Selling Anything Without Being Salesy with Matthew Kimberley
An entrepreneur is required to wear many hats. While sales is one of the most important parts of every business, many entrepreneurs struggle with it or are nervous about asking potential clients for a sale. But the truth is, a majority of people won’t buy if you don’t ask them to.
Matthew Kimberley is an expert in sales. He works as a sales trainer and speaker and created the Professional Persuasion System, including principles that help his clients go through with their sales efficiently. Here, he explains how having a system in place can help you overcome your fear and increase your sales.
A Born Salesman
Matthew started off his career doing theatre and street performance. “You have a choice of either performing for applause or performing for cash, and I got addicted to both really,” he remembers. As he got older, he moved towards sales and learned everything there was to learn in ten years. He ended up launching a recruitment company, but he arrived at a point where he thought: What can he do to earn more while doing what he loves? That’s when Matthew realized that he wanted to teach other people how to sell.
He became a full time sales trainer, but noticed that a lot of people were actually interested in how to set up a company. “I was preaching the values of being able to sell yourself, and being able to live in the places you choose and move around whenever you want. Today, I live in Malta.” People became very interested in how Matthew was able to live and work like this.
He enrolled in a school called the “Book Yourself Solid School of Coach Training”. Within a year, he became the head of the school, training the other coaches on how to teach the program to their clients. “Book Yourself Solid has been my bible. It’s a comprehensive system, and if you apply it, it works very quickly. It’s not about Instagram ads or Facebook likes. It’s evergreen.”
After founding another company and working there for five years, Matthew decided to go solo once again, and now focuses especially on helping people close the deal.
The 15 Principles of Professional Persuasion
People often have issues with sales. “No one likes to ask for anything. So instead of having to be brave, you can rely on a system, a process that you follow.” Matthew refers to the Professional Persuasion System he created. It includes 15 principles taking his clients through every sales step in order to achieve a sale more efficiently.
The first step is the qualification stage. “You start off connecting with possible clients emotionally. You need to control the journey they’re going to take, and let them see that you’re the best choice for them by demonstrating credibility.” Then follows the clarification stage. “You need to clarify what you’re offering. Firstly, you need to find a common problem, which can also be looking for pleasure. It doesn’t have to be a painful problem. It could be ‘I don’t know which motorcycle to buy’. If you can solve this problem with one of your existing products, you introduce it upfront.” What follows is proof. “You need to deliver scientific, numerical and social proof to your clients.”
Every step in Matthew’s system is meant to increase effectiveness. For example handling objections before they arise. “Rather than wait and crossing your fingers that no one will raise any objections, you should preempt possible objections. People are often worried about their money, or committing to something. If you prepare for these situations, you can deal with them better should they come up.”
It’s important to keep in mind that no one ever closes 100% of their deals. “But using a method, you can make sure to be 5% better at qualifying, 5% better at connecting, 10% better at controlling the situation. You need to identify opportunities and then follow a process. And then you ask your customer: Are you ready to get started today?”
Matthew’s process can be applied in various ways: on a sales page, during a launch, in a conversation or for selling B2B services.
The Importance of Social Proof
Matthew says that social proof is the most reassuring proof you can give to potential customers. “It’s what gets us to do things for the sheer sake of it. Why are hipster beards fashionable? Because somebody is wearing a hipster beard, so other people start to wear them.”
Social proof is sometimes enough on its own. ClickFunnels and Infusionsoft do the job, but why are you really using them? Because your friends do. “Testimonials are a great source of social proof. A good testimony starts with a ‘before’ and then leads to an ‘after’. The ‘before’ often includes ‘This was my problem and this was why I was hesitant to sign up’. So people who read it think: Hey, that’s me, too! If you can achieve that, it’s very powerful.” The same goes for celebrity or influencer endorsement. “We all have aspirations for our business and we take recommendations from the people who influence us the most.” In short, social proof is something you can never have enough of.
“Generic online marketing coaches feel that they have to be up to date on absolutely everything,” Matthew says. “That creates a fantastic opportunity for everyone who is selling, because if you can come up with some really attractive intellectual property or some kind of signature system and get ten people to talk about it, then the others will say, ‘I haven’t done this method. I don’t know what it is, so I better check it out.”
Inject Some Personality Into Your FAQs
Matthew’s advice is to not underestimate your FAQs. “You can use them as a wonderful tool for handling objections. In 90% of the cases, people ask: Will this apply to me and my situation? They believe their clients are different or their situation is unique. In the FAQs, you have the opportunity to preemptively handle all of those questions.”
The FAQs also give you the opportunity to connect with your clients on a deeper level. “Inject some of your personality there. Entertain and delight the reader. Even if you’re selling socks, it’s a good opportunity to include some brand personality in your FAQs.” FAQs shouldn’t just be about telling your clients when their card will be charged. “It’s an opportunity for you to make them smile and more inclined to do what you want them to do.”
The Final Phase
Being a good sales person doesn’t mean you have to change who you are. “But you have to be an integrity when it comes to what you say and who you are. You should be the best version of yourself, not a different person.”
Being up front and honest about your intentions certainly helps. “I like to say to a potential client: The whole purpose of our conversation is to see whether or not we should work together, so why don’t we make that decision at the end? If I can help you, I’ll tell you what the options are and you can give me a yes or a no.” Matthew says that with this approach, people relax and aren’t waiting to be ambushed somewhere along the way. Everyone’s on the same page from the start.
After the chat comes the close. “I often put it to them like this: I’ve got two interesting offers for you. If you’d like to discuss them, there’s a minimum investment of £ 3,000. If you feel that you qualify, let’s put down a refundable deposit of £500. If it’s a go, we use the £500 as credit. If it’s a no, I push one button and the money is back on your card the same day. If you can deal with these conditions, then I’m thrilled to talk.”
Matthew uses the same straight forward approach during his live events. When lunchtime comes up, he announces that he’s going to make his pitch, and everyone who’s interested should stay around for the next 20 minutes. Those who aren’t or are too hungry to listen should come back in an hour. “The only people that are staying are those who are interested in my pitch. You need to be upfront that you’re going to talk about sales, but also say that it’s an opportunity for people to bring their business forward. That’s what people really want.”
If you have nothing to hide, you can get away with more. “If you’re naked, people don’t worry if you’ve got something up your sleeve, right?”
[tweetshareinline tweet=”If you can show the world what you’re about from day one, then you’re going to become more magnetic. – Matthew Kimberley” username=”sigruncom”]
Resources Mentioned:
- Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Key Takeaways:
- It’s not about closing 100% of the deals. It’s about giving yourself the best competitive edge in the marketplace.
- You need to focus on identifying opportunities, then diligently following the process as well as you can.
- You want to be the best version of yourself.
- If you have nothing to hide, you can ask for more.
Connect with Matthew Kimberley:
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Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Sigrun Show. If you enjoyed this episode please share, subscribe and review on iTunes or Google Play Music so more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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