS happens in what’s called a Killhouse. If you are not familiar with what it is, it’s basically a scenario designed to simulate a hostage situation or a situation where they are

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today, we´re going to talk about the three core elements of a high-performing sales management system. This is something that I get called in to do for businesses a lot and it is a really big step to get this right.  Here is the standard scenario I’ve seen in my 17 years of training and coaching sales teams, when you find businesses that have a sales team it is pretty common to see horrible culture among their members.  For instance, some businesses can have a sales manager in place who is thought to be particularly skilled, highly empathetic, and with great emotional intelligence to be able to manage a sales team when the truth is, that’s not the case. The mismatch between the job profile and the personality of a sales manager is a big issue that can be traced way back to the hiring process, and it has great consequences.  What you often find is high turnover; people coming and g

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today we're going to talk about two big blockages that you may encounter in your sales process, and what specifically you can do about them.  Having a potential client make the decision of moving forward with you and whatever solution your business is offering to them is easier said than done. You probably have talked to some of them that are reticent about taking the next step, they may even argue that they’re afraid to do so, or that the price you are charging is too high.  If you're getting the same objections coming up over and over again, there are specific reasons that you're getting those objections.  You are experiencing blockages, and I’m pretty sure you’ve wondered what you need to do when they happen to break the streak. In this episode, I want to talk about two of these blockages, what causes them, and what you can do to stop them from happening in the first place. 

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.  One of the biggest pieces of leverage that you've got available in your business is to create an offer. Many people think that making an offer is the same as making a product more appealing to clients by reducing its price. Although that is indeed a way of offering a product, I don’t think this method is the way to go, and I’m sure you will second me on this thought after you listen to this episode. Creating an offer is such an overlooked area, we often get locked into making the same one over and over again. I have been guilty of this previously, and I know it is vital to talk about this topic so that you know the wider spectrum of possibilities you can exploit. Today I’m going to give you the 4 Key Elements of Creating an Offer That Will Convert. To get started, an offer is basically the product you are selling, the price that you are asking for it, the payment terms, and the bonu

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have.  Last week I did a LinkedIn post that had the most incredible response to it, you should go and check it out. It is about the whole idea of getting leads, maximising, and extracting every single drop of value out of them.   I’ll describe it so you understand what this is about. It is a drawing of a funnel that’s got all these holes in it, and there's water spurting out of it. Each one of those holes represents something different, one of them is leads not contacted, another one is leads not converted, another one is leads not followed up, there are about six of them.  Let’s think about it. If there are at least six holes in a funnel, how much water is coming out from the bottom end? where it’s supposed to come out. One thing’s for sure, not as much as it should.  What I'm going to do today is go through a checklist that people requested from me, I'm going to give you 11 things

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Maybe you have dreamed about making deals with big companies, and getting renowned clients to do business with you. I know I’ve been there, and I also know that at first glance, those clients might seem unreachable. Let me assure you, they’re not.  Today we're going to talk about the 3 quickest ways to get in front of a decision-maker; those big clients that you would ideally love to work with.  The first one, and maybe the most obvious way to get a hold of them is to get referred. All you need to do is ask somebody that you know, somebody that has a connection with your ideal client, “Can you please introduce me to him, or her?”.  It is as simple as writing an email. They can say: “Gloria, please meet Stewart, he has worked with us on such and such project, he's really good at what he does, I'll leave you guys to connect.” that's all they need to write.  Nowadays, there is even

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. It’s a fact that only a certain percentage of the people you talk to end up buying from you. It would be great if you could sell your product or service to everyone you have a conversation with, but we know that is simply impossible.  There are, however, some things you can do to increase your margin of success. Today I’m going to share with you 10 reasons why people don’t buy. I know this list will help you identify the loops that need to be closed in each of the conversations that you have. It will also give you the tools needed to take action whenever one of these reasons (i.e. objections) is brought to the table.  Not all of these translate to every sales situation, but if you can tick off the majority of them, you’ll instantly create a bigger window of opportunity for yourself and for your clients.  The first lot that I'm going to go through with you is comprised of pretty un

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today I am thrilled because we have someone on the show that I’ve been wanting to bring in for a really long time. He is truly an amazing person; his name is Oscar Pellizzon.   Oscar is formally a partner of a successful boutique accounting firm; he understands very well the requirements of selling a professional service and the need to develop referral relationships that generate new business.   He has more than 20 years of experience helping businesses grow, assisting owners and staff to balance the need to perform, managing the energy required to sustain its growth.   As a trained mindfulness instructor, Oscar shares a unique skill set with his fellow Acuity colleagues, in being able to assist clients, help them cope with stressors of business, and move their businesses successfully into the 21st century.  Unfortunately, these aspects are frequently not taken care of, many bu

