July 22, 2025 • 26 mins
Ever wonder why your meeting requests keep getting ignored? In this eye-opening episode, I pull back the curtain on what really happens when you pitch a potential buyer and why most approaches fail miserably. Drawing on my experience of receiving 10-12 pitches daily, I break down the psychology behind why the same boring templates and self-centered approaches get immediately dismissed.
The truth is startling but simple: nobody cares that you're trying to hit your quota. Decision-makers calculate their time's worth in hundreds of dollars per hour and are naturally skeptical after past disappointments. When you ask for a "quick 15-minute call," they're mentally translating that to 30+ minutes and asking, "Is this worth $200+ of my time?" Without establishing credibility and differentiating yourself first, the answer is almost always no.
I share practical strategies for standing out from the crowd by flipping the traditional approach. Instead of asking for time upfront, start by depositing value—share insights, provide unexpected help, or demonstrate you've done your homework. Connect every meeting request to a specific, better outcome for the buyer. Ask questions that make them stop and think, disrupting their automatic filters. Most importantly, meet them on their terms, not yours.
The modern sales landscape demands a consultant mindset rather than product-pushing. Focus entirely on the buyer's future state and how your solution creates meaningful improvement from their current situation. This investment-first approach not only increases your chances of securing meetings but builds the trust foundation necessary for successful, long-term relationships.
Ready to transform your approach? DM me on LinkedIn or email mike@survivingoutsidesales.com for a free 30-minute consultation where we can discuss specific strategies tailored to your situation.
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Connect with Mike:
Website: Mike O'Kelly
Mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
LinkedIn: Mike O'Kelly | LinkedIn
Click to join: Surviving Outside Sales Page on LinkedIn
______________________________________________________________________
If you are in outside sales and have had any of the following:
- New to Outside Sales
- New to an industry, new product, new territory - any type of change
- Experienced, but have lacked training and business development
- Seasoned but feel like you have hit your ceiling and need a reboot
If any of those descriptions sound like you or someone you know,
If you want to have a conversation about:
- Scheduling a strategy call for your next move
- Help building your business or territory
Reach out to me:
Schedule a FREE consultation
or https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-o-kelly-44ba352b/
mike@survivingoutsidesales.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Surviving Outside Sales podcast, hosted by Mike
O'Kelley, presented by SalesBuilder Academy.
The goal is to survive andthrive all phases of outside
sales, whether you're getting in, dominating or getting out.
Surviving Outside Sales now onwith the show.
Welcome to the SurvivingOutside Sales Podcast.
(00:33):
I'm your host, mike O'Kelley.
Today's topic is going to be thedo's and don'ts of getting the
meeting with the buyer.
Now I get pitched probably 10to 12 times per day on average
and I see the good, the bad andthe ugly and very rarely does
anything rise above the level towhere I want to actually meet
(00:53):
with that person or isintriguing.
It really is sad that I cantell the the pitch verse I like
to call it.
The pitch verse is usingtemplates, or perhaps
everybody's using the same chatGPT to try to craft emails and
(01:13):
book meetings and they say, well, it's all about volume and all
that stuff.
And I get it.
It is about volume.
You have to meet enough people,you have to talk to enough
people in order for the law ofaverages to wait out.
You could be over 10 withtrying to book a meeting and if
you give up then you'll neverfulfill what you were trying to
achieve.
But you could go three for yournext three, for your next three
(01:35):
, and you're now three for 13.
And now the law of averagesstarts to balance out, and
that's what it is, and that'sthe whole theory.
Quote unquote behind volume.
But it's not volume for volumesake.
I have.
I can pull up emails, I canpull up DMS from LinkedIn.
I can pull up a text messagesthat I receive because my phone
(01:56):
number is out there If yousearch hard enough and I get.
I get pitched all the time, allthe time, and it's just the
same.
I'm just going to say it it'sthe same boring shit, it's the
same bullshit.
It's a waste of my time to evenlook at it.
And so what happens is in yourbuyer's mind.
You could have the best productin the service and service in
(02:16):
the world.
You could be a great person,you could really be trying to
change people's lives, butyou're going to be lumped in to
everybody else if you sound likeeveryone else and some of them,
some of them are just lazy, andthe example that I give is just
, quite frankly, this is myproduct.
(02:36):
This is what we can do.
I would love to set up ameeting and discuss how we can
do this for you.
Now, on the surface, it soundslike, yeah, it's, there's
nothing wrong with that.
But you have to understand thepsychology of the buyer.
You have to understand thatthey are uh, your buyer is
(02:59):
getting pitched hundreds oftimes per month by random
strangers.
So if you're a stranger, thenyou're going to be lumped in
with everybody else.
So you have to do somethingdifferent.
You have to have a differentstrategy.
You have to have a differentapproach.
(03:20):
That is the only way it's goingto happen.
And it's also probably notgoing to happen on one email.
It's not going to happen on onetext message.
It's not going to happen on oneface-to-face call.
It is a series of events.
(03:41):
You have to invest in your buyerin order for them to want to
start to invest in you or investtheir time with you.
And you have to start thinkingof it like that.
You have to strategize that.
It is about investment.
They are investing time, whichis money to them, in order to
(04:03):
listen to you, et cetera.
They don't want coffee.
