Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You've probably heard this tactic from a lot of sales gurus, but I just want to emphasize it. Do not fill the silence. Instead, feel safe in it. In the past, I used to panic when this happens and I used to over explain. I used to just try to fill the silence because it made me feel awkward. But what that shows is that you're not very confident about what you're selling.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: You weren't born to sit in traffic, work for approval, or wait for Fridays. You were built to be free.
Welcome to Rich and Remote, the show for the ones who dare to do life differently. Here we talk about building businesses that give you choices where you work, how you live, and what you create.
This is for the entrepreneurs who crave freedom, financial freedom, location freedom, and freedom from everyone else's expectations.
If you're ready to design a life on your own terms, you're in the right place. Rich and Remote, hosted by Alex and Carla Booth.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Welcome to another episode of Rich and Remote. This is Carla Singson Booth. And today I'm going to talk about something that I've been thinking about for a long time. When I restarted my business in 2022, the most important thing for me was sales. Sales. I made it a mission that I always have sales calls scheduled for the next week. I'm always talking to a lot of new people, that people knew what I did, that people knew that we did our jobs right, that they have read all of our reviews and learned about our case studies, that they learned about us and heard our name or our brand through a friend, and they spoke highly of us. So I really invested a lot of time in sales and marketing. And on top of that, I personally went to hundreds of of sales calls. And in that experience, you know, building my company from zero to seven figures in a little over a year without spending anything on ads and making multimillions. Throughout the years of owning two outsourcing companies, I definitely learned a lot of things about sales. And I also learned that as a female salesperson, things could be really different for you. That versus being like a male salesperson. I think that being a woman has certain advantages. And also there are things that are also gender neutral. And I properly analyze the nuances. And I'm not going to be like your sales guru. And I'm not going to exactly share how to be a good sales woman per se. That's not the business that I'm in. But I just want to share five unconventional practices that help me make millions in sales. And when I say sales, I'm not Just talking actually about my outsourcing company. I have closed a lot of big brands when I also owned an event planning company 10 to like 17 years ago. You know, when I first started my career right out of college, I was an emcee. I did a lot of hosting for events. I started at weddings and did corporate events. And then eventually I ventured into event planning because I asked myself, what is the most money I could make in an event? And the answer was definitely not as the MC or not as a host. And so I realized that the producers and the event planners make a lot of money. And so I shifted my business to doing that. And I close a lot of big brands in my career as an event planner. These are some of my clients. Dyson, you know, the vacuum cleaner brand. Qatar Airways, a really big airline company. I actually have a few airline company clients under my belt. Sony was my client. Sharp was my client. Bosch, BMW, Starbucks, Coca Cola. I also serve big nonprofits. I'm actually a United nations accredited event planner. I also serve Habitat for Humanity. I served the Japanese embassy, the Australian embassy. So I served really, really big corporations and really big nonprofits. And I even did a lot of large government projects as well. And so after I left my career as an event planner, now I still own that company, but I just do a little bit of consulting and I placed someone to manage it. I place a really, really good operations manager to just handle that business so that I can focus on my outsourcing company. And so I have that. Throughout almost two decades of selling, I have learned certain unconventional tactics that are really useful in sales. And these tactics are things that you can just do and you can just learn and you can apply immediately. And also it doesn't matter if you're male or female or if you're selling in whatever industry. So I also learned some of these things from my agency clients. My company, proximity outsourcing. We hire top tier marketing and management talent from the Philippines and Latin America. And we have served over 500 agency owners and fast growing online businesses. And because of my access to the owners of these businesses, to the founders, they are also amazing salespeople. And I learned a lot from them. So I have gathered the five top, top, top, top tactics in sales and they are pretty unconventional. So let's start. Number one is act engaged but not over eager. So I understand that follow up is important. I understand that you need to push a little bit. You need to just, you know, nudge your client and make them act a certain way or, you know, make them like follow your lead and things like that. But I learned that if you're so overeager, people are very doubtful of things right now. So I noticed that with the consumption of AI content of, of news. So that's just like clickbaity of basically a lot of sources of media lying to you and giving you the wrong idea on things. I learned that and I've observed that a lot of people really have their walls up. And so if you are overeager and if you tend to be overeager, then it kind of, you know, it turns them off, act engaged. So when you're on a sales call, when you're in a conversation, fully engaged, you know, if you're doing face to face meeting, you know, have really good eye contact, engage with them properly, ask them questions, be genuinely curious. And then after that, you know, you send your proposal, you send your action plan and then, yeah, do some follow up. Maybe follow up, you know, after you send it, tell them, hey, I already sent you the proposal, check it out, maybe the next day, do a little follow up, maybe another one after three days, another one after five days. And sometimes you also send kind of like a, kind of a goodbye or a see you later after one week and basically saying, hey, totally fine if it's not your priority. We just want you to get the best advice and we just wanted to give you the best recommendation that we can give you. So we are acting like we're fully engaged, we fully care about their business, about their company and what will really bring them good results. But we're not overly pushy. I've discovered that this is the best approach because it makes them realize that you respect their space