Sales The Oxygen for Every Successful Business (with Dean Graziosi) Pt.2 May‘23 Ep 576

In a deep dive into the art of sales, Alex Hormozi and Dean Graziosi explore the crucial role of conviction in selling, underscoring that true belief in a product or service is paramount. Hormozi emphasizes that sales is about empowering the customer to make decisions and overcome their own objections, which typically fall into three categories: circumstances, other people, and personal avoidance. He illustrates how addressing these layers can lead to genuine conversations and better decision-making. Both experts agree that sales should be a service, not a mere transaction, and that caring for the customer is key. Hormozi shares his insights on improving sales teams by fostering belief in what they're selling and reveals that his upcoming book, "100 Million Dollar Leads," delves into these concepts further. Throughout, Graziosi and Hormozi highlight the importance of passion, conviction, and the ethical imperative to sell only what one truly believes in, as this sincerity translates into effective salesmanship and ultimately, business success.

• Conviction is essential for sales success; one must believe in what they are selling.
• Selling begins with convincing oneself before convincing others.
• Conviction is not a simple yes or no; it's about the depth and degree of belief.

Conviction is the number one secret ingredient to sales is that you actually have to believe.

This quote emphasizes the importance of belief in the sales process. Belief is the foundational element that underpins successful salesmanship.

And the thing is, the first person you always have to sell is yourself.

This quote highlights the necessity of self-persuasion before attempting to persuade others. Personal conviction is crucial.

And most people actually aren't sold, number one.

This quote suggests that many individuals lack self-conviction, which is a primary obstacle in effective selling.

Number two is that conviction itself is not binary. It's not do you believe or do you not believe? It's how much do you believe? How deep do you believe?

This quote clarifies that conviction is a spectrum, not a binary state. The level of belief can vary greatly and impacts sales effectiveness.

• Sales is seen as vital for business growth and success.
• There is a common misconception that sales is negative, despite it being crucial for business survival.
• Embracing sales as a form of service and impact can transform one's approach to selling.

So many businesses, no matter if you're two employees, 202,000, 5000 a year to 50 million a year, every company needs focus, exponential growth, shifting evolution, innovation in their marketing and sales.

This quote underscores the universal need for sales and marketing across all sizes and types of businesses.

But so many startups and people launching their business, not only they could be apprehensive to sales. I feel we are in an era where sales is considered bad when simultaneously it is the oxygen for every successful business that exists.

This quote addresses the paradox of the negative perception of sales despite its critical role in business sustainability.

I have fallen in love with selling because of impact and have converted it to service in your life.

This quote reflects a positive shift in perception, viewing sales as a service that can have a meaningful impact on others.

• Sales is about empowering the customer to make decisions for their benefit.
• Customers often use three "buckets" of excuses: circumstances, other people, and avoidance.
• The salesperson's role is to help the customer overcome these excuses and make a decision.

So I see sales as helping the person you're speaking to realize that they are in power.

This quote portrays sales as an empowering process for the customer, placing them in control of their decisions.

And so in a lot of ways, selling is the first conversation to helping someone make decisions to help themselves.

This quote suggests that sales is the initial step in guiding someone towards making beneficial choices for themselves.

• The outer layer is blaming circumstances such as money, time, or product imperfections.
• The second layer involves blaming other people, such as a spouse or coworker.
• The core layer is avoidance, where the customer avoids making a decision due to underlying issues like shame, fear, or self-doubt.

The outer layer is circumstances. So they're going to blame money, they're going to blame time, they're going to blame some particular aspect of the thing that they're buying that's not perfect for them, whatever it is, right. But that's the first layer.

This quote explains the first layer of excuses customers use, which pertains to external circumstances as barriers to making a purchase.

Underneath of that, they're going to blame other people, they're going to blame their partner, their spouse, their kids, their wife, their coworker, their whatever, right. That's the second layer.

This quote describes the second layer of excuses, where customers shift blame to others in their lives to justify not making a purchase.

The center layer is avoidance.