They can buy their own, okay,unless they know you, they don't
want coffee.
You know there is no such thingas a quick 15 minute call, okay.
There is no such thing in thebuyer's mind.
Think of it this way here's thealgorithm of the buyer.
(04:24):
Okay, you, you, you.
You're trying to be as fair aspossible and I get it.
I've seen both sides of thecoin, being a sales professional
and also being a business owner.
You're trying to get time,you're trying to minimize the
amount of investment, but youhave to understand most of the
(04:45):
meetings in the worldrealistically go over time.
There is no such thing as a 15minute call.
There isn't in the buyer's mind.
They're thinking, okay, 15minutes is probably going to be
30, 35 minutes.
When do I have 30 minutes?
Do I really want to hear 30minutes?
And what happens is they startthinking of their time and
(05:05):
everybody in their mind has avalue to the hour.
How much is my hour worth?
So for some people you knowsome business owners it could be
$500 an hour.
If they're multimillion dollar,they're worth multimillion
dollars.
It could be $500 an hour.
So if you're just taking 15minutes of their time, it's $125
.
But in their mind they'rethinking, okay, this is gonna be
(05:25):
at least 250.
Is this person, is this person,worth my time?
I get emails from people thatdon't even have signatures in
their email, like.
They haven't even gone throughthe time.
They're sending me emailsthrough Gmail.
They work through companies.
They're sending me emailsthrough Gmail.
They haven't even invested intheir business.
(05:46):
What that tells me is eitherthey're really early in what
they're doing or they are justnot investing in themselves,
which means I don't trust it.
And again, the three things youneed in order for somebody to
like you I'm sorry to buy fromyou is they need to know, like
and trust you.
And that third part is reallykey they have to like you.
I'm sorry to buy from you isthey need to know, like and
(06:07):
trust you.
And that third part is reallykey they have to trust you.
So if you don't have an atcompany or an at yourself, like
my emails, come across Mike atsurviving outside sales.
That has a lot more credibilityand I have a signature, an
email signature, that has a lotmore credibility than somebody
that's just, you know,salesgrowthatgmailcom.
(06:30):
If I sent you an email and Isaid, hey, I wanted to work with
you, and it came from Mike atsurvivingoutsidesalescom or it
came from salesgrowthatgmailcom,be honest, which one would you
take seriously or more seriously?
I know your answer.
I've invested in doing that.
(06:54):
So, right off the bat.
It starts off with thecredibility, but you have to
understand the psychology of thebuyer and you have to
understand what your buyer'sdesires are, what their time is
worth.
So you have to really cutthrough the noise and just
(07:17):
sending a here's my product.
This is why it's important.
I'd love for you to, of courseyou'd love to get on a call.
You're a salesperson, I'd loveto sit down with you and of
course, you would.
What's in it for me as thebuyer?
You have to flip it around aone 80 and you have to think
like the buyer.
Why would I meet with Mike?
(07:40):
What value is Mike bringing tothe table?
Am I going to learn somethingnew?
Am I going to possibly investin something that's going to
make me money?
It's going to make my lifeeasier, it's going to simplify
what I'm doing in my business.
And is it clearly defined onhow we get from A to B?
(08:01):
If that does not happen,however, you communicate that it
could be in person, it could beemail, it could be video, it
could be a text message.
Whatever it is just sending amessage and saying, hey, we can
(08:23):
do X, y, z, great, I've heardthat a thousand times.
And also here's another thingyou have to think about Buyers
have been sold before and itdidn't work.
I am very skeptical Well, notvery.
I'm skeptical because I'veinvested close to vary.
(08:48):
I'm skeptical because I'veinvested close to well, well
over $50,000 of my own money inconsultants and people that said
I will get you from A to B.
Some have, some haven't, so I'malways I know what to.
I know what to ask for now andI know what to look for and what
not to look for.
I know what to ask for now andI know what to look for and what
not to look for.
(09:08):
I don't just reach out to thevery first person that reaches
out to me.
I wait, I wait, but that's thefirst thing is you have to
understand your buyer.
You have to understand yourbuyer when you send up your,
when you, when you send out anycommunication or when you're
talking to your buyer.
You cannot focus on yourself.
(09:30):
This is not about you.
Nobody cares that you're tryingto hit your number, nobody
cares.
You've got to do X, y or Z.
Buyers don't care.
Okay, buyers don't care.
Okay, buyers don't care.
They are solely focused ontheir business.
So the do's and don'ts Don'tcome unprepared, do not send out
(09:56):
a message or don't have a quoteunquote, scripted opener that
sounds like a company's talkingpoint.
Don't be generic and boring.
Don't ask for time if youhaven't earned it.
(10:16):
You have to deposit somethingin order to withdraw.
You have to deposit informationor value to your buyer before
you can pull anything out.
So, before you ask for time,try this Give information, give
value, do something unexpectedto help the buyer, cause I'm
(10:43):
telling you, I get hundreds ofpitches a month and I can tell
that a lot of people have neverlooked at my website, they've
never looked at my LinkedIn.
They have.
They know nothing about me.
They just simply got my nameoff of a list and they just
added it in for automation andit's going out to thousands of
(11:06):
people because that's the quoteunquote volume strategy.
So the dues here's the dues.
Here's what you should be doing.
