Tag: sales

This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

How do I prepare myself mentally and emotionally before a sales call? I notice that immediately before I get into a call, I get nervous. There’s a fear, doubt, or worry that comes into play. I have no idea what the person will say.

Also, I don’t want to be attached to the outcome. I give them service, I listen to what they say, and I don’t have any expectation of them saying “yes.” In fact, I assume they’ll say no, or that they’ll think about it. And that’s the result I get, because I'm afraid of getting attached.

I know we’re not supposed to be attached to the outcome, and we’re supposed to “command the result.” How do you NOT attach to the sale? How should I go into a sales call to prepare?

It’s a simple little switch. You think to yourself, “I don’t need this—I want this.”

Needing something will get you attached. Need comes from fear and scarcity.

Tell yourself, “I don’t need the sale. I want the sale.”

Note: A want or a wish is different from desire. It’s okay to want things. It’s okay to desire something, as long as you’re not coming from fear. Everything depends on why you want something.

In order to mentally and emotionally prepare for sales calls, you can do things to put yourself in a good energetic state.

Do something to get out of your head, be in the moment, and to release all those feelings of doubt or fear.

Listen to music. Dance, or do something physical.

If you want to review any information the client submitted beforehand, or go through the questions you’ll ask them, you can do that too. You want to keep everything simple and not make it too complicated.

Getting ready from an “information” standpoint is one thing, but getting emotionally ready is something else.

I used to use music all the time. When I did sales calls, I would crank it up. Before a call, I would take three deep breaths, and get centered.

Remind yourself that you’re a professional, and you’re about to help someone change their life. Just center yourself, and use the music to get into a good space.

Do this over and over again with every call.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

In a recent sales call, I quoted my price for coaching. The woman (who is a therapist) said, “That’s a little more than what I thought it would be.”

I asked her what she was comparing it to. She said she wasn’t sure, because she hasn’t ever looked into hiring a coach before. How do I handle her objection?

The question I would ask her is, “What did you think the price would be?”

If she says she has no idea—and she’s also saying the price is higher than what she thought it would be—those two statements are completely incongruent.

When someone is concerned about the price, it’s because they’re comparing it to something.

When someone says anything related to the price—e.g., “I’ve never spent that much money before,” or “That’s too expensive,” or, ”I don’t know if I could afford that,” you’re witnessing—in real time—someone making a psychological comparison to something else in their mind.

And they don’t even realize they’re doing it.

This is how the brain works. If the subconscious mind doesn’t have experience purchasing something for that amount, it compares it to, “Well, what else have I done in the past? What else is familiar to me within this pattern?”

It engages a pre-set pattern. But generally, the pattern has nothing to do with the output. It's just trying to keep the person safe.

If she tells you what she thought the price would be—that’s where she’s doing the comparing.

Most people who haven’t worked with a coach before are comparing the coaching to counseling or therapy.

Here’s what to do…

The idea is to get her focused on the result, the value of that result, and how important it is to her.

It’s never about the money. It’s about how much the person values the result.

I’d say to her, “Listen, if you absolutely knew you’d get the result…would the result be worth what I’m asking you to pay?”

If she says yes, you say… “Then it’s not about the money. It’s about… are you willing to commit to doing the work, to get the result?”

How do you guarantee that a person will get the result? Do you have to make a guarantee? It depends on what you do.

When a person hires me for coaching, I guarantee they’ll get the result if they do the work. I tell them, “If you do the work—if you do exactly what I tell you to do—I guarantee you’ll get the result.”

That’s the only way I can guarantee it. Otherwise, I have no guarantee.

If I’m selling you a toaster, I guarantee it’ll work if you plug it in. If you don’t plug it in, I can’t guarantee anything.

It’s about being responsible TO the client, not FOR them.