This quote identifies the core issue in customer resistance, which is avoidance of decision-making.

• Salespeople should focus on helping customers make decisions, not just on closing a sale.
• It's important to ask probing questions to uncover the customer's main concerns and fears.
• Sales should feel like an informed decision-making process, not a high-pressure situation.

And so at this point, we then at least if I'm trying to sell something to someone or trying to help someone make a decision, I help them make the decision, which is, well, what would it take in order for you to feel good about this?

This quote suggests that the salesperson should facilitate the customer's decision-making process by identifying what would make them comfortable with the decision.

And sometimes you just ask, and there's a lot of different ways of asking the same thing, but just saying, what's the thing you don't want to have happen if you do this, what are you afraid of having happen?

This quote indicates the effectiveness of direct questions in addressing the customer's concerns and fears, which can lead to a breakthrough in the sales conversation.

Real sales doesn't feel like sales. It just feels like making an informed decision with somebody who is an expert, who helps you make the best decision for you.

This quote encapsulates the ideal sales experience, where the customer feels guided by an expert rather than pressured into a purchase.

• Salespeople should be prepared for customer rejections and expect to address them.
• The role of a salesperson is likened to a guide helping customers confront their fears.
• Sales training should focus on empowering the customer to make decisions, even if it means a no-sale outcome.

You have to train for no, you have to expect no.

This quote emphasizes the importance of sales training that prepares salespeople for customer rejections as a normal part of the sales process.

The role of the salesman is like you can kill these demons in front of them. Be like, it's not your husband's responsibility. Right? It's not the fact that you don't have time. Because I can promise you there's someone who's had it worse, who's done better.

This quote metaphorically describes the salesperson's role as helping customers overcome their personal obstacles and excuses.

And so for me that's where I get passionate about it because I think.

This quote shows the speaker's passion for the empowering aspect of sales, where the focus is on helping the customer rather than just making a sale.

• Belief in the product is crucial for sales success.
• Conviction can be more influential than sales techniques.
• Authentic belief in a product can improve sales team performance.
• Lack of belief in the product can lead to ethical dilemmas and business failure.

When you go into a place where they're heart centered and service oriented and they have an amazing sales floor to get people to take the action, it changes their lives. That's a company I put money in.

This quote emphasizes the importance of a company's ethos and the effectiveness of a sales team that is both service-oriented and capable of inspiring action in customers. It suggests that such companies are worth investing in.

So I'm going to give you guys the secret, the key ingredient to making this work. And it's not like some words. It's not because the thing is that humans are exceptionally good at smelling out when someone's lying.

Speaker A introduces the idea that genuine belief is the secret ingredient to successful sales, noting that people can detect insincerity.

If you're a beginner, there's one thing that's even more powerful than that, which is just, you just believe in it.

Speaker A suggests that for beginners in sales, genuine belief in the product is more powerful than learned sales techniques.

And so the thing that will fix your tone will fix the things that you will say is actually believing in the product.

Speaker A asserts that belief in the product naturally corrects tone and content of speech, which are critical to convincing potential buyers.

Right. Because if you don't believe in it, you know what? You shouldn't sell it. That's the real, like, if you don't believe in it, you shouldn't sell it.

Speaker A states a fundamental principle of ethical selling: one should only sell products they believe in.

Fall in love with what you're selling.

Speaker B concisely summarizes the core message of the conversation: the emotional connection to what one is selling is key.

But if I'm in my head saying I love you, I know it sounds a little hokey.

Speaker B shares a personal approach to sales, suggesting that a mindset of love towards the customer can be powerful.

Sales is a dance, not a fight. Right. You're just working with the person.

Speaker A uses a metaphor to describe the sales process as a collaborative effort rather than a confrontation.

Conviction over commission.

Speaker A emphasizes that genuine belief in the product should take precedence over the desire to make a sale.

• Ethical sales practices foster customer loyalty and business sustainability.
• Selling without belief can lead to a "bottle rocket" effect, with short-lived success.
• Belief in the product should be reflected in consistent business practices.