Grabbing attention Number onegrab attention should be doing.
Grabbing attention Number onegrab attention.
(11:26):
You need to grab the attentionof the person you're trying to
sell to, and they need to reallykind of be like wow, this
person is different, this personis different.
I got a.
There's somebody that I'mconnected with on LinkedIn and I
got a video message.
I got a video message from themand I haven't responded yet.
(11:48):
I'm sorry, katie, I willrespond shortly.
And I actually showed it to oneof my students.
I showed it, I shared my screenon our call and I showed it and
I said this is what I'm talkingabout.
This is different.
(12:10):
She sent me a message onLinkedIn and the video said you
know, hey, mike, I'm really been, I've really been impressed.
I don't know, I remember whatshe said, but she gave a
compliment.
She said you know, I'd love tocatch up at some point and I
have known her, like we've been.
You know, linkedin connectedfor a very long time.
We know the same people, soit's not like this is a random
(12:30):
person.
But what she did was she usedthe power of video.
She used the power of video toreach out and personalize it.
It was a personalized message.
Everything she said wasspecific to my journey.
She gave me an update and thenjust said hey, if this makes
(12:53):
sense, you know, let me know andwe can talk.
I'm not going to be able tohelp her because what she's
asking I have no power controlover.
Again, you have to understandthat your buyer may not be the
end point or it may not fit.
So what you don't want to do isyou don't want to uh, ruin a
(13:14):
future relationship based on howyou react today.
You, if you're in the going tobe in the same industry, you
might need to call on thatperson.
You might need to have thatperson as a buyer for a future
product or service and you don'twant them to roll their eyes
when they get another messagefrom you Full disclosure.
About 10, 12 years ago, I wasthat guy sending all those
(13:38):
emails out because I didn'trealize how many emails were
going out and I would sendemails this is great, full
product descriptions, I meanreally just bombarded with
information.
And it rarely worked.
And after about a couple monthsI was like you know what?
I've tried it.
I've tried a couple iterationsof just, you know, pitching an
email and it hasn't worked.
(13:59):
And buyer's fatigue is a realthing.
Sometimes they're just tired ofgetting pitched, sometimes
they're just tired of spendingmoney and buying things.
They need a break and sometimesthey just want information Like
what can you do to help them?
What have you noticed abouttheir business that they might
(14:21):
not have been able to see?
Because sometimes in thebusiness world and when you own
a business.
When you're running a business,you can't see the forest
through the trees.
Trust me, I've been running afor just under two years, been
running a wellness studio.
Sometimes you can't see theforest through the trees and
somebody can just point out hey,were you aware of this?
No, I was not great.
(14:42):
Well, now you are.
Now there's no excuse, but thatvery rarely happens in the
sales world for outreach.
So, number one, you got to grabattention and one of the ways to
do that is not by asking yes orno questions.
Come with something that stopsyour buyer in their tracks and
(15:05):
they have to think about.
That is the only way it's goingto work.
And I'll tell you what I meanby this.
If you are asking yes or noquestion, are asking a yes or no
question.
Yes or no questions are verysimple how was your day?
Good, it's a reflex response.
(15:32):
You don't want to ask questionswhere there is a reflex
response.
If you're doing that, it goesnowhere and it's not stopping
what they're doing.
They can do five things at thesame time and give you a reflex
response.
What you want to do is stopthem and make them think.
If they stop and they think thebrain has to focus on whatever
it is they're thinking about.
(15:52):
So if they're busy, or they'rethinking about their kids, or
they're thinking about the nextpatient, or the next case, or
the next meeting, or you knowthe proposal, their next
vacation, whatever it is, ifthey're thinking about anything
but what you want them to thinkabout, you've got to stop them
(16:15):
in their tracks, and the bestway to do that is to ask them
something that makes them think,that gets away from their
default setting How's your day?
Good?
I always talk about sales beinglike dating.
You know, if I walked up to a,if I walked up to a girl at a
(16:35):
bar and I just said, hey, can Ibuy you a drink?
How many other dudes have saidthat to her over her lifetime?
Thousands.
So all of a sudden she's likehere we go again, just another
guy.
You have to do somethingdifferent.
I always say that my question.
(16:58):
I always asked one question whenI met, met new people, when I
first moved to Charlotte, and Isaid, hey, I've got a really
important question.
I'd like to ask you I'm kind offraming it hey, this is not
just some random question whatbrought you to Charlotte and
people just stop in their tracks.
I would do this to guys.
I would do this to girls.
It also let me know a littlebit about them.
Charlotte is a transient town.
(17:19):
A lot of people have have movedhere.
There's very few born andraised, so that is a way that I
grabbed people's attention andpeople would say, oh my gosh,
that's a great question.
Not many people ask that.
Usually people say what do youdo?
Where do you live?
In Charlotte, when I first gotthere, I was shocked at how many
(17:39):
women would ask me what kind ofcar I drive but that's another
talk for another day.
But I asked a question thatmade them stop and think.
And when you do that, whathappens is that allows you to
get into the buyer's world, thatallows you to connect with that
person, because they've tunedeverything out at that point,
(18:00):
and then it gives you anopportunity to 100% focus on
them.
They've tuned everything out atthat point and then it gives
you an opportunity to a hundredpercent focus on them and they
can a hundred percent focus onyou, and that's what it takes.
