Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / How to Have Better Sales Results with Valdez Lasartemay

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How to Have Better Sales Results with Valdez Lasartemay · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition.
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  Lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number 1 small business spurt, Melinda Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the Small Bushed podcast?
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  Well, it's time.
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  Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
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  small business.
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  And just 20 minutes or so, we, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel your
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  business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the small beachhead podcast today.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  We're back with the small biz chat podcast, and now we're gonna talk sales.
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  And at the end of the day, if your business isn't driving sales, You've got a big problem,
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  and you will soon be out of business.
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  So today, I'm going to talk with my guest.
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  His name is Valdez Losartime, and he is gonna talk to us about role in marketing in your
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  small business sales success.
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  So let me introduce him.
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  He is a lifelong sales professional with over 30 decades of selling everything from choose to
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  security.
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  He began selling at 10 years of age going door to door, selling subscriptions of the San
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  Francisco Chronicle.
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  These days, either business consultant focused on business development and helping small
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  business owners learn effective sales strategies and techniques.
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  Emphasizing servant leadership.
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  His new book is marketing for salespeople and how servant leadership attracts clients and
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  increases sales.
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  For more information, go to marketing the number 4 salespeople.com.
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  Valdez, welcome to the Small Bishop podcast.
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  Thank you for having me, Linda.
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  Appreciate being here.
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  Alright.
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  So tell me, how did you become so passionate about sales?
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  Well, it's been a lifelong journey.
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  I was looking for a career that had no limits.
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  And oddly enough, I stumbled across a black collegiate, magazine, and I read that, if you
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  wanna avoid glass ceiling, sales are the good for you.
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  So I gravitated towards sales.
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  Love it.
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  Love it.
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  Alright.
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  So talk to us about what are the fundamental sales techniques that all sales people really
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  need?
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  Like, what are the marketing techniques that all sales people need?
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  Well, when it comes to techniques, I tend to stick to strategies.
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  And the biggest opportunity for salespeople is to build strong relationships.
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  I like to call it real estate, compared to real estate and that it's it's, relationship
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  capital.
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  Okay?
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  And rather than talk about sales techniques, let's talk about relationship building.
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  I can tell you that salespeople leave a lot of money on the table because they do not optimize
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  all their relationships.
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  In fact, there's a lot of data out there that suggests that when it comes to referrals, 80%
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  of the customers who buy are willing to give referrals.
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  However, only about 20% of salespeople actually ask for them, but if you talk to a salesperson
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  about it, They'll tell you they get pulling referrals, but that's just Citizens Trail.
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  Interesting.
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  So why do you think that sales professionals should use personal branding to build those
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  relationships?
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  Because in order to really set yourself apart, You have to show that you have unique value.
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  It's a very competitive market, and you can easily be commoditized.
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  But by specializing in working with specific types of clients and niches that are the most
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  profitable and gearing up to present yourself as an expert to those clients.
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  You expand new markets?
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  Well, what is the best way to cultivate relationships as a small business zone?
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  You told us earlier why it's important.
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  What are some of your key ways that you build relationships with with strangers essentially?
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  Well, you have to really get down deep into what your customer's motivations are, what your
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  prospects motivations are.
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  So just put the sales part of it aside for a moment, and really focus on making sure you
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  understand your clients' needs.
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  Most people short circuit that and they talk about having difficulty closing sales.
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  Well, it's not the closing of sales.
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  That's a difficult.
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  It's the information that you didn't gather in the beginning finding out what the desires, the
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  hopes, and the dreams are of your prospects and clients.
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  And it's not easy to do because a lot of your clients can't articulate really what they want.
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  So your job as a fiduciary And that's the position I take is fiduciary to my clients is
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  to really help your clients and prospects understand the value of what they want and then
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  present it to them.
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  So Let's talk about that process.
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  Okay.
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  I presented something to them, and then they're like, hemming and hawing.
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  I don't get an immediate yes.
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  Like, how can you handle objections in a sales process, because that seems the number one
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  thing that people who are not salespeople, the thing that they're most afraid of, are having
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  to deal with people's questions and objections.
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  Can you talk about how you can kind of push through that?
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  Absolutely.
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  First of all, look at those as a request for more information.
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  Part of your job as a fiduciary is to educate your clients.
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  So when they ask a question or when they make an objection, see that as a question that you
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  need to answer.
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  So focus on educating at that point and really making sure that you have clear understanding
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  about their needs and your opportunity.
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  And then you're just billy.
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  You're really just bridging the gap between the two.
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  Now, what are some of your favorite tools that you use in the sales process to sort of like
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  streamline your engagement with people?
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  It's gonna be the interview.
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  The interview is the most important.
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  Once you have successful sale with the client that You really think is a great client.
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  The next part, it is expressing to them that you enjoy the business that you've done
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  together, and get them to introduce you to more people.
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  That just doesn't happen as much as it should.
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  Prospecting is the hardest part of salesmanship.
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  And your best opportunity for more business will be your existing clients.
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  No.
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  Of course.
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  And no question about it.
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  I 100% agree with you.
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  What about leveraging social media and online marketing, things like LinkedIn Sales Navigator
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  and stuff like that.
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  Are you a fan of that or no?
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  I am because social proof is everything.
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  You should get permission from your clients to share the success stories because everybody
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  likes a winner.
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  So when you show that you've done wonderful things for one client, people will say, I wanna
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  do that too.
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  And then what about some of the key metrics that business owners should be using to sort
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  of, like, measure and improve their sales performance I once heard the statistic that for
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  every 10 sales calls, you can expect to close 3.
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  So 30% of your sales outreach efforts should at least be successful.
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  Does that jive with what you think?
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  Or, you know, how should people be measuring their their sales leads versus sales close
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  ratios?
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  That metric is a real metric, and that's why you wanna focus on relationship building.
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  Because when you're introduced, to, another prospect from your existing customer, your
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  metrics are three times better.
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  Because closing a referral, you do that upwards of 50%.
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  Having to go cold with cold email or cold calls is actually worse than 3 out of 10.
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  It could be a lot greater than that, and it's the reason why so many people don't last.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  Alright.
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  What is the best business advice you've ever received?
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  The best business advice I've ever received is to be authentic and true to myself.
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  And to work with strong integrity.
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  Integrity meaning that I should know as much about my products as humanly possible and I
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  should work to find out as much as I can about my prospects so that I make a perfect match
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  when I make a recommendation.
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  Love it.
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  Alright.
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  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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  Subscribe to this podcast, wherever you listen to podcast, and join us next Wednesday for more
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  fantastic information and interviews.
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  You can find more sources small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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  website succeed as your own boss.com.
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  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.