Martyn is a sales trainer; he is a non-pushy sales trainer. Everything he helps with is non-pushy selling. It’s all about helping, the opposite of the cheesy 1980s pushy salesman. Marcus asks what social selling means. This is around social media. If your customer is on a platform it makes sense to be on that platform and interact with them there. Martyn says his target market is LinkedIn so he is on there at least once a day. He says social media allows us to share what we do without being “shouty”. Marytn was either making a video a day or a blog a day to keep getting content out there.

Sam asks about moving people from social to being more firm leads and how to do that. Martyn says he is waiting for them to direct themselves to him, or refer people to him. Martyn says being in sales and not performing is a very difficult place to be as there is lots of pressure from home and work.
Martyn says he found Daniel Disney was a game changer for him in terms of the way he approached social selling. Martyn recommends this book as a good place to start: The Ultimate Linkedin Sales Guide and the Ultimate Guide to Linkedin Messaging.

Marcus asks what makes a good salesman. He says the best salespeople are slightly introverted and great listeners. We have a past show about being a good listener

A desire to help and curiosity. Curiosity is really important. Great listening means great questions. If you are having problems in sales, questions can help you. What questions could you have asked to get a better result on a sales call?

These could be bold or challenging questions. This still isn’t pushing, it’s showing you are trying to help. Asking questions can mean you offer a solution to their problem that they hadn’t thought of. Martyn says you are trying to be an advisor, not a salesman looking for a close.

Sam asks after this gently, gently approach do you need to then apply a little pressure for a decision. Martyn says there are three things around this.

1. People need to prepare better

2. They need to ask better questions

3. You need to agree on mutual actions during your current discussion.

So this final part says you have pre-determined what you will both do after the call. So this isn’t a hard close but it’s about asking if they want help with their problem. He also suggests sending the quote with a title that will get their attention. Maybe linked to something that they are trying to achieve. Also in your call make sure you book the next time you are going to speak, so you never lose track of the conversation.

You can find Martyn

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