HIRING SALESPEOPLE
BY : PATRICK BET-DAVID CEO , PHP AGENCY INC
Here ’ s why . If he ’ s sold five different products over the past five or 10 years , that means he ’ ll sell five different products over the next five or 10 years . This is the person that one day sells cars , and the next day sells insurance , then real estate , then pharmaceuticals , toothpaste , and coffee . Every day there ’ s something else . And they ’ re great salespeople , and they can convince you .
THE BEST SALESPEOPLE ARE TRUE BELIEVERS I prefer a true believer over 100 of those kinds of salespeople any day of the week . Here ’ s the difference between the best salespeople ( true believers ) and salespeople that can “ sell ice to an Eskimo .”
A true believer may not look like a salesperson . They are a regular person .
QUESTIONS THE BEST SALESPEOPLE ASK They ask questions like :
• How does this product benefit our clients ?
• Tell me why this product is better than xyz .
• What makes us special ?
• And oh , by the way , how do we get paid on the products ?
COMPARE THAT TO THE THINGS THAT SALESPEOPLE THAT CAN SELL ANYTHING TO EVERYBODY SAYS :
• Um , how do we get paid on these products ?
• And oh , by the way , what ’ s the product ? What do you guys sell again ?
• OK , I just need to know the basic stuff and I can go sell it to anybody .
Do you know which one is the best salesperson ? I ’ ll take the true believer . You know why ? Because I can ’ t replace the true believer ’ s heart .
THE TRUE BELIEVER BELIEVES IN THE COMPANY , IN THE CAUSE , IN THE PRODUCT .
You can ’ t break a true believer .
In contrast , anybody can break a salesperson that can sell anything to anyone .
Because of that , the best salespeople are true believers and I ’ ll take one true believer over 100 others any day of the week . Here ’ s why . I put my time into sales folk and they go sell one product after another . All the hours I put into them end up going to another product .
But if I develop true believers , five to 20 years from now the company will be run by them . This happens because they bleed the company , the product , the cause .
DIFFERENT WAYS MEN DATE WOMEN Another way to look at it is how men date women . A salesperson is a man that says anything to get a woman in bed with him . And I ’ m not talking about getting into bed to take a nap with him . You know what I ’ m talking about . But a true believer is going to tell you who he is and what he stands for . He ’ ll ask a lot of questions about you and what your family stands for . He wants to know what ’ s important to you because he has no desire for just getting you to bed . A true believer wants to build a long-lasting relationship . If you find somebody like that , you better realize that the person is for real .
MAKE A LIST OF YOUR TRUE BELIEVERS If you run a company , make a list of your true believers . Those are the best salespeople that believe in you , are aligned with you , believe in your company , product and cause . You better believe that you have to put your time into these folks . Because these are the folks that are going to run the entire company for you one day . They ’ re not doing it for the heck of it . And they automatically attract money because people want to do business with true believers .
TAKE INVENTORY OF YOURSELF Next , take an inventory of yourself . Make a list of the things you ’ ve done in the last five to 10 years . If you ’ ve done multiple things in the last three to five years , you ’ re not in the true believer department . I know most people don ’ t want to hear that , but you ’ re just not . But if when you sit down and make a list and notice you ’ re one in the last five years , that ’ s good . See if you can go 10 , 15 , 20 years with one message , one company , one cause , one movement , one industry . The longer you go , the more you ’ re a true believer .
THE BEST SALESPERSON IS A TRUE BELIEVER WITH WORK ETHIC A true believer with a strong work ethic works from the heart , not just the head . And they attract other true believers , because when people look in their eyes , they see a true believer . And people like following true believers . History favors true believers .
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU My challenge to you is to go out there and look for your true believers . Put your time into them . Next , work on identifying yourself as a true believer , and do one thing for five to 20 years . If you do , a lot will happen to you both financially , business wise , life wise and with your reputation . In the community , when your name comes up , instead of people asking , “ What ’ s he selling now ?” they ’ ll say , “ Oh , he ’ s been selling one thing for the last 15 years .” That ’ s a true believer . +
Patrick Bet-David is CEO of PHP Agency , Inc ., Creator of Valuetainment on YouTube and author of 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible . Visit patrickbetdavid . com
SPRING 2017 | 13