If you sell someone and then think, gotcha. Yeah, it's not, you're not going to make.

Speaker A warns against the mindset of tricking customers into buying, indicating it leads to negative outcomes.

Secondly, if you have any ethics at all, which most people do, I actually think a lot more people have ethics than other people give credit for. It starts to eat at you.

Speaker A acknowledges that most people have a conscience, and unethical sales will eventually cause internal conflict.

Bottle rocket up and then fizzle, they create another new product every twelve weeks.

Speaker B describes the pattern of businesses that frequently launch new products without depth or authenticity, leading to fleeting success.

Rather than going deep, falling in love and actually making transformations.

Speaker B suggests that deep engagement and genuine passion for the product or service are essential for meaningful and lasting business success.

How can I fall in love with this business? How can I fall in love with my product? And if you don't love it, here's what I'll tell you. Just go fix it.

Speaker B challenges listeners to cultivate love for their business and products, and to address any aspects that prevent this passion.

I look at a lot of businesses every day. It's usually the biggest, most obvious thing is that the sandwich shop isn't doing well. They're like, it's our marketing. It's the location. I was like, your sandwiches just aren't t

Speaker A points out that business owners often overlook the most apparent problems, such as product quality, blaming external factors instead.

• Quality of the product or service is paramount; without it, marketing efforts are less effective.
• A business should focus on serving existing customers well to organically grow its customer base.
• Conviction in the product comes from knowing it is the best, which in turn boosts sales.

"They're just not good enough. They're like, we just need more customers. I was like, if you serve the customers you had well enough, you wouldn't have this conversation with me."

• This quote emphasizes that businesses often look for new customers when they should instead focus on serving their existing customers better to retain and attract more through positive word-of-mouth.

"They market so good, but they keep falling through the holes because their product's not amazing."

• Here, the speaker points out that even with excellent marketing, a product that lacks quality will fail to retain customers, similar to how spaghetti falls through a colander.

• Significant time and effort are required to create something of high quality or world-class status.
• Research and development, including trying and testing, are crucial steps in perfecting a product.
• Understanding the nuances and details of a product leads to genuine conviction when selling it.

"My next book is coming out. I spent 2000 hours writing it. And my editor spent 1500 hours. So it's 3500 hours of time went into this thing."

• This quote demonstrates the substantial amount of time invested in creating a product (in this case, a book) that the speaker believes to be of excellent quality.

"If I were going to open a sandwich shop, I'd spend a year trying every sandwich I possibly could and thinking, like, how can I make?"

• The speaker would invest a significant amount of time researching and perfecting their product before opening a business, ensuring quality and success.

• Having deep belief and conviction in a product enhances sales effectiveness.
• Conviction is not binary but rather a spectrum of belief, which can be measured and improved.
• Passion for a product or service leads to a better understanding and ability to sell it.

"When you go to talk about the sandwich, you'll have the conviction."

• The speaker suggests that detailed knowledge and perfection of a product lead to a strong belief in its quality, which is conveyed during sales.

"Conviction is the number one secret ingredient to sales is that you actually have to believe."

• Conviction is highlighted as the most crucial element in sales, as it is the foundation for persuading others to believe in and buy the product.

• Personal experience and passion for a product or industry can drive detailed knowledge and successful sales.
• Being deeply involved in a product's development and use leads to a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
• Passion for the product or service translates to more effective communication and sales.

"I can talk about nose strips all day because I've had two nose surgeries. I just breathe bad."

• The speaker's personal experience with a product (nose strips) has led to a deep understanding and passion for it, which enhances their ability to sell it effectively.

"It's why mastermind.com, with Tony and I, we've been in the self education industry for so long."

• The speaker's long-standing involvement in the self-education industry has led to a profound belief in their product, which aids in their ability to sell and promote it.

• Businesses seeking substantial growth should focus on product quality and customer service.
• Seeking professional advice or consultation can be beneficial for business expansion.