It's the same thing in sales.
If you walk up hey, how's yourday going Terrible, where do you
go from there.
I hate getting on zoom callswhen people are like how's your
day going?
And I said, do you want thehonest answer or do you want the
(18:21):
platitude?
And they're like, well, I wantthe honest answer.
I'm like it's terrible, the dayhas gone terribly.
I had to fire another employeeAll of a sudden, like I don't
want to know.
I don't want to rehash thatwe're on the meeting.
Just tell me why we're here.
(18:42):
Tell me why we're here and tellme how you can help make my
life easier.
You can make my job easier.
You can make me more money.
That's all buyers care about.
Number one grab attention.
Number two connect the reasonfor the meeting to a better
outcome.
That's the big why.
Why are we going to meet?
What's the point If you don'thave that locked in?
(19:07):
And it's very specific to yourbuyer, it's very specific to
your industry and it's veryspecific to your product or
service why?
Why are we going to do it?
If you're not going to make mylife easier, if you're not going
to make me more money, ifyou're not going to make my life
easier, if you're not going tomake me more money, if you're
not going to increase my clientsatisfaction, then why are we
talking?
(19:29):
If I'm just swapping out andthat's the thing too if I'm just
swapping out one solution foranother and there's a net
neutral outcome, I'm notswitching.
I'm not, I'm not risking it.
If, for instance, like rightnow, we have a phone line and
you say, oh, you can use thisphone line, it's about the same
(19:49):
price, blah, blah, blah.
Nope, I'm not switching.
What's the benefit to me?
There's no upside.
There always has to be anupside for the buyer.
So, number one you grabattention.
Number two what's the upside?
You have to connect that withthe buyer while you're asking
them for that meeting.
(20:10):
Number three meet them on theirterms.
Don't try to pigeonhole them.
You know, I've seen the whole.
Like I can meet these threetimes, great, I can't.
If you do that and I know whypeople do it they say, oh, the
buyer just wants it.
No, if the if I said yes, let'sthen figure out a time that
(20:36):
works.
Or you can say I can meet atthese three times, please let me
know if one of these works.
If not, I can work around yourschedule.
That's okay.
But I've gotten emails beforewhere I'm like sort of
interested and I was like, okay,yeah, let's meet.
And they're like I have thesetwo time slots available, which
one works for you?
And I'm like neither, or Idon't even respond.
(21:02):
I'm just like you know what.
We're already getting off onthe wrong foot.
Like you're trying to fit meinto your schedule, like like
you're doing me a favor.
So you have to think about theentire, the entire ask and the
entire reason for the why of thebuyer.
Like why?
(21:23):
Why would the buyer do it?
Stop focusing on yourself.
Focus exclusively.
Would the buyer do it?
Stop focusing on yourself.
Focus exclusively on the buyer.
Grab their attention, connectto a better outcome and meet
them on their terms.
And, before the meeting, dumpvalue.
(21:51):
Hey, I was doing some researchhere.
Thought you thought you'd findthis information.
Look forward to our call onFriday.
Do something different as well.
Send a video, send a textmessage or a video through text.
Send a video email.
If you're connected on LinkedIn, send a video.
Don't ask for anything, justsay hey, really looking forward
to this.
I've done some research on X, y, z.
(22:14):
This is why it's important Hopeyou have a great day, see you
Friday or whatever day.
That is what it takes to movethe needle in 2025.
If you're using the sameplaybook from 10, 15 years ago,
five years ago, you're using theexact same playbook and you're
(22:37):
not understanding the psychology, you're not understanding the
buyer's needs and how they havechanged.
You're going to fall behind andI don't want that to happen.
It's one of the reasons why inthe sales builder accelerator
(22:58):
and sales builder academy,nothing, nothing that is taught,
nothing that I do on a dailybasis revolves around scripts,
revolves around mandates.
They are frameworks, processesand systems that have the
freedom and flexibility to growand shift based on what's
(23:21):
happening.
They're timeless, it's notaggressive, it's not pushy,
because that doesn't work.
15 years ago, you couldprobably get aggressive and you
can probably be pushy and youcould probably say some things
you can't say now, but yourbuyers have seen all these, seen
hundreds of thousands of videosat this point online of sellers
(23:45):
and bad salespeople pushing andtips and all that stuff.
Your sole focus right now as asales professional is to focus
on the buyer's future state.
That's it.
How can you connect yourproduct or service to the
(24:07):
buyer's future state?
Work your way back from thatpoint and craft a message and a
sequence of messages that getsyou that meeting, because once
they show up for the meeting.
They have to understand whatthe future looks like.
You're giving them a preview.
(24:27):
They're showing up because ofthe preview that you've given
them, not because you'verequested it.
That's not going to workanymore.
You can't just say, hey, I'dreally like to, I'd really like
to sit down with you and I'dlove to sit down with you, blah,
blah, blah.
I'm sure you would, but youhaven't earned the right.
Just because you have a productor service doesn't mean you
have earned the right to my timeor the buyer's time.
(24:49):
I hope this helps.
Uh, thank you so much foreverybody who's been listening.
Again, if you are out there andyou are just struggling,
spinning your wheels, you don'tknow where to go.
Your company isn't reallyguiding you.