and you respect the pace that they're trying to go. So some nuances though. I think that your copy needs to be really strong in those follow up templates. It needs to confront the decision. It needs to kind of really encourage them, motivate them to make the decision, even if that decision is no. And of course there's other things that you can also do. Even if you get no, you can just invite them to be an affiliate. You can tell them, hey, you may not be ready right now, but in the future can I follow up with you after six months? Or you can also downsell them. So if there's something small, something cheaper, something low commitment that you genuinely think that can still help them, maybe not the main offer that you pitched, offer that to them now for the next tip. You've probably heard this tactic from a lot of sales gurus. But I just want to emphasize it. Do not fill the silence. Instead feel safe in it. So sometimes when you reveal the price or after you reveal your whole pitch, the lead just goes silent. You know, sometimes the strategy, they want to make you feel awkward. They want to see how good you can hold your state or something like that. And in the past I used to panic when this happens and I used to over explain, I used to just try to fill the silence because it made me feel awkward. But what that shows is that you're not very confident about what you're selling and you don't really believe that you have explained it properly. And so it takes a little bit of practice. But if this happens, just feel safe in the silence. Now, you know, maybe if it goes for super duper long, like super unconventionally long, maybe like one minute, you can ask them a very simple question which is like, do you need time to think about it? Definitely sleep on it. I would encourage you to think about it. I know it's a big decision and if you have any questions, I'm available anytime. I'll even give you my personal number. So that would be something that I will say if I was a salesperson. If it is super long and super awkward, typically they will also fill the silence or they will like also apologize and say, hey, sorry, I'm just, I'm trying to digest it. The other thing that you can also do to preempt these silences is to send them a pre suasion template. So before getting on a call, maybe send them kind of an expectation of your case studies, your success stories, and you can even give them an idea on your pricing. For example, in your marketing, if you say something like under 15 bucks an hour or you know, don't pay more than a thousand bucks, or for the price of blah, blah, blah, for the price of a good dinner, for the price of a good pair of jeans. If you already have some sort of like price anchors or like simple comparisons, that also helps in just kind of like giving them an idea on what the pricing would be. That would also be a good idea and of course tie that to a lot of results. Once again, you need really strong copy and you need to really plan how that interaction will go. Tip number three, prepare and manifest. So before I get on a sales call, I always research the company. I read a little bit about what they do, their pains. Sometimes I go on Reddit boards to see what they're really thinking about, what their problems are, what I can solve for them, and if I feel like it will be a better way to hire someone else instead of the original role that they were hiring for. So basically when I say prepare, really be in the state or be in the intention of helping your client and everything you're doing in terms of preparation is so you can help them better. So that's how you need to think about this. This is not how you can close the sale better. I mean it does, it does help with that. But ultimately in that call and in that conversation with a client, you just need to help them make the best decision. And sometimes that's it means that you don't have to work together. Sometimes the best decision for them is not to work with you right now. And to be honest, they will respect it if you actually genuinely tell them that. I talked to a lead today and when I told him about our process, he said, I don't mean to hire an appointment setter who will just be plugged in. I need advice on my messaging. I need someone who can fix and split test some copy and some scripts. And I told him, whoa, you know, we're an outsourcing company, we're not a consulting company. And I can't guarantee any roi. What I can guarantee with you is that we'll hire the perfect person for the role that you're looking for. We're going to time track them, we're going to give them benefits if they're on the phone, we are going to provide continuous accent training, we're going to continuously upskill them and provide them the support. And you also get white glove support because you will have your own dedicated support csm. So you're not just paying for 20 hours a week or 40 hours a week, you're paying for a whole experience. I always say my service is for business class and first class types of people. My service is not for people who are looking to hire a generic bargain basement Price VA and those people who are looking to underpay their team just because they belong to a developing country. So I hire people who are absolutely brilliant, absolutely intelligent people that have experience working in a growing business and can really bring a lot of their expertise and intelligence and initiative in your company. So those are the types of people I hire and so I know the types of people I place. And so I need to also prepare and really get to know. So when I say preparing, you need to be preparing to be in a perfect state to really help your client. Because remember that one interaction that they have with you, which is your sales call, which is typically probably 30 minutes or one hour. In my company we take 30 minute sales calls and it's always a one call close. We don't need to like talk to multiple people. We always make sure that the decision maker is there and that they are a good fit for our service most of the time. And the second part of that is manifesting. So when I say manifesting, I know it's such a like a woo woo term, but what I really mean is visualizations, affirmations and really training your brain to believe that it's going to happen for you. So that's what I do every time I prepare for a sales call. I spend that last one or two minutes kind of like closing my eyes and imagining what the interaction will be. I prime myself up to develop positive impressions of them. You know, I check out their LinkedIn or their Facebook, I look at something that I can comment on that also that I can connect with. And of course that is kind of like a sales tactic, right? But what I'm really like manifesting is like knowing them fully. I want to get into that call feeling like I'm talking to a friend because that is also the best way or the best state that I can be to help them.