"If you are a business owner that has a big old business and wants to get to a much bigger business, going to 5100 million dollars plus, we would love to talk to you."

• This quote invites business owners aiming for significant growth to seek advice and possibly consultation from the speaker's team to help them achieve their goals.

• The speaker announces an upcoming book, highlighting the effort put into its creation.
• The book's pricing strategy is designed to be accessible to as many people as possible.

"My next book is coming out. I spent 2000 hours writing it."

• The speaker is announcing a new book, emphasizing the extensive time investment as a testament to its quality.

"We made it as cheap as Amazon will let me make it and make it a book still."

• The speaker expresses a desire to make the book widely available by pricing it as low as possible.

• Personal challenges, such as lack of support from significant others, can be cherished as they contribute to personal growth and success.
• These experiences can form a bond between individuals who have faced similar challenges.

"What pain do I cherish? [...] Daddy's little boy. We both had a time in our lives when we wanted to go for our own thing, that our dads weren't so supportive."

• The speaker reflects on a personal challenge that they value for its role in their personal development and connects with others who have had similar experiences.

• The speaker describes a difficult childhood with a father who had a history of abuse and violence.
• The father's confrontational behavior led to the speaker developing a bleeding ulcer at eleven.
• Despite the challenges, the speaker learned to read his father's moods and manage the relationship.
• This ability to empathize and anticipate needs is seen as a gift that has contributed to the speaker's success.

"My dad was the youngest of twelve, was physically abused. He was sexually abused, come from an old school Italian family, so he did not get help, he just suffered through it." "I had a bleeding ulcer at eleven years old." "By the time I was 14 or 15, I could read my dad's mood, I could feel his emotions, and I knew how to treat him in advance so I could keep him out of crazy."

The quotes describe the background of the speaker's father, the impact of his father's behavior on his health, and how he developed the skill to manage his father's moods. These experiences were formative and had a lasting impact on the speaker's life.

• The speaker's mother remarried to a man named Lenny Rizzo, who provided a positive father figure.
• The speaker experienced a drastic lifestyle change after his mother's remarriage.
• The speaker's biological father's inability to handle these changes led to a violent incident, causing the speaker and his family to hide for a month.
• The speaker decided to move in with his father to protect his mother from further threats.

"My mom got remarried to a guy who was amazing. His name was Lenny Rizzo." "My dad got in the car, drove 14 hours straight to our house with a bat." "I moved in with my dad. And when I got there, he didn't have heat in his house because he couldn't afford it."

These quotes outline the positive influence of the speaker's stepfather, the extreme reaction of the speaker's biological father to changes, and the speaker's decision to live with his father to prevent harm to his mother. The speaker's sacrifices and the conditions he endured while living with his father are highlighted.

• The speaker reflects on how the adversity faced in childhood was a "gift" that enabled him to connect with others deeply.
• The skills developed from dealing with his father's moods have translated into an ability to empathize with large audiences.
• The speaker credits these experiences with contributing to his success in building multiple companies.

"That was the greatest gift in the world God gave me. I feel I can go in front of an audience of 30,000, or next week, I'll be in front of an audience of a half a million. I can go in front of half a million people, and I think I can feel what they need."

The quote reflects the speaker's realization that the challenges he faced were instrumental in developing his empathy and ability to connect with people, which has been crucial in his professional success.

• The speaker expresses gratitude for the podcast platform and encourages listeners to share the content.
• The speaker asks the audience to reflect on individuals who have been instrumental in their lives, whether through negative or positive influences.
• The speaker acknowledges his wife, Layla, for her unwavering support, especially during times of financial hardship.

"I'd love to ask if there's someone in your life you'd like to thank, whether it was something they did wrong that inspired you or somebody that just is the gas to your engine or the wind behind your sail." "I think our marriage is rarer than our business success in terms of percentage of people who do anything."

These quotes highlight the importance of acknowledging those who have had a significant impact on one's life and the speaker's particular appreciation for his wife's support, which has been a cornerstone of both his personal and professional life.