3 Pieces of Sales Advice from Dan Goldberg

Part of the Entrepreneurs on Campus Series

Sales is just one big puzzle, and that’s how you should always think of it.

I feel people often over-complicate sales. They get scared about the “what ifs.” They fear rejection. They fear being shut down or being told NO!

Well, let me tell you something…that’s just part of sales and part of life. It doesn’t always go our way and as soon you accept that, the better off you will be in sales! No one ever likes rejection, and no one ever likes being told no. I assure you, every great salesmen or entrepreneur has been told no several times more than they have been told yes. But it’s just part of the game. Here are 3 valuable pieces of advice on sales.

1. Plan

Planning is crucial. Whether it’s a cold call or a cold email, you must plan out your pitch. Write out a bunch of different potential emails or scripts. You will need to hear a lot of “no’s” in order to figure out what gets people to say “yes”. Once you’ve planned 3–4 different emails or scripts, try them in sets of 20. Send 20 emails using one script and then 20 emails using a different script. Same goes for cold calls and subjects.

Also, in the planning phase, you must know your audience. Do they care about how the product will help improve their life or do they care more about the price? These are important questions to know prior to contacting your lead so you know what to say to get them closer to the “buy.”

2. Review / Iterate

Once you send out the emails or make the calls in batches of 20, analyze all the info you have gathered. How many sales did you close? How many did you lose? Where did you lose them at? What was the reason you lost the sale? Was it just a bad time? Were you speaking with the right person? Analyze all the data you have to figure out what worked and what didn’t.

Once you establish this, recreate your template emails / script and give it another try. See if you have more success. You should be improving each week. A general goal I try to follow is to close more sales each week and each month.

Here’s an example. I recommend a very warm non-intrusive email such as:

(Persons first name) — my name is Dan and I’m the COO of Diamond. My company has developed an innovative athletic cup that takes an athlete’s nuts completely out of the equation.

I figured this might be of interest to you given the products you sell in your shop.

I’d love to get your feedback even if you’re not in the market right now. Do you have 10 minutes this week? If so, please let me know your availability.

I look forward to hearing back.

Best,

Dan G

Being as non-intrusive as possible is important. I try to gain data each with sales pitch I make. If I get a “yes” I can figure out what worked and what made that call / email successful. If I get a “no” I usually will ask the lead why they are not interested and their feedback will generally help me improve over time.

3. “As if your life depended on it”

Growing up my mom would always tell me that I should be studying hard almost as if my life depended on it. I know that may seem extreme, but to be honest, it has really helped me grow as an entrepreneur and as a sales person. I try to have this mindset when selling. If making the sale or not making the sale would impact me living or dying, well then you can bet I’m going to figure out how to close the sale.

Just remember, getting told “no” is bound to happen. As I mentioned initially, it’s just part of the game. And generally people are nice and won’t crush you as they tell you that they are not interested. Don’t take anything to heart in sales. Some people are just A$@%%^S. But forget those people and go close some sales. Have fun! And remember sales is just one big puzzle. Now go solve it!