If you want to bring your big idea to life, you’re going to have to sell your idea to your network and the world at large. I discuss how to do that in this episode with my guest, Jeff C. West.
Jeff went to college and got an undergraduate degree in music education and a master’s degree in music composition with the plan to become a teacher. Jeff ended up in sales by default. When he finished his degrees his wife needed to finish her degrees, so he needed to get a job while she finished up. There were no teaching jobs in his area so Jeff ended up taking a job in sales. He made so much more money than he would have made teaching so he stayed in the sales arena. He’s had a 30-plus year career in sales and sales leadership. One company he was one of the top producers in the nation and at another company for 20+ years he was in the active side of sales with a Fortune 500 insurance company and worked his way up to the state manager sales position with them.
At 54 years old he decided it was time to retire from the sales industry. That’s when he began to write and pursue speaking. He is also author and coauthor of two multi-award-winning sales parables, “The Unexpected Tour Guide” and “Said the Lady with the Blue Hair” (coauthored with Lisa Wilber). Jeff’s most recent book is “From Streetwise to Saleswise”, which he co-authored with Bob Burg, co-author of “The Go-Giver”.
When does the sales conversation start?
Jeff believes that the sales conversation starts long before the prospect has ever met you. It starts with your mindset. The whole conversation of sales should start with all of your focus on the other person. When you get down to it, sales at its core, at its very best, is being able to focus on someone else’s needs and have enough empathy so you can understand where they’re coming from. You should have them discover what their needs, wants and desires are, and then you help them get them.
You do that by creating three positive emotional touches with a prospect before you ever ask them for the first meeting. You’re looking to create what Jeff calls “Fusion Points”. Once you understand the concept of Fusion Points, which is built around the science of how people make decisions, you can influence some decisions that are very helpful for your business. We get into those details during the interview.
We also discuss:
- The definition of empathy and how to develop it.
- The structure of successful prospecting conversations.
- How to ask successful questions in sales conversations.
- What your initial outreach to potential clients should look like.
- How to approach someone to set up a sales conversation without turning them off right away.
- What to do at networking events that will make you one of the most popular people in the room.
- The best question you can ask at a networking event.
- The right way to follow up with people that you meet at networking events.
- How to turn networking conversations into sales conversations.
- The five components of a successful sales conversation.
- The four ways to become “objection proof”.
- How to maintain the relationship and become “referrable” after you close the sale.
…and other golden nuggets of advice!
You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”
About the Guest
Jeff C. West is the author of “The Unexpected Tour Guide”, and the coauthor of “Said the Lady with the Blue Hair” and “Streetwise to Saleswise”. These parables have been the recipient of four awards, including two Axiom Business Book Awards, and a finalist with both the Americian Indie Excellence and The American Bookfest Awards.
Those accolades delighted Jeff–and shocked his college english professors.
Before turning to writing, Jeff built a career spanning more than thirty years across a range of sectors, leading teams to over $150 million in recurring revenue sales. He lives in Texas, where he once played professionally in a Dixieland band–because everyone loves the tuba player.
