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Branding is everything. Creating value is everything. Building trust is everything.

96 million dollars. That’s how much Micheal Jordan made playing basketball in his entire career. But to this day, he continues to make over $400 million every year as a salesman selling sneakers. Let that sink in. That's the power of building a brand, of connecting with customers on a level that goes beyond the product itself. Salespeople aren't just order-takers. We're problem-solvers. We’re value-creators. We’re the damn backbone of any successful business. When the market takes a nosedive, who do you think gets you out of the ditch? It's the salespeople hitting the phones, pounding the pavement, and closing deals. We're the ones who create demand, move product, and keep the lights on. That's why I'm proud to be in sales. It's the greatest damn industry in the world. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Practice Now to Become a Sales Pro Indianapolis Colts legend Marvin Harrison had it right: “They pay us for practice, the games are for fun.” Too often in sales, we think we only get paid for time with customers. But like any top performer, we’re really being paid for the consistent practice, training and development we put in behind the scenes. When we diligently build skills on a daily basis, we earn the reflexes and confidence needed to deliver when it matters most, face-to-face with shoppers. Buying a car may feel high stakes, but for pros, it becomes fun - almost effortless. So set aside at least 15 focused minutes daily to practice the basics, even as you advance over time. Do it on your drive, at your desk, wherever. As the saying goes, amateurs practice until they get it right, but pros practice until they can’t get it wrong. Commit now to developing championship skills through regular practice, and soon you’ll become the undisputed top closer at your store. Want to win more deals than ever? Visit https://lnkd.in/g7Cu2nzC to bring together all the essential systems and training for peak sales performance.

Chapter 3 is up.

And this is how you build an amazing company culture as well. You can’t make customer driving decisions from a desk at the corporate office.

Remember the definition of insanity - "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Here is how we have done the exact opposite of being insane and how we at North American Arms have innovated in the past 6 months since I came onto the team to stay competitive in the Firearms Market: 💥 Drove / Flown to 10 different States with plans to travel back to many of them for Shows, Dealer Visits, and Quarterly Coordination's with key customers in the next 6 months. 💥 Created a tiered Pricing Program ranging from Dealers to Master Wholesalers to add additional integrity to our Sales Agenda. 💥 Met all Wholesaler Sales Team members and trained them on North American Arms via Zoom. 💥 Had One on One's with each Wholesaler & established Co-op initiatives for the remainder of the year that are reoccurring. 💥 Met with each Buy Group connection in preparation for the upcoming Shows in August to create the best Show Specials for their members. 💥 Scheduled and made plans to attend as many Wholesaler / Buy Group shows as possible in person and have coordinated with each representative to do so. 💥 Onboarded 2 Rep Groups to cover 14 states (More on the way!) and provide more on-hand experience & training in-person. 💥 Established Key relationships with National Accounts across the United States to roll them out in Q4 this year (700 FFL's all together!) 💥 Executed the Release of a new product - The Sentinel - A much needed innovation to the North American Arms lineup that hasn't occurred since 2017. 💥 Wrote (& am Rewriting) Dealer/Wholesaler Agreements to enforce MAP/MTP for 2025 and to provide structure to our Sales Plan. 💥 Pioneering & Innovating a Rewards Program for Reps behind the counter to sell North American Arms. 💥 Created SMU's for Key Customers to drive business and specialize their assortment of North American Arms to tailor to their brand. 💥 Onboarded an International Wholesaler that knows the market and can work strategically in it to best provide our firearms to customers overseas. More to come! We are looking forward to simplifying yet growing our lineup with product that our customers have asked for. Currently, we are in the works of SEVEN different projects that will push the wheel forward and expand our niche market we have created for ourselves. Next year we are celebrating 50 years of being in business. Though we may see the industry at times as "Shaky", North American Arms will forever more lead the way in innovation, quality, and expertise craftsmanship by our Employee Owners. We are, and will continue to be, the Highest Quality/Concealable firearm on the market and will forever be making changes to innovate with the market. #Concealability #Quality #Innovation #NorthAmericanArms

The Fuller Brush Man! The iconic group of salesmen in America opened the way for entrepreneurship and door-to-door salesmanship. I was recently reading the book, To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink, where there's a story of The Fuller Brush Man. A man who changed the business dynamics by selling. Alfred Carl Fuller, a young man, started The Fuller Brush Company in 1906 after doing odd jobs to make ends meet. During his job days, he learned that selling products in bulk, even if they were cheap to make, could be successful with the right salesperson and soon enough his company quickly became known for high-quality brushes and great customer service. For almost 50 years, Fuller Brush salesmen knocked on doors all across America, making them a big trend. By 1915, over 1000 Fuller Brush salesmen covered every area in America daily. Alfred Fuller wanted to bring quality products directly to people's homes and this dedication generated employment in bulk by embracing the power of selling. Although door-to-door sales slowed down in 1985 because of new technology, the legacy of the Fuller Brush Man still lives on. They greatly impacted American history and showed how important salesmanship can be. Due to the advancement of technology and AI, the ways of doing sales have changed but the core is still the same and it always will be. #Salesmanship #Sales #Reinvention #development

Bad sales practices make me absolutely irate… Here’s an example: MSPs, how often does Price become your prospect’s objection? How do you deal with it? It’s a trap that many of you fall into just like this sales rep from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did - but it’s super easy to avoid. First, always address budget early if you are selling anything that could be considered a budget stresser for your prospects. Option 1: “What’s your budget?” Result: Prospect immediately gets defensive. I’m now afraid to give a price because the sales person will use every dollar of it or maybe even come back 5-10% over my budget thinking they can talk me into it. I’m also a little annoyed because if I don’t give them my budget I, the person trying to spend money, have to admit that I don’t know what a fair price is for the service which bruises my ego… but the bigger ego bruise is if I somehow interpret this as asking, “can you even afford this?” None of that is productive. Option 2: “My typical client pays between $xxx and $xxxx for this product or service. If we went through a discovery and I came back to you with a number in that range would it be worth me bringing that to you?” Result: Prospect figures out quickly that I’m here to learn what they need and solve their problem. That solution has a cost and the sales rep values my time (and their own) enough to not waste a bunch of back and forth with me if I am shopping for a Pinto at his BMW dealership. Both options get price out of the way early and get to your no quickly. As a sales person that’s good because now you can move on to the next deal. What isn’t good is finding a no where it didn’t need to exist. I’m going to buy some Bucs tickets. Maybe 1-2 games, maybe season tickets. But I won’t be buying them from the rep who took this approach. ** Names hidden to protect the guilty ** #wordsmatter #makesaleseasy

When I was running sales at Cheddar, I made a HUGE mistake... We were down for the quarter and I panicked. For all of the accounts that weren't closing I took matters into my own hands. Instead focusing on rallying the team and coaching them on how we can tackle the problem together, I attempted to close all of the accounts alone. Then I sent a message that I wasn't seeing the "hustle" that was needed to hit our quarter. Needless to say this didn