You know, companies are greatat teaching you their product
knowledge.
They're great at teaching youthe features and benefits,
(25:13):
features and benefits.
The old adage is features tell,benefits sell no, they don't.
This is more about being aconsultant and strategizing.
It is less about just walkingin and saying, hey, this is what
I got.
Things have changed.
They really have changed.
Especially if you don't knowsomebody, it is harder than ever
(25:35):
to stick out in the crowd andyou really have to have a strong
strategy, a repeatable processthat you can have every single
time you walk in to meet with abuyer, or you call a buyer, or
you text a buyer, you email abuyer.
You have to have a strategy.
You can't just spray and pray.
So if you want to have aconversation about how you can
(25:56):
do that and what it looks like,dm me on LinkedIn or you can
reach out to me, mike atsurvivingoutsidesalescom, and
let's have a chat.
I do a free 30 minuteconsultation with anybody who's
willing to hop on a call, sharethis with a friend, connect more
(26:17):
people to the Surviving OutsideSales world and again, thank
you so much for everybody who'sbeen listening.
We'll see you next time.
Surviving Outside Sales Cheers.
Surviving Outside Sales podcast, hosted by Mike
O'Kelley, presented by SalesBuilder Academy.
The goal is to survive andthrive all phases of outside
sales, whether you're getting in, dominating or getting out.
Surviving Outside Sales now onwith the show.
Welcome to the SurvivingOutside Sales Podcast.
(00:33):
I'm your host, mike O'Kelley.
Today's topic is going to be thedo's and don'ts of getting the
meeting with the buyer.
Now I get pitched probably 10to 12 times per day on average
and I see the good, the bad andthe ugly and very rarely does
anything rise above the level towhere I want to actually meet
(00:53):
with that person or isintriguing.
It really is sad that I cantell the the pitch verse I like
to call it.
The pitch verse is usingtemplates, or perhaps
everybody's using the same chatGPT to try to craft emails and
(01:13):
book meetings and they say, well, it's all about volume and all
that stuff.
And I get it.
It is about volume.
You have to meet enough people,you have to talk to enough
people in order for the law ofaverages to wait out.
You could be over 10 withtrying to book a meeting and if
you give up then you'll neverfulfill what you were trying to
achieve.
But you could go three for yournext three, for your next three
(01:35):
, and you're now three for 13.
And now the law of averagesstarts to balance out, and
that's what it is, and that'sthe whole theory.
Quote unquote behind volume.
But it's not volume for volumesake.
I have.
I can pull up emails, I canpull up DMS from LinkedIn.
I can pull up a text messagesthat I receive because my phone
(01:56):
number is out there If yousearch hard enough and I get.
I get pitched all the time, allthe time, and it's just the
same.
I'm just going to say it it'sthe same boring shit, it's the
same bullshit.
It's a waste of my time to evenlook at it.
And so what happens is in yourbuyer's mind.
You could have the best productin the service and service in
(02:16):
the world.
You could be a great person,you could really be trying to
change people's lives, butyou're going to be lumped in to
everybody else if you sound likeeveryone else and some of them,
some of them are just lazy, andthe example that I give is just
, quite frankly, this is myproduct.
(02:36):
This is what we can do.
I would love to set up ameeting and discuss how we can
do this for you.
Now, on the surface, it soundslike, yeah, it's, there's
nothing wrong with that.
But you have to understand thepsychology of the buyer.
You have to understand thatthey are uh, your buyer is
(02:59):
getting pitched hundreds oftimes per month by random
strangers.
So if you're a stranger, thenyou're going to be lumped in
with everybody else.
So you have to do somethingdifferent.
You have to have a differentstrategy.
You have to have a differentapproach.
(03:20):
That is the only way it's goingto happen.
And it's also probably notgoing to happen on one email.
It's not going to happen on onetext message.
It's not going to happen on oneface-to-face call.
It is a series of events.
(03:41):
You have to invest in your buyerin order for them to want to
start to invest in you or investtheir time with you.
And you have to start thinkingof it like that.
You have to strategize that.
It is about investment.
They are investing time, whichis money to them, in order to
(04:03):
listen to you, et cetera.
They don't want coffee.
They can buy their own, okay,unless they know you, they don't
want coffee.
You know there is no such thingas a quick 15 minute call, okay.
There is no such thing in thebuyer's mind.
Think of it this way here's thealgorithm of the buyer.
(04:24):
Okay, you, you, you.
You're trying to be as fair aspossible and I get it.
I've seen both sides of thecoin, being a sales professional
and also being a business owner.
You're trying to get time,you're trying to minimize the
amount of investment, but youhave to understand most of the
(04:45):
meetings in the worldrealistically go over time.
There is no such thing as a 15minute call.
There isn't in the buyer's mind.
They're thinking, okay, 15minutes is probably going to be
30, 35 minutes.
When do I have 30 minutes?
Do I really want to hear 30minutes?
And what happens is they startthinking of their time and
(05:05):
everybody in their mind has avalue to the hour.
How much is my hour worth?
So for some people you knowsome business owners it could be
$500 an hour.
If they're multimillion dollar,they're worth multimillion
dollars.
It could be $500 an hour.
So if you're just taking 15minutes of their time, it's $125
.
But in their mind they'rethinking, okay, this is gonna be
(05:25):
at least 250.