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Recently, I was listening to somebody that is pretty well known in my industry. He’s held some trainings which I’ve listened to in the past, however, something happened this time I heard him, I noticed something very interesting.  What I found is that he generally says really negative things about his competition. This made me think a lot because I was told since I started in this industry that you should never talk negatively about your competition.   I’ve known this since I was 17 years old! So, it generated a lot of questions when I listened to him talk this way.   How are people reacting to this kind of message? Is it not that bad to do such a thing? Is everything I know wrong? I had to do some research.   It turns out, there is a study on what is called Spontaneous Trait Transference. This basically means that all the bad attributes someone can find in others, once they are

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. These days, it is very common to see hacks for everything. From building a coffee machine out of a lunch box to a list of a hundred things you can do to make your life easier.  There is a big list out there, and indeed, some of these hacks are more reasonable than others. While some may just be fun to do, or questionably useful, there are also quite a few things people have discovered over the years that really work, that are meaningfully helpful.   Today I am going to be sharing with you an example of the latter. It is something that I have used for a number of years, in fact, I learned it way before we started calling these things hacks, and it works since then.  It is a very simple yet valuable idea. You can think of it as a trick that you can use to improve the energy that you bring to a sales conversation.  Many people, myself included, think that sales are a transference o

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Welcome to what is a very special episode because we are celebrating the 100th installment of The Master Dealmaker Secrets Podcast. I want to thank each of you for listening and tuning in every week; it is very much appreciated to have such an incredible audience.   Firstly, I want to seize the opportunity and go over the 10 most listened to episodes of Master Dealmaker Secrets.    Of course, I'm going to give you a little bit about each episode so that you know what to expect. There are some truly valuable things there that really come in handy more than once.  Be sure to listen in to know what these 10 episodes are.  What I also want to do is make a really, really valuable offer. I know that there are a lot of people out there that offer a Strategy Session, right?  What in many cases is nothing but a sales pitch in disguise. What I want to offer is a process that I put togethe

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Getting your message out there may seem like a pretty straightforward task, you just have to get something written down and put it out there, right?   Well, you could certainly just write some words on a piece of paper or a website talking about how great your business or your product is, giving away every detail about how it works and all the technical information around it, etc.   I know this kind of writing is quite common and I don’t doubt its intentions are good, but it just won’t get you any closer to engaging with people. The purpose of a message in sales or in any kind of business is not for it to just be read or heard but to create connections and getting it to do that is a rather different story.   There are so many things to consider if you want to engage with people but also, there are some really cool tricks you can pull out to create amazing writing that will get the

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today we're going to be talking about your Power Base. This has been huge in the businesses that we’ve introduced this concept to, so, I’m really excited to be sharing this with you because building a good strong Power Base is key to moving toward bigger and bigger opportunities.  Often, I sit in on my clients’ business development meetings, or their sales meetings and listen. What I hear, almost every time, are the same names coming up, over and over again. This is not necessarily a bad sign; you don’t have to know thousands of people to build consistent and profitable relationships.   So, the Power Base is essentially the 20% of the people that you know that have 80% of the influence. They might not necessarily be direct clients. In fact, many times they are key influences or trusted confidants to your biggest clients; they could also be accomplished businesspeople that would have

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today we're going to be talking about sales meetings; not the kind of sales meetings where you're face to face with a client or potential client, I'm talking about the ones you have inside a business where you've got a team of salespeople, and meet with them on a regular basis.  The assumption is that these sales meetings work very well for the purpose of moving opportunities along the funnel toward actually having someone become a paying client, but often that's not the case.   So many sales and business development meetings have no bearing on sales or growing the business. They can be hijacked or blown-out in terms of admin-type queries, and admin-type grievances, among other common diversions. They also tend to be one-way traffic, so you'll have the owner or the sales manager doing most of the talking at people.   As a result, they have little to do with actual sales or moving

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today I want to talk to you about understanding buyer motivation. Though we’ve talked about it before, I know that what we cover today will help you understand the different situations you’ll encounter with various clients. This will help you get the most out of your business relationship, however, to do so we must first go through an important distinction.  There are two kinds of measures used almost everywhere; quantitative, and qualitative. You are probably familiar with what they’re used for, but it’s important to take a closer look at how these work in your business.  We know that there are fundamental measures that every business must consider like conversion rates, expenses, return on advertisement, etc. - these are fundamental in keeping a business profitable and under control. We’re going to dig much more than that.  What about the way someone is feeling? yourself include

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Trying something new is always challenging. Businesswise, if you want to implement new strategies and new ideas to your process, you’ll find yourself dealing with new circumstances too.   They may work better for you and your clients or they may not, but believe me, there are some things you should be aware of if you want to give new ideas a chance. Otherwise, you may not be able to take full advantage of them.  What I find is that people are creatures of habit, they tend to only use what works. And that's great because you should stick with what works, right? But bear in mind, if you only do what you've always done, you'll only ever get what you've always gotten.   So, you do have to try new things if you want to get a different outcome. I know this may not go as smoothly as you can foresee at any given point. That’s why today I want to give you a bit of an idea as to what you sh