Joining the New Game of Selling (and the Financial Transportation Business)

Salespeople use so much of their time, money, and energy in trying to find new clients – and so many find that their efforts don’t work, or they fail to find the “hungry fish,” or they get the wrong kind of clients. Fortunately, Meny and entrepreneur, speaker, trainer, advisor, and best-selling author Mitch Axelrod have plenty of practical advice to turn things around, so listen in as they speak about maintaining your existing customers, knowing what questions to ask, radically shifting your self-image, and much more.

Transcript

[00:01 – 08:12] Opening Segment

• How Mitch has helped generate over 3 billion in revenue for thousands of companies

• Introducing the New Game of Selling

Focusing on long-term relationships and the value of the second sale
• How can I serve you from the beginning?

[08:13 – 17:13] How to Identify and Attract Your Ideal Clients

• The key is to find the ‘hungry fish’ by asking your best customers why they do business with you

• Creating a unique service advantage (USA)

Focus on the customer’s destination rather than the product/service you are selling
• Shift context to understand where buyers are in their buying cycle and meet them there

[17:14 – 25:40] Unlock the Power of Lifetime Value

• How to shift your focus from new clients to existing ones

• Shift focus from closing a sale to establishing yourself as the trusted advisor

• Every person is a gold mine with referrals, testimonials, endorsements, introductions, networking, and joint venturing

• When a client favors you with their business, ask them why they chose you and drill down deeply into that conversation

[25:41 – 34:25] How to Build Strategic Business Relationships

• Why it is important to build relationships with customers before and after the sale

• Stimulus-response is an important concept to understand when engaging with customers

• Provide resources, results, and relationships to add value

• Maximize the deal instead of compromising

[34:26 – 45:16] Closing Segment

• Focus on the business relationship and what the other party will get out of it

• Mitch on the rapid four questions

Practical Pointers

The key to finding the “hungry fish” - more customers who are just like your best customers - is to work backwards and ask your best clients, “Why did you buy from me?” Then you can explain to people exactly why your existing clients find you different, special, and unique.

Small distinctions in language can lead to big possibilities. One great example is asking a potential customer, “Are you ready, or are you getting ready?” Once you have the answer to that question, you’ll have a much better idea of how to move forward with each potential client.

People often get stuck in the cycle of attracting new customers when the biggest and best source of potential buyers is your existing client base. Even if the second sale is smaller than the first, remember that you’re gaining efficiency and saving large amounts of money by using a resource that you already have. So instead of closing a sale and getting out, maintain the relationship continuously and be ready - even minutes after the first sale - to ask them what they want the next steps to be.

If you haven’t been in touch with a client for too long, the best thing to do is to be authentic, saying that you dropped the ball by taking too long to call, and moving the conversation forward from there. Any attempt to find a “magic script” is far less effective than just being authentic.

Show notes

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Guest Bio

Mitch Axelrod

A 45 year entrepreneur, speaker, trainer, advisor and #1 Wall St. Journal, Barnes & Noble and Amazon best-selling author, Mitch has delivered 3,500 seminars, workshops, keynotes, webinars, executive briefings and coaching clinics to more than a million people on business, entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, values and life skills.

Mitch is the author of The NEW Game of Business™, The NEW Game of IP™ (Intellectual Property) and the #1 bestseller, The NEW Game of Selling™ and a Golden Mike Award winner for speaking excellence and industry contribution,

He helped generate $3 billion of revenue for thousands of companies from Fortune 500’s IBM, AT&T, MetLife, Citibank and Prudential to small businesses, professionals and practitioners.

Featured on dozens of media including WABC, Best-Seller TV and Sales Talk Radio, Mitch has taught at NYU, USC, Notre Dame and Harvard's Executive Leadership Conference.

In 2020 Mitch suffered a stroke and brain aneurism that left him paralyzed on his right side. His inspirational story of resilience, rebound and recovery has been written about in books and featured on TV shows.

Brian Tracy says, “My good friend Mitch Axelrod is responsible for boosting more people into the ranks of the top 10% than almost any other trainer alive.”

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