Benjamin Dennehy - A crash course in sales - the lost art of prospecting - S3 Ep17

Champagne Strategy

Brain-hurt scale = 5/10. When was the last time you saw a startup's GTM strategy include sales prospecting cold calls? Pretty much never. Most early-stage startups and shy businesses skip this crucial step. Instead preferencing an introverted, passive, direct response style approach. Which includes ads on digital channels targeting in-market buyers. In this episode, you'll find out why this is often a big, big mistake.

Unless you've been living under a rock, we've all seen that scene at the end of The Wolf of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort uses the 'sell me this pen' routine to teach people about one particular sales fundamental.

A very simple but key to great sales which nearly everyone gets wrong.

People who think they can sell, immediately start talking about the pen. Its color, the shape, the finish, the ink, it's cost. Basically verbalizing to the person they are selling to, all the reasons why the pen is awesome and why they need it.

Good salespeople know better than to do this.

Instead, they start asking questions and identifying problems the prospect has which the pen can solve. This requires, empathy, a brain and above all, a deeper understanding of why people buy.

Isn’t it funny, in our lives, how often do we do the opposite.

This is why orthodox sales behavior is all wrong.

We all start explaining things about our product and how good we think it is, instead of the customer and their situation.

It seems so obvious, but this simple oversight causes billions upon billions of wasted sales and marketing resources every year. It causes salespeople to believe they can sell (when they can't) and marketers to think they're doing effective marketing when they're not. And this can cause the sales and marketing function to quickly devolve into a volume-based shouting match where everyone is hoping the market will listen. Most of the time, the market doesn't care because you're sounding just like everyone else who wants to sell them something. They look at these companies and instantly form the opinion that they just don't get it. They don't understand them, and what they want.

So how do you make them care? How should you sell?

Today, we’re talking with Benjamin Dennehy to clear up this mess. He helps train sales teams and consults to companies all around the world. Self-branded as the UK’s most hated sales trainer, part-time LinkedIn male model, Trump hat aficionado...He’s got personality, he’s got the right words, but above all he knows sales, because he actually does it.

So if you’ve ever wanted to sell, you need to listen to this episode.

Maybe you’re trying to convince a manager of your idea. Maybe you're trying to convince the kids to get in the car. Maybe you're trying to get a hotter partner on the dating circuit. Or selling yourself on the corner downtown…Whatever it is. You'll get a crash course in how to do it properly by listening to the next 59mins.

I was literally laughing out loud while editing this yesterday. Ben's entertaining and this chat is an easy listen. It’s not technical. It’s wildly frank. Funnily enough, there’s no shortage of sales gurus out there, who are so good at selling, they have everyone fooled. But most can’t sell, personally.

Ben can. And that’s why we’re talking

What is sales?

What’s the difference between sales and a transaction?

What’s the difference between an AE, SDR, BDM?

What’s the best sales software to use?

What are the critical missteps people make in sales that you should avoid?

And what’s his sales process?

It's like this