Better Relationships, Communication, Rapport & Loyalty = Better Sales – with Frank Somma

Resources

• Join The Sales Revolution: If you’re ready to do sales differently, you’re in the right place. This community is for entrepreneurs and sales pros to connect, grow, + learn the new (and highly improved) connection-based way of selling. Get ready to toss out all that you’ve been taught about sales up to this point. It’s time for a revolution.

• Frank’s Website – https://www.franksomma.com

3 Value Bombs

1. People have this false notion that you have to be born with a natural sales gene. But the truth is you have to develop it.
2. The great listeners, the great questioners are the ones who will become wildly successful.
3. Don’t spend your time focused on the scoreboard when you should be looking at the next pitch. Don’t fixate on “the close”. That’s the fastest way to lose sales.

Sponsors

VIRTUAL SALES TRAINING PROGRAM & PLATFORM: Our virtual training has helped thousands of people and companies turn-around sluggish sales. The mobile-enabled, innovative, flexible training is rooted in human behavioral psychology and provides easy-to-consume, on-demand training for sustainable results.

SALES STRUCTURE PARTNERSHIP: Accelerate your growth with a customized partnership! This partnership includes onsite coaching and role playing for skill reinforcement, 1:1 work with Jeremy Miner on your specific product or vertical scripting (aligned to the new model of selling) and coaching support and alignment for your sales managers and/or sales coaches.

Show Notes

**Click the timestamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: Better Relationships, Communication, Rapport & Loyalty = Better Sales – with Frank Somma

4:00 I want to dive right into your story and your background and give our listeners a feel for how you arrived at this point where you are one of the elite authorities on social selling and influence. Please tell us a little bit more about your background and how this all started for you. How did you learn all these skills?

• People have this false notion that you have to be born with a natural sales gene. But the truth is you have to develop it.
• You can do anything anyone else has done if they tell you how they did it an you are willing to put in the work.
• Frank become a elite sales person very quickly because he sought out the #1 sales person to learn and said “tell me what to do from 8am to 8pm and I will do it. Make me the best.” And his mentor laid out for him what seemed like impossible things at the time to do, yet they worked like a charm.

6:43  Can you tell us which factors contribute most to having success in sales?

• “Are you lazy, or do you simply lack talent?”
• The only 2 reasons you fail to reach your goals in sales is because you didn’t work hard enough or you lack some knowledge.
• Pat Summitt: “Here’s how I’m going to beat you: I’m going to outwork you.That’s it. It’s that simple.”
• Hard work is necessary, but you also need the right skills to become elite

9:01  Tell us a little bit more about how your NLP training has influenced you and what that's meant to your career?

• NLP breaks down the nuances of communication from start to finish.
• The result of your communication is its meaning. 
• Personal Responsibility must be your driving force.
• Up Time – practiced ability to listen extraordinarily well.
• The great listeners, the great questioners are the ones who will become wildly successful.

15:24  Why did you write your book? B2B Is Really P2P: How To Win With High Touch In A High Tech World?  

• Many sales people are relying too much on technology. We have forgotten that people do business with people they like.
• How can you become someone who is well-liked, well-trusted and reliable.
• How to build your “likeability quotient”. 
• People do business with people they like and trust. Biggest impact on their decision “Please mitigate my risk.” Do they trust that you can mitigate their risk?

17:44 Given how much sales training there is in the marketplace, why do so many salespeople fail?

• Too often those at the bottom think those at the top have advantages: bigger customer base, more time in the business, better leads, etc. But it’s none of that. 
• It really boils down to desire and belief; you’ve got to be able to work and learn.
• “Hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard.”
• You’ve got to believe that what you are bringing is better than the next person.
• You’ve got to believe when you pick up that phone that the prospect needs what you are calling about.
• You’ve got to believe when you knock on that door that this is going to be your next prospect.

20:21  Let's talk about soft skills and what that means in selling?

• Sales today is about building relationships. It’s not a contest that you have to win.
• Great sales is about building great relationships; understanding what matters to the other person.
• Don’t play for tomorrow; play for long-term.
• Soft skills: listening, how to build relationships, paying attention to small details about your prospect. Mastering soft skills is how you can separate yourself from everyone else.

23:20  How can sales professionals today take advantage of technology to maximize sales?  Why is it vital for them to be able to use this technology? 

• You must be working in a CRM these days.
• Social media plays a significant role.
• LinkedIn is extremely helpful for sales professionals and business owners.

25:33 What’s one of the most important questions a salesperson should ask their prospect in the sales process?  And why?

• Why do you have me in today? This will help you take a temperature on your prospects intent. 
• Asking them why you’re together and what they are expecting to accomplish is essential. 

28:08   What are some of the ways salespeople can actually overcome their limitations and what should they do differently to enhance their sales growth?

• Limitations are self-perceived and you’ve gotta do a lot of inside work.
• Jim Rohn: “You gotta work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”
• Begin every day by writing down your intention for the day.
• Then write down something you are grateful for.
• You need to do it every single morning because it sets your head. Sales is a mental game.
• Do not begin your day with email, on someone else’s agenda. Begin your day on your own agenda!
• Do the “big rocks” first – aka the hard stuff.
• You can’t compare anyone else’s outsides to your insides.
• Build confidence by making and keeping small promises to yourself.

33:34 You talk a lot about personal engagement and how that can impact overall sales performance, can you tell us more about that?

• Sincerity is key to your success.
• Engage your prospect. Deeply understand them. If you can’t help them, admit that.
• Detach yourself from the outcome of the sale and focus on whether or not there is even a sale to be made in the first place.
• Don’t have “commission breath”.
• Don’t spend your time focused on the scoreboard when you should be looking at the next pitch. Don’t fixate on “the close”.
• In a 1 hour period, 50 minutes should be around the prospect.

39:02  I can’t thank you enough for joining us here today. Do you have any final advice for our listeners? 

• Don’t be intimated. Sales is the greatest way in the world to make a living. Be proud of it. Engage in it. Read the books. Listen to podcasts. Be a professional student of the game.
• The ones who excel in sales, treat it like a profession. 
• The best salespeople are the highest paid people in the world.

40:08 Where can our listeners learn more about you and your company so they can start learning these skills?

Frank’s Website – https://www.franksomma.com

Killer Resources

1. The New Model Of Selling: Learn from Jeremy Miner The Only Friction-Free, Persuasion Sales System Guaranteed To Increase Revenue.
2. Join The Sales Revolution: If you’re ready to do sales differently, you’re in the right place. This community is for entrepreneurs and sales pros to connect, grow, + learn the new (and highly improved) connection-based way of selling. Get ready to toss out all that you’ve been taught about sales up to this point. It’s time for a revolution.