You can guarantee how you’ll be responsible to them. But whatever work they have to do on their end, you can’t guarantee that… because they’re the ones who have to do it.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

I’m going through a major sales slump. Normally I sell 25% of the time—or 50% if it’s a high-quality lead. I’ve had 20 leads and not one sale. These people seem price-conscious, saying, “I’ve never spent that much money before.” So, the leads may not be as high quality. Higher-net-worth individuals seem more likely to sign up with me than middle class or those with a job.

How do I determine if this is a problem with my leads, my mindset, or something  else? I’m starting to feel anxious.

First of all, never let an outside circumstance affect you emotionally. Otherwise, it starts controlling you.

Secondly, you shouldn’t ever have slow periods. You have to think resourcefully every time you have a problem.

Based on your knowledge and expertise, ask yourself, “Is there an issue with these 20 leads?” Be honest with yourself about the answer.

The longer you’re in business, the more you understand the quality of different things you have to put in place to generate leads.

If there’s a problem with the leads—figure out why you have that problem, and fix it so it doesn’t happen again. Do you need to hire a new digital marketing company or copywriter?

Make sure you understand what qualifies someone to be a high-quality lead or not.

If there’s no difference in the leads and you’re not making any sales—then something got in your head.

Regarding “price-conscious” leads…nobody’s price conscious.

It’s all about urgency and what they value.

Nobody cares about price. If that’s what they’re communicating to you, it’s because they don’t know how to communicate anything else.

If you keep hearing price objections, understand that that’s your belief. That’s the meaning you’re giving to it.

Higher net-worth individuals understand what they value in life, and they’re willing to pay for more value.

People who are price conscious don’t value the right things in life. They value the fear of making a mistake, insecurity, lack of faith, or what other people think about them.

On a sales call, you have to get the person to see the actual value of working with you or purchasing from you. You have to be really clear on what that value is, and how it will affect their life.

Figure out, what do they want? What’s their desire or need that’s close to their heart? Not the surface answer, but the real need. Stay with that question until you find out what they emotionally want.

Then ask, “What happens if you don’t buy this?” No matter what it is, there’s a consequence if they don’t buy. The size of that consequence will determine the urgency of the purchase.

If the urgency is there, the value is there.

When someone says they don’t have enough money, time, or they have to check with their spouse—it’s because you didn’t find the right urgency in your questioning.

Dig to find the urgency. Don’t move from one question to another in the sales conversation until you’re damn certain they’re giving you an honest answer.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

I’ve been going through a cycle of ups and downs in my cash flow. One minute my cash flow is high… the next, it’s low again.

I see so many great opportunities around me, and I’m cultivating relationships. But my income keeps fluctuating. How do I deal with this constant up-and-down pattern?

Since you’re a parent, let me ask you a question. If every day you had this experience with your child—one day you were able to feed your child, but the next day you weren’t—what would you change?

If you weren’t able to provide food for your child one day, what would have to change?

Obviously, you’d have to find a way to feed him every single day. That would become your priority.

That’s what you have to do with your sales and your business—

You have to make it a priority.

The only reason it’s up and down is because either you, or somebody else in your business, is not making sales a priority every day.

You must make sales a priority every single day. Once that happens, the flow of income will become more regular and consistent.

Focus on the fact that you’re building your knowledge with sales every single day. And by doing so, you’ll improve your income.

It’s so important. The way I think about it is… I want to be making sales even when I’m asleep.

That means I have to set up the systems within the business to make sure that’s happening.

If sales aren’t happening consistently, then something’s wrong.

Years ago, Dan Kennedy said, “You have to have the attitude of making a sale every day, depending on what you do. Maybe you have to make a lot more than one a day.”

But in order to make a sale every day, you have to put something out every day at the head of your funnel, to generate that sale. Whether that’s advertising, marketing, reaching out, or asking for referrals—you have to take an action every day, based on cause and effect, to bring that sale in over whatever your sales cycle period is.

That should be your attitude in business. It makes so much sense, but for some reason, many people don’t think this way.

Focus on making sales. Ask yourself: “What can I do today? What can I do tomorrow? Or the next day? Every single day, what can generate a sale for me?”