Is this person, is this person,worth my time?
I get emails from people thatdon't even have signatures in
their email, like.
They haven't even gone throughthe time.
They're sending me emailsthrough Gmail.
They work through companies.
They're sending me emailsthrough Gmail.
They haven't even invested intheir business.
(05:46):
What that tells me is eitherthey're really early in what
they're doing or they are justnot investing in themselves,
which means I don't trust it.
And again, the three things youneed in order for somebody to
like you I'm sorry to buy fromyou is they need to know, like
and trust you.
And that third part is reallykey they have to like you.
I'm sorry to buy from you isthey need to know, like and
(06:07):
trust you.
And that third part is reallykey they have to trust you.
So if you don't have an atcompany or an at yourself, like
my emails, come across Mike atsurviving outside sales.
That has a lot more credibilityand I have a signature, an
email signature, that has a lotmore credibility than somebody
that's just, you know,salesgrowthatgmailcom.
(06:30):
If I sent you an email and Isaid, hey, I wanted to work with
you, and it came from Mike atsurvivingoutsidesalescom or it
came from salesgrowthatgmailcom,be honest, which one would you
take seriously or more seriously?
I know your answer.
I've invested in doing that.
(06:54):
So, right off the bat.
It starts off with thecredibility, but you have to
understand the psychology of thebuyer and you have to
understand what your buyer'sdesires are, what their time is
worth.
So you have to really cutthrough the noise and just
(07:17):
sending a here's my product.
This is why it's important.
I'd love for you to, of courseyou'd love to get on a call.
You're a salesperson, I'd loveto sit down with you and of
course, you would.
What's in it for me as thebuyer?
You have to flip it around aone 80 and you have to think
like the buyer.
Why would I meet with Mike?
(07:40):
What value is Mike bringing tothe table?
Am I going to learn somethingnew?
Am I going to possibly investin something that's going to
make me money?
It's going to make my lifeeasier, it's going to simplify
what I'm doing in my business.
And is it clearly defined onhow we get from A to B?
(08:01):
If that does not happen,however, you communicate that it
could be in person, it could beemail, it could be video, it
could be a text message.
Whatever it is just sending amessage and saying, hey, we can
(08:23):
do X, y, z, great, I've heardthat a thousand times.
And also here's another thingyou have to think about Buyers
have been sold before and itdidn't work.
I am very skeptical Well, notvery.
I'm skeptical because I'veinvested close to vary.
(08:48):
I'm skeptical because I'veinvested close to well, well
over $50,000 of my own money inconsultants and people that said
I will get you from A to B.
Some have, some haven't, so I'malways I know what to.
I know what to ask for now andI know what to look for and what
not to look for.
I know what to ask for now andI know what to look for and what
not to look for.
(09:08):
I don't just reach out to thevery first person that reaches
out to me.
I wait, I wait, but that's thefirst thing is you have to
understand your buyer.
You have to understand yourbuyer when you send up your,
when you, when you send out anycommunication or when you're
talking to your buyer.
You cannot focus on yourself.
(09:30):
This is not about you.
Nobody cares that you're tryingto hit your number, nobody
cares.
You've got to do X, y or Z.
Buyers don't care.
Okay, buyers don't care.
Okay, buyers don't care.
They are solely focused ontheir business.
So the do's and don'ts Don'tcome unprepared, do not send out
(09:56):
a message or don't have a quoteunquote, scripted opener that
sounds like a company's talkingpoint.
Don't be generic and boring.
Don't ask for time if youhaven't earned it.
(10:16):
You have to deposit somethingin order to withdraw.
You have to deposit informationor value to your buyer before
you can pull anything out.
So, before you ask for time,try this Give information, give
value, do something unexpectedto help the buyer, cause I'm
(10:43):
telling you, I get hundreds ofpitches a month and I can tell
that a lot of people have neverlooked at my website, they've
never looked at my LinkedIn.
They have.
They know nothing about me.
They just simply got my nameoff of a list and they just
added it in for automation andit's going out to thousands of
(11:06):
people because that's the quoteunquote volume strategy.
So the dues here's the dues.
Here's what you should be doing.
Grabbing attention Number onegrab attention should be doing.
Grabbing attention Number onegrab attention.
(11:26):
You need to grab the attentionof the person you're trying to
sell to, and they need to reallykind of be like wow, this
person is different, this personis different.
I got a.
There's somebody that I'mconnected with on LinkedIn and I
got a video message.
I got a video message from themand I haven't responded yet.
(11:48):
I'm sorry, katie, I willrespond shortly.
And I actually showed it to oneof my students.
I showed it, I shared my screenon our call and I showed it and
I said this is what I'm talkingabout.
This is different.
(12:10):
She sent me a message onLinkedIn and the video said you
know, hey, mike, I'm really been, I've really been impressed.
I don't know, I remember whatshe said, but she gave a
compliment.
She said you know, I'd love tocatch up at some point and I
have known her, like we've been.
You know, linkedin connectedfor a very long time.
We know the same people, soit's not like this is a random
(12:30):
person.
But what she did was she usedthe power of video.
She used the power of video toreach out and personalize it.
It was a personalized message.
Everything she said wasspecific to my journey.
