Sales Influence Podcast

15 Step Contractor Sales Process

Designed specifically for contractors and businesses that serve residential customers, such as those in roofing, landscaping, or pool installation. Start with qualifying potential clients and setting appointments. The process continues with on-site preparations, initial greetings, and thorough questioning to understand the client's needs. Victor outlines a multi-stage walkthrough and debriefing proc...

Customer Profiling Essentials

🎯 A customer profile comprises key characteristics including demographics, psychographics, firmographics, and behavioral graphics, enabling businesses to target ideal customers effectively.

👥 Demographics (age, gender, location) and psychographics (religion, politics, mental disposition) provide crucial insights into individual consumer traits.

B2B Sales Strategies

🏢 For B2B sales,...

Overcoming Negative Programming

🧠 Negative self-programming, like "don't talk to strangers," can hinder sales performance by inducing fear and nervousness during interactions, impeding relationship-building.

🔄 To counter negative programming, delete limiting beliefs and replace them with positive alternatives, such as changing "don't talk to strangers" to "talk to strangers," fostering new opportunities and experiences.

Time Investment in Sales Qualification

🕒 Qualifying a lead can consume up to 5 hours of time without guaranteeing a sale, emphasizing the critical need for efficient lead qualification in the sales process.

🗓️ The initial conversation and appointment scheduling alone can take 45 minutes, while subsequent steps like on-site walkthroughs, proposal development, and reviews can add up to 300 minutes in total.

Strategic Q...

Sales Process Optimization

🔍 Sales funnels, pipelines, and processes are interconnected tools that help teams visualize, track, and optimize the customer journey from awareness to conversion.

📊 Analyzing key metrics like conversion rates, drop-off rates, and average deal size enables sales teams to make data-driven decisions and improve overall performance.

Customer Journey Management

🚀 The awareness stage is c...

The source contrasts an "employee mindset" with an "ownership mindset" through an illustrative anecdote about a restaurant visit. An employee mindset, exemplified by a server adhering strictly to rules even if it means losing business, focuses on doing the minimum and following policies without considering broader implications. Conversely, an ownership mindset, which the speaker advocates for, involves taking initiative, seeking so...

Balancing Value and Business Sustainability

1. 🚫 Giving away excessive value without proper boundaries can lead to financial loss and burnout, highlighting the importance of setting clear expectations with clients.
   
   
2. 📊 Measuring results and tracking impact of free services (e.g., web hosting, design) is crucial to ensure the investment is worthwhile and to identify areas for optimization.

Mindset and Strategy<...

Emotional Connection

🔗 Deep storytelling connects customers emotionally by exploring subtleties and complexities of familiar narratives, helping them relate to their own pain points.

🎭 Personal experiences of overcoming obstacles in sales stories create emotional resonance and demonstrate how to tackle customer challenges.

Vulnerability and Authenticity

🔍 Exposing blemishes and sharing stories of overcoming mis...

Reducing Fear

🔹 Reducing fear to a comfortable level is more effective than overcoming it, as it allows individuals to step right over fear without struggle or effort.

🔹 Breaking down complex tasks into smaller, manageable chunks or "baby steps" can significantly reduce fear and make tasks more achievable.

Practical Approaches

🔹 Reducing the number of required tasks (e.g., one call a day instead of 50) can make...

Mindset Shift for Sales Success

🔑 Losing clients is always the salesperson's fault, not the competitor's, as clients are lost due to inadequate service, not because they are "stolen".

Characteristics of Successful Salespeople

💡 Top-performing salespeople who exceed quotas consistently exhibit a continuous learning mindset, always seeking to improve despite their success.

🏆 Salespeople "killing their numbers" ar...

Time Management Strategies

🕒 Automate, eliminate, simplify, and amplify tasks and processes to improve time management and task efficiency.

💻 Utilize software and technology to automate repetitive tasks, potentially saving 30 seconds per call, which can accumulate to significant time savings over 100 calls per day and 22 days per month.

Productivity Enhancement

🚫 Eliminate non-essential tasks and habits like ch...

Skill Accumulation Strategy

1. 🎯 Focus on mastering four high-leverage activities: cold calling, presentations/demos, influence/persuasion, and time management, aiming to be in the top 25% of each rather than the absolute best.
   
   
2. 💡 The aggregate of multiple skills is key to becoming a top salesperson, approximating excellence in several areas instead of striving for perfection in one.

Mindset Shift

1. �...

Core Concept

1. 🧠 Habit stacking involves layering new habits onto existing ones, making it easier to create and maintain new behaviors by leveraging established routines.

Implementation

1. 🌅 Applying habit stacking to create a morning routine can effectively set the tone for the entire day, enhancing overall productivity and goal achievement.
   
   
2. 📊 The technique can be applied to various life areas, inc...

Collaborative Selling

🤝 Collaborative dialogue with customers involves sharing ideas, finding common ground, and reaching agreements, focusing on how the product will be used and creating habits for adoption.

🎭 Improvisation in sales requires anticipating and adapting to unforeseen situations and customer needs, emphasizing open communication to ensure customer satisfaction.

Sales Strategies

🤼 Collaborative sel...

Marginal Gains Philosophy

🔍 The "aggregation of marginal gains" philosophy, popularized by Dave Brailsford, focuses on achieving 1% improvements in multiple areas to yield significant overall results.

🚴 British Cycling Team applied this concept to various aspects like bike design, clothing, and hygiene, leading to multiple gold medals and Tour de France victories.

Application to Business

💼 In sales, applying ma...

Rapid Response Impact

1. 🚀 Responding within 1 minute to sales inquiries increases deal closure chances by 391% (Lead Response Management study) or 114% (Velocity study) compared to no response.
2. ⏳ Delaying response by 24 hours drastically reduces deal closure chances to 17% (Lead Response Management study) or 3% (Velocity study) compared to no response.

Voicemail Strategy<...

Victor Antonio introduces the concept of the Minimum Value Prospect (MVP), which represents the lowest financial threshold a potential customer must meet for a business to consider them viable. Using examples from kitchen remodeling and pool companies, the host explains how setting an MVP early in the sales process saves businesses money by quickly qualifying leads and avoiding those who cannot afford their services. The discussion...

Sales Systems and Processes

🎯 Implementing a predictable prospecting system with specific daily call quotas, structured scripts, and follow-up procedures is essential for sales success and overcoming the disappointment dip.

📊 Over 70% of sales come from referrals, yet less than 20% of sales professionals ask for them, highlighting the need for a systematic referral process.

Overcoming Sales Challenges

😔 The "di...