That’s how you make it a priority.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

My question is that I’m still not making any money in my business. I’ve fixed my messaging, and upped my branding. People in my industry are starting to notice me. But I don’t know where to get the leads.

I have 250 people on my email list. It’s very disengaged, even though I email frequently. I’ve reached out to every person via direct email. I asked them, “Are you looking to find THIS, or are you looking to do THAT?” I don’t know what the open rate was, because I emailed them individually.

No one is responding. And no one responded to my survey. That’s where I feel stuck. What would you recommend?

My CEO, Steph Tuss, is the master of this!

She recommends the following tips for re-engaging your email list:

1. Rather than sending these emails personally, send them through your CRM, so you can track open rates
2. Resend an email, but don’t send a “this or that” email. They’re all on your list because they’re looking for something specific. Deliver VALUE before asking them do to anything in return.
3. Fulfill the promise of why they’re on your list to begin with—what are they looking for?
4. Send out a 9-word email to your list. It doesn’t necessarily have to be nine words, but it’s very simple. It should be a one sentence question. You could send something like, “Are you still interested in [whatever your main thing is]?” And that’s it. Sign off with just your name (no fancy headshot, phone number, email, or anything). They’ll either respond with “yes,” “no,” or they won’t respond at all. If they don’t respond at all, then you can assume the topic of your question is no longer something they are interested in.
5. Use a good subject line. For a 9-word email, an example subject line is, “Question for you…”
6. The next time you do a survey to your list, give them an incentive for answering the survey (because no one fills out a survey without experiencing “what’s in it for them”).

Anyone with a service-based business can send out this type of an email, including attorneys, coaches, or other businesses.

The email should not be about you at all. It shouldn’t be what you’re offering. It shouldn’t be anything about you.

It should be one single question:
“Are you still interested in… X?”

That should be the reason that they’re on your list, and following you, to begin with.

At my company, we sometimes send out an email saying, “Are you still interested in growing your business?” Period. (You might have gotten an email like that from us before.)

When they respond, this puts you into a conversation back and forth with the people who are still interested and ready for help.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

Can you help me understand where in the sales conversation I should be addressing pricing? Should I interject it right at the beginning of the call, or wait until they say yes to my service?

When they say yes to your service.

Think about this: What’s the purpose of the price?

You have to be very careful when it comes to price in the mind of the client. You don’t want the sale to be based on price. You want it to be based on the client’s need, desire, and urgency. That’s where you want the person to make the decision from.

You should know who your ideal client is so well, that you’re targeting people where price won’t be a psychological issue for them.

There are basically two kinds of people in the world:

1. People trained from a young age to buy within certain price ranges
2. People who aren’t

Now, I sell things that cost a lot of money, so I’m looking for people who feel that it’s normal to pay a certain amount of money for a service. If I go after people where their idea of “personal help” is to pay about $148, there’d be no way that I could charge for what I do.

So I take that into consideration.

Are these people trained to buy at certain price levels? Is it normal for them to buy at the price range I suggest?

If so, then it’s not an issue of whether or not they think the cost is too much.

The issue is, where can they come up with the money? That’s a natural progression into them paying.

If somebody comes right out and says, “Hey, how much does this cost?” I’ll tell them.

I won’t avoid the question.

But then I’ll talk about what’s important for them, because they’re not buying based on price. They should be buying based on necessity, urgency, and desire of what you have that they want.

I would totally have an open conversation around price with someone. If they say, “Okay listen, I just want to know the price,” I’d say, “Why do you want to know the price? Does it matter what the price is if you have this issue and it needs to be fixed?”

If it does matter, then the issue isn’t the most important thing in their life. How much money they have or don’t have is the most important thing in their life, and they’ll always be limited by that evaluation in their mind.

The sales conversation needs to be about their problem and their desire to change it.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This October, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

I keep getting objections during my sales calls. One person was ready to pay me through Venmo. Then she said, “I need to sleep on this.” Another person wanted to buy, but she was considering going with someone else’s program because of the payment timeline. She needed more time to pay my fee.