Of course I manifest sales and I like affirm myself and I visualize a certain number in my head and I have goals and I have targets and everything. But when I say prepare and manifest, it is also a particular congruence that your preparation or your hard work is aligned with your mindset and your manifestations and the things that you genuinely believe in. Because what you really believe in will reflect what on the conviction that you bring on the call. And conviction is one of the most important things that you can bring to any sales call so that you can fully show the impression that you're confident in the solution that you're selling. And when you can deliver a particular conviction towards the lead, towards your future client, towards the person that you want to help. Promise, even if it's through a zoom screen, they will feel it. And they will only feel it. And they will feel it the best. If you prepare, if you manifest correctly. Just my opinion, number four is prepare simple comparisons. So not a lot of people talk about this, but number four tip is to prepare simple comparisons. So even if you have prepared your script and you've done it so many times, sometimes you come across a lead that will really, really test you. They will say things like, oh, I can find this somewhere cheaper or I think business is bigger than yours, why should I go with you? So Sometimes they kind of put you on a test to, like, prove yourself. And the best way that you can navigate these conversations is if you have genuine and truthful comparisons. And so just listen to them and tell them, well, you know, this company does that, my company does this. There's definitely some pros and cons, depending on what will be the most beneficial for you or what will be a good match for you right now. In fact, I even encourage you to tell them that they should go for that company if you genuinely believe that that company will be a better option for them. So they will be comparing you against other services, other types of services, other companies. Maybe they'll compare you as the founder or as the owner to another founder of owner or owner of a company that's in competition with yours. And so just prepare some comparisons, how you treat your people, you know, how different your services, your solution, maybe there. There are definitely a lot of things that you can pick up that makes you unique. Even I use my background as a Filipina, I grew up in the Philippines. I know a lot more, you know, nuances in hiring in the Philippines compared to Americans or foreigners who started their outsourcing company and they hire from the Philippines but never actually lived there. Or I tell them about my background, about going to one of the best business universities in the country and how I know how to find people like me, people who went to those schools, smart people, people who have initiative, people who speak English like me. I know how to find them. So there's always a lot of things that make you more unique or make your service more unique, make your service more unique, maybe more in line with the solution that you are trying to provide them. And once again, it's totally fine if you're not the perfect match for them. You just want to help this person. But it's always good to prepare just some simple comparisons and how you can make yourself unique and how you present yourself as a leader in the industry. So, of course, you have to be a little strategic on how you're presenting those comparisons because you also still want to come out as a very formidable option. And number five and last tip is, do not be scared to agree with your lead and tell the truth, even if it means that you are not the perfect match for them right now. Sometimes when I'm hit with a difficult question or when I'm hit with a statement where maybe the lead expects me to disagree with them, I just agree with them. I nod, I agree, I listen to them, I let them finish what they're saying I don't try to argue with them. I don't try to convince them that they need to work with me. I just tell the truth. And you know what? It's way, way easier that way. I would agree. Oh yeah, actually I know of that company. They're definitely cheaper than us. There are some differences in how we handle the solution and here are the differences. So this is where the comparisons will definitely be very convenient if you have them in your back pocket. But do not be scared to agree. Do not be scared to just tell the truth. Tell how you really feel. Be honest with them. At the end of the day, the best way to help other people grow their businesses is number one, just to tell them the truth so that they too can be armed with the right information in how to grow their business or what is the next step for them to take. So it's always a gift. If someone is telling you the truth, someone is giving you a very fair recommendation, even if it means that you don't have to work together. So yeah, those are my top five unconventional tactics in closing sales, Some of my best advice in going through hundreds of sales calls over the years and making multimillions for my outsourcing companies. If you are a fast growing online business or if you're an agency owner, I hope that you like this video. Definitely hit like and subscribe if you want to learn more about how to grow your agency or your fast growing online business through outsourcing and building awesome remote teams. Thanks for listening to Rich and Remote where freedom isn't a dream, it's a decision. This is Karla, this is Alex Booth, and this is our journey to our dream Rich and remote life.
[00:20:05] Speaker C: If this episode inspired you, share with a friend who's ready to live life differently too. This is perfect for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who crave financial freedom, location freedom, and freedom from the opinions of others.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: And don't forget to leave a quick review. It helps more freedom seekers find this show. Big thanks to our sponsors, Huckleberry Consulting, getcsm and Proximity Outsourcing.
[00:20:31] Speaker C: See you in the next episode and check out our online hangout spot richandremote.com.
