salespeople . But Robert encourages you to use these experiences as your motivation rather than an excuse for why you don ’ t have a sales system in place or why sales isn ’ t a high priority . “ I had a very negative experience when I was 12 years old when this door-todoor salesman sold my mom a vacuum cleaner ,” Robert said . “ She didn ’ t speak any English . She couldn ’ t read English . So , she signed a contract for five years — a layaway plan . The layaway plan was more than our rent . It was really devastating for us .” Robert vowed that he would never let his family be in the position to be taken advantage of again . Today , realizing that you ’ ll be extremely limited on how successful you can be without a sales mind-set , he uses it as a lesson about how people expect you to sell them something when you call on them . “ One of the things we ’ re trying to teach our people is when you call somebody , they know you ’ re there to sell them something ,” he said . “ It ’ s on a subconscious level , but that ’ s why you ' re calling them .”
14 . DON ’ T LOSE MOMENTUM .
You must keep moving the ball forward and driving revenue . “ Only the road to success leads to greater success ,” Robert said . “ And you cannot go down that road without sales .” On the days when he is struggling with a lot to do and none of the things on his list are sales , he has a mantra to motivate himself . “ One of the mantras I always say to myself is ‘ Constant forward momentum , constant forward momentum , constant forward momentum ,’” Robert said . “ The only momentum in a company is sales . . . There are multiple ways to drive revenue . For example , with existing customers , you can go wider , but it ’ s all in the bucket of sales .”
15 . STOP WORRYING ABOUT SELLING TOO MUCH .
If whether you have enough bandwidth to fulfill the sales you make is holding you back , motivate your technical people with a pep talk to let them know that you can ’ t stay the same and hold off on sales — unless they want to keep working at the same salary without any benefits or bonuses . “ Technical people go to our sales kickoffs and say , ‘ But what if we sell more ? What will happen then ? We ’ re struggling servicing the customers we have now ; what if we sell more ?’ My answer to them is : ‘ Would you like a raise one day ? Would you like to make more money ? Would you like more opportunity ? Would you like more opportunity for your family , for your kids , for you ? How are we going to do that unless we grow the company ?’”
16 . DON ’ T WAIT TO START SELLING .
Many IT people believe that their product or service must be perfect before they start selling it . But Robert says this is a huge fallacy . “ Engineers want to make it perfect before they sell it ,” Robert said . “ True entrepreneurs jump out of the airplane and have the confidence that they ’ ll figure out the parachute on the way to the bottom .”
17 . LEARN HOW TO SELL YOURSELF FIRST .
More important than your product or service , he says , is selling yourself . “ On Shark Tank , entrepreneurs have to sell themselves just as much as their business because we invest in them . . . If whomever you ’ re selling to doesn ’ t like you , they ’ re not going to listen to you . . . be the salesperson you ’ d buy something from .”
18 . STAY LASER FOCUSED .
For several years , Robert competed as Ferrari # 007 for Herjavec Group Racing in the Ferrari Challenge North America Series . He achieved multiple podiums and even won Rookie of the Year in 2011 . To Robert , building a successful business is a lot like racing cars . “ You have to stay laser focused when driving a car over 200 miles an hour ,” he said . “ And the same approach is required when growing a business in today ’ s world of rapidly changing technology .”
Robert ’ s principles are valuable in today ’ s competitive IT environment . His story demonstrates that anyone can succeed if they are willing to take control of their own future . Of course , from our conversation with Robert , it ’ s obvious that getting good at sales played a key role in his rags to riches story . The good news is that anyone can get better at sales . Just like Robert , who admits he knew nothing about sales when he started out , you can become an expert too . In fact , he says there is no such thing as a “ natural-born salesperson .” In his book You Don ’ t Have to Be a Shark , Robert makes the case that “ great salespeople are made , not born , and no one in life achieves success without knowing how to sell .” Remember to sell yourself first , listen more than you talk , know who the right person is to sell to , understand what motivates your prospect , and keep it simple . And if you ’ re struggling with sales , get coaching and follow Robert ’ s sage advice to get out there and sell something . Your business growth depends on it !
ROBERT AT A TECHNOLOGY MARKETING TOOLKIT ANNUAL BOOT CAMP EVENT