Am I doing something unconsciously that’s not attracting the people who want to hire me?

No—you just don’t know how to answer the questions that are coming up. Those are all legitimate questions. We get that kind of stuff every day in my company.

If someone wants to do your program but they say, “I need to sleep on this,” here’s how you respond.

Say, “You know what? I totally understand that. And if you want to sleep on it, you must have some unanswered questions. What are those questions? Let’s talk about those now.”

You need to do determine whether it’s BS, or if she just doesn’t have the guts to say no. Probably 80% of the time, the person doesn’t want to say no. It’s very difficult for people to tell someone no. They’re too concerned about what you’ll think.

If it’s legitimate, she’ll tell you what the questions are. Once you understand what the problem is, you can help her work through it.

Let’s say you’re going back and forth, and she keeps coming up with another excuse.

I’d say, “Listen, hang on a second. If you don’t want to do this, please know that you can just tell me no. I’m not going to hold it against you. I’m not going to pressure you. Just say no if you don’t want to do it. But it sounds like you’re making excuses.”

If the person’s a no, you don’t want them in. If you have to drag them in, you’ll have to drag them around. You don’t want that.

Give them permission to say no,
then move on to somebody who wants to say yes.

It feels extremely clean when you do it that way.

If someone wants your program, but they’re trying to decide between yours and someone else’s—ask them, “If everything was the same (pricing and payment timelines), which one would you want to do the most? Which one speaks to your heart the most?”

If she wants your program, help her work it out. Say, “If you really want to work with me, there must be a way to overcome this problem to do it. Let’s not let money or the timeframe stand in the way. How can we solve this problem? How can we work on finding that much money? Where can you get it? What can you do to get that money? If you really desire to do this, that money has to be there.”

The question comes down whether they want it bad enough. How can they earn the money to pay for it?

Then you’re solving the real problem. If it’s not a real problem, you flush the BS right to the surface. Then you can let that person go.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Summit! This month, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

I’ve noticed when I’m having sales conversations—when I get to the part where we talk about money—I hesitate. This happens if I perceive that the other person has limitation of what they think they can pay. That’s where I personally have struggled (around money).

When we get to that part of the conversation, I feel a strong urge to offer them less, charge less, or work with them anyway. My unease seems to have two parts—one part is them (and the story they’re telling me). The other part is me (and me buying into their story and believing it). This also happens when I’m working with a client, and midway through, they tell me they can’t afford to continue. How can I work through this piece within myself?

When you’re interacting with someone on a sales call or even during a coaching call, you have to completely stay out of their story, even if it’s very similar to yours.

You can’t go in their story at all.

You have to refuse to do so.

You need to stay out of it, even if the money issue isn’t a hundred percent cleared up in your own life.

The way you do this is through the idea of obedience. Whatever you’re being “obedient” to becomes the truth in that moment.

Are you being obedient to their story?

Are you being obedient to the truth of abundance?—and that everyone on the planet has the same amount of money, even if they’re not aware of it?

If the person is saying, “I can’t afford this; I don’t have the money,” that’s a secondary issue. It’s not the real problem. The problem is they’re not acknowledging their desire and their deserve-ability so that they have the urgency to actually do it.

Money just becomes the excuse.

If we focus on the excuse, we don’t solve the problem.

What that conveniently does is—it walks both of you into that story and neither one of you makes any progress.

If the client has a desire and urgency to work with you—but not the money—you can work with them on coming up with the payment.

We have people who come to us with the idea of non-payment frequently and Steph or Sarah will work with that individual on, “Okay, so what will you commit to do? How can you bring this money in? What’s going on? What’s causing you to not be able to make the payment?” We’ll try to coach them through whatever problem they’re having, so they can pay it.

If they actually do that work, we’ll continue to work with them.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Virtual Summit! In April 2022, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

Hi David,

During my sales calls, I’ve noticed that if I don’t expect anything from the prospect—if I show up relaxed, with no agenda—the customer often says, “Yes,” and I make the sale. If I’m not attached to any specific outcome, the conversation flows much easier.