She gave me an update and thenjust said hey, if this makes
(12:53):
sense, you know, let me know andwe can talk.
I'm not going to be able tohelp her because what she's
asking I have no power controlover.
Again, you have to understandthat your buyer may not be the
end point or it may not fit.
So what you don't want to do isyou don't want to uh, ruin a
(13:14):
future relationship based on howyou react today.
You, if you're in the going tobe in the same industry, you
might need to call on thatperson.
You might need to have thatperson as a buyer for a future
product or service and you don'twant them to roll their eyes
when they get another messagefrom you Full disclosure.
About 10, 12 years ago, I wasthat guy sending all those
(13:38):
emails out because I didn'trealize how many emails were
going out and I would sendemails this is great, full
product descriptions, I meanreally just bombarded with
information.
And it rarely worked.
And after about a couple monthsI was like you know what?
I've tried it.
I've tried a couple iterationsof just, you know, pitching an
email and it hasn't worked.
(13:59):
And buyer's fatigue is a realthing.
Sometimes they're just tired ofgetting pitched, sometimes
they're just tired of spendingmoney and buying things.
They need a break and sometimesthey just want information Like
what can you do to help them?
What have you noticed abouttheir business that they might
(14:21):
not have been able to see?
Because sometimes in thebusiness world and when you own
a business.
When you're running a business,you can't see the forest
through the trees.
Trust me, I've been running afor just under two years, been
running a wellness studio.
Sometimes you can't see theforest through the trees and
somebody can just point out hey,were you aware of this?
No, I was not great.
(14:42):
Well, now you are.
Now there's no excuse, but thatvery rarely happens in the
sales world for outreach.
So, number one, you got to grabattention and one of the ways to
do that is not by asking yes orno questions.
Come with something that stopsyour buyer in their tracks and
(15:05):
they have to think about.
That is the only way it's goingto work.
And I'll tell you what I meanby this.
If you are asking yes or noquestion, are asking a yes or no
question.
Yes or no questions are verysimple how was your day?
Good, it's a reflex response.
(15:32):
You don't want to ask questionswhere there is a reflex
response.
If you're doing that, it goesnowhere and it's not stopping
what they're doing.
They can do five things at thesame time and give you a reflex
response.
What you want to do is stopthem and make them think.
If they stop and they think thebrain has to focus on whatever
it is they're thinking about.
(15:52):
So if they're busy, or they'rethinking about their kids, or
they're thinking about the nextpatient, or the next case, or
the next meeting, or you knowthe proposal, their next
vacation, whatever it is, ifthey're thinking about anything
but what you want them to thinkabout, you've got to stop them
(16:15):
in their tracks, and the bestway to do that is to ask them
something that makes them think,that gets away from their
default setting How's your day?
Good?
I always talk about sales beinglike dating.
You know, if I walked up to a,if I walked up to a girl at a
(16:35):
bar and I just said, hey, can Ibuy you a drink?
How many other dudes have saidthat to her over her lifetime?
Thousands.
So all of a sudden she's likehere we go again, just another
guy.
You have to do somethingdifferent.
I always say that my question.
(16:58):
I always asked one question whenI met, met new people, when I
first moved to Charlotte, and Isaid, hey, I've got a really
important question.
I'd like to ask you I'm kind offraming it hey, this is not
just some random question whatbrought you to Charlotte and
people just stop in their tracks.
I would do this to guys.
I would do this to girls.
It also let me know a littlebit about them.
Charlotte is a transient town.
(17:19):
A lot of people have have movedhere.
There's very few born andraised, so that is a way that I
grabbed people's attention andpeople would say, oh my gosh,
that's a great question.
Not many people ask that.
Usually people say what do youdo?
Where do you live?
In Charlotte, when I first gotthere, I was shocked at how many
(17:39):
women would ask me what kind ofcar I drive but that's another
talk for another day.
But I asked a question thatmade them stop and think.
And when you do that, whathappens is that allows you to
get into the buyer's world, thatallows you to connect with that
person, because they've tunedeverything out at that point,
(18:00):
and then it gives you anopportunity to 100% focus on
them.
They've tuned everything out atthat point and then it gives
you an opportunity to a hundredpercent focus on them and they
can a hundred percent focus onyou, and that's what it takes.
It's the same thing in sales.
If you walk up hey, how's yourday going Terrible, where do you
go from there.
I hate getting on zoom callswhen people are like how's your
day going?
And I said, do you want thehonest answer or do you want the
(18:21):
platitude?
And they're like, well, I wantthe honest answer.
I'm like it's terrible, the dayhas gone terribly.
I had to fire another employeeAll of a sudden, like I don't
want to know.
I don't want to rehash thatwe're on the meeting.
Just tell me why we're here.
(18:42):
Tell me why we're here and tellme how you can help make my
life easier.
You can make my job easier.
You can make me more money.
That's all buyers care about.
Number one grab attention.
Number two connect the reasonfor the meeting to a better
outcome.
That's the big why.
Why are we going to meet?
What's the point If you don'thave that locked in?
(19:07):
And it's very specific to yourbuyer, it's very specific to
your industry and it's veryspecific to your product or
service why?
Why are we going to do it?
If you're not going to make mylife easier, if you're not going
to make me more money, ifyou're not going to make my life
easier, if you're not going tomake me more money, if you're
not going to increase my clientsatisfaction, then why are we
talking?
