11 Must-Know Strategies to Master Sales 101

1. Build the foundation for selling.

The single most important principle of Sales 101 is that you can’t just figure out how to sell on your own. Salespeople who are at the top of their game don’t just wing it. They find a system that works, and they build the foundation for selling by following a proven approach.

Build your selling foundation by being able to answer all of these questions, instead of just figuring it out as you go.

2. Be okay with messing up.

The more you’re okay with messing up, the more comfortable you'll feel, and the more willing you’ll be to try new things—which is exactly where you need to be in order to break through to the next level of success in selling.

3. Pissing people off is part of the game.

If you’re terrified of pissing people off, then sales is not for you.

We can’t talk about Sales 101 without driving home the point that you must be willing to piss people off. Now, again, your goal is never to piss someone off. Of course not. But sales is about pushing people to their limits; it's about helping them see what they need to see...and sometimes they don't want to drink the medicine they know they have to take.

4. Focus on them, not you.

This is probably the single biggest beginner mistake in sales. When salespeople get in front of a prospect, they tend to focus completely on themselves. They talk about their company, their product or service, their track record—anything to do with themselves—as opposed to digging into the prospect.

5. Create your lead gen machine.

This is critical Sales 101 for anyone who's getting up and running and sales. You must have a lead generation process in place. If you don’t have a way to consistently generate leads, then you’re never going to make it in sales. You need to have enough appointments in your calendar in order to hit your sales goals. And if you don't have that, then you must get that in place—now.

6. Discover their challenges.

It’s time to become really good at being a detective or a doctor with your prospects. What I mean by this is that you must get really good at understanding what their challenges are. It doesn't mean that you go in and tell them what their challenges are. Instead, you need to discover, through effective questioning, what's going on in their world.

7. Follow-up is junk.

If you're saying, "My biggest problem is follow-up," or "I have a problem with follow-up," then you’re in trouble. You shouldn't be following up on your prospects at all. There should always be a clear next step coming out of every selling interaction.

8. Be cautious of who you listen to.

This is just good, old-fashioned beginner advice for learning any skill. Do you want to learn from someone who doesn't sell, someone who has no idea what they're doing? That's what so many of us do when it comes to learning to sell. We learn from just another guy or gal in the office, or we watch some random YouTube video from someone who really doesn't sell.

But if you want to learn and implement solid Sales 101 strategies, you need to make sure that you’re getting advice from someone you can actually trust. Be cautious of who you listen to.

When I was first learning to sell, I was taking advice from anyone who would give it to me—and as a result, I was all over the place. When I finally learned a sales process from people who were true sales experts, that’s when things came together for me.

9. Make it a big game.

Selling is a game. It's a blood sport. It's a contact sport. But it's a lot of fun if you're doing it right.

You've got to see sales as a game. If you're taking rejection in sales personally, you're not going to make it. You've got to allow yourself to have some losses. Allow yourself to learn from every single selling interaction.

10. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

If you lose a sale, if you screw up on a cold call, if you make some kind of mistake like sending a prospect the wrong email, don’t sweat it. Just learn from it.

If you’re breaking into hives every time you make a small mistake, you’re simply not going to achieve long-term sales success. And sales is a long-term game. So don't sweat those little things. Just learn from them. This is a simple but crucial Sales 101 strategy.

11. No’s are a good thing.

A no is a good thing. What's not a good thing is, "Let me think about this," or, "Can you get back to me in two weeks?" or, "I love what you've shared with me, but we’re going to have to talk this over. Can we get back to you in a month?" In comparison to those responses, "No, this isn't a good fit," is a perfectly acceptable outcome.

The more comfortable you are with the word no as a possible outcome, the more likely you are to get a yes.

[muditsingh]

I have been in sales for just last 3 months. I am kind of introvert guy, so its more difficult... But I have taken this challenge. Your trainings are really really god damn helpful. Really love trainings. Keep up the great content. Cheers...

[christinawatkinsyoutube]

I have never worked in sales but applied to a few jobs and want to know if I would be good at it... this is helpful!

[MT-etfc]

As a beginner in this industry. This is great Marc thanks. I appreciate you.

[vasiliytalanov]

Very interesting! Thanks for your advice

[Hagrissme]

This is my first full week in sales and I’ve been having a really bad time. I make 50-80 calls a day and I’ve made my pitched 6 times so far but have gotten no closes yet. Dealing with objections is super hard for me, coming from 10 years of customer service it feels rude to counter an objection. That’s is 100% where I struggle the most and I’m not sure how to handle it. These vids have been super helpful though otherwise.

[trumanray]

Slower arm movements your vibes are soooo high and excited ~~~ a little more mellow and bring the + vibe for emphasis later on; #4 feels fluid watch yourself present #4

[sales-made-easy]

Focus on them, not you. great insight. what value do you deliver to them?

[uclemons]

This is great. I'm just not getting into sales for the first time. And its been tough.

[MelTing]

I'm always struggling to identify their pain, and also scare to make clients angry. Not good. Need to improve

[glppzhq]

I lost my job, because company cant except the customer complaint, now drive uber

[petromax]

become master sale is so difficult if you not try it