However, if I expect the sale to happen, there’s usually no sale. Then I start to feel anxious about that. This has been happening a lot recently. What can I do to stop blocking the sale? How do I stay unattached to the outcome?

I would just focus on how you can help the other person.

When you’re blocking the sale, you’re thinking about you. You’re thinking about whether or not you’re doing it right, and whether or not you’re going to make the sale. You’re being self-conscious, or self-focused—which means you’re not present and not fully listening to the other person.

When I get on the phone with someone, I’m not thinking about me making the sale. My only concern is whether or not I can help this person. If I can help them, there’s going to be a sale.

The purpose of a sales conversation is to
figure out whether you can help someone.

That’s it.

It's not to push anything onto the other person.

You’re asking them questions about their situation, you’re listening, and you’re helping them connect the dots as to how your offering can help them (if it truly can).

Either you can help the person, or you can’t. If you can’t, you can simply say, “I don’t think it’s a right fit”—or refer them to someone who might be a better fit. No big deal.

If you come from a place of honestly trying to help someone, sales calls are not difficult at all. But you have to stop focusing on yourself and put the focus entirely on helping the other person.

I have a GREAT free blueprint on the exact questions you need to ask in any sales conversation. If you’d like a copy, find me on Instagram (@david_p_neagle) and simply DM me “BLUEPRINT”. I’ll pop it right over to you!

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Virtual Summit! This October 2021, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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This week's question from my portal “The Neagle Code: Directions for Life” comes from Anne.

Hi David,

I committed to doing a certain number of client sessions and sales conversations each day in my business. My issue is, the people whom I’m making appointments with keep canceling at the last minute. This has happened four times. Even someone I’ve worked with for three years cancelled at the last minute—and that’s not her MO at all.

I feel like I’m not keeping my commitments, and I’m sitting with the feelings of disappointment, sadness, being disrespected, and underneath that—betrayal. Is the universe reflecting something back to me? Am I playing a role in causing this? What do I do?

Okay, so you’re misunderstanding something. When it comes to commitments, you only want to make a commitment on things you have 100% control over.

When you’re making sales calls, committing to conversations, etc., you can only control so much of that. You can’t control what the other person does, or doesn’t do. 

If this is a major issue where people are continually not keeping the appointment—now you have to go back and reevaluate—who are you marketing to? How are you getting those people in the door? Because that might need to be changed.

You’re doing a great job with your commitments. It’s not that you’re NOT meeting them.

Recognize where an adjustment needs to happen, so that you’re bringing in the right people who will keep the commitment.

As far as reflecting on your own feeling of betrayal—just go back to gratitude and awareness. Don’t take it personally. Don’t ever take anyone’s behavior personally.  If anything, they’re betraying themselves. They’re not keeping their own commitment. That should change things real quick.

Let’s say a person doesn’t keep the commitment. And then maybe a couple days later, another person doesn’t keep the commitment. All of a sudden you start focusing on that and start manifesting more of it.

Well, it wasn’t really a “pattern” before. You’re just over-focusing on it. That’s where you have to double down on using your vocabulary and words in the direction you want to go in.

Instead of repeating in your mind, “People aren’t keeping their commitments”— start telling yourself, “People ARE keeping their commitments on a regular basis, and I’m talking to people every day”… or whatever it is that you need to say to yourself.

P.S. Whenever you're ready… here are 3 ways I can help you grow YOUR business:

• Listen to The Successful Mind Podcast. Three times per week I drop cutting edge information and strategies relating to success mindset, leadership, wealth creation, and relationships.
• Join other like-minded small business owners in my Transformation Facebook Group! Allow us to be a place to share ideas, get advice, and meet others who value truth and growth!
• Join me at The Art of Success Virtual Summit! This October 2021, I'm getting a group of amazing business owners together for 3 days to work on exponentially growing their business.

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