(19:29):
If I'm just swapping out andthat's the thing too if I'm just
swapping out one solution foranother and there's a net
neutral outcome, I'm notswitching.
I'm not, I'm not risking it.
If, for instance, like rightnow, we have a phone line and
you say, oh, you can use thisphone line, it's about the same
(19:49):
price, blah, blah, blah.
Nope, I'm not switching.
What's the benefit to me?
There's no upside.
There always has to be anupside for the buyer.
So, number one you grabattention.
Number two what's the upside?
You have to connect that withthe buyer while you're asking
them for that meeting.
(20:10):
Number three meet them on theirterms.
Don't try to pigeonhole them.
You know, I've seen the whole.
Like I can meet these threetimes, great, I can't.
If you do that and I know whypeople do it they say, oh, the
buyer just wants it.
No, if the if I said yes, let'sthen figure out a time that
(20:36):
works.
Or you can say I can meet atthese three times, please let me
know if one of these works.
If not, I can work around yourschedule.
That's okay.
But I've gotten emails beforewhere I'm like sort of
interested and I was like, okay,yeah, let's meet.
And they're like I have thesetwo time slots available, which
one works for you?
And I'm like neither, or Idon't even respond.
(21:02):
I'm just like you know what.
We're already getting off onthe wrong foot.
Like you're trying to fit meinto your schedule, like like
you're doing me a favor.
So you have to think about theentire, the entire ask and the
entire reason for the why of thebuyer.
Like why?
(21:23):
Why would the buyer do it?
Stop focusing on yourself.
Focus exclusively.
Would the buyer do it?
Stop focusing on yourself.
Focus exclusively on the buyer.
Grab their attention, connectto a better outcome and meet
them on their terms.
And, before the meeting, dumpvalue.
(21:51):
Hey, I was doing some researchhere.
Thought you thought you'd findthis information.
Look forward to our call onFriday.
Do something different as well.
Send a video, send a textmessage or a video through text.
Send a video email.
If you're connected on LinkedIn, send a video.
Don't ask for anything, justsay hey, really looking forward
to this.
I've done some research on X, y, z.
(22:14):
This is why it's important Hopeyou have a great day, see you
Friday or whatever day.
That is what it takes to movethe needle in 2025.
If you're using the sameplaybook from 10, 15 years ago,
five years ago, you're using theexact same playbook and you're
(22:37):
not understanding the psychology, you're not understanding the
buyer's needs and how they havechanged.
You're going to fall behind andI don't want that to happen.
It's one of the reasons why inthe sales builder accelerator
(22:58):
and sales builder academy,nothing, nothing that is taught,
nothing that I do on a dailybasis revolves around scripts,
revolves around mandates.
They are frameworks, processesand systems that have the
freedom and flexibility to growand shift based on what's
(23:21):
happening.
They're timeless, it's notaggressive, it's not pushy,
because that doesn't work.
15 years ago, you couldprobably get aggressive and you
can probably be pushy and youcould probably say some things
you can't say now, but yourbuyers have seen all these, seen
hundreds of thousands of videosat this point online of sellers
(23:45):
and bad salespeople pushing andtips and all that stuff.
Your sole focus right now as asales professional is to focus
on the buyer's future state.
That's it.
How can you connect yourproduct or service to the
(24:07):
buyer's future state?
Work your way back from thatpoint and craft a message and a
sequence of messages that getsyou that meeting, because once
they show up for the meeting.
They have to understand whatthe future looks like.
You're giving them a preview.
(24:27):
They're showing up because ofthe preview that you've given
them, not because you'verequested it.
That's not going to workanymore.
You can't just say, hey, I'dreally like to, I'd really like
to sit down with you and I'dlove to sit down with you, blah,
blah, blah.
I'm sure you would, but youhaven't earned the right.
Just because you have a productor service doesn't mean you
have earned the right to my timeor the buyer's time.
(24:49):
I hope this helps.
Uh, thank you so much foreverybody who's been listening.
Again, if you are out there andyou are just struggling,
spinning your wheels, you don'tknow where to go.
Your company isn't reallyguiding you.
You know, companies are greatat teaching you their product
knowledge.
They're great at teaching youthe features and benefits,
(25:13):
features and benefits.
The old adage is features tell,benefits sell no, they don't.
This is more about being aconsultant and strategizing.
It is less about just walkingin and saying, hey, this is what
I got.
Things have changed.
They really have changed.
Especially if you don't knowsomebody, it is harder than ever
(25:35):
to stick out in the crowd andyou really have to have a strong
strategy, a repeatable processthat you can have every single
time you walk in to meet with abuyer, or you call a buyer, or
you text a buyer, you email abuyer.
You have to have a strategy.
You can't just spray and pray.
So if you want to have aconversation about how you can
(25:56):
do that and what it looks like,dm me on LinkedIn or you can
reach out to me, mike atsurvivingoutsidesalescom, and
let's have a chat.
I do a free 30 minuteconsultation with anybody who's
willing to hop on a call, sharethis with a friend, connect more
(26:17):
people to the Surviving OutsideSales world and again, thank
you so much for everybody who'sbeen listening.
We'll see you next time.
Surviving Outside Sales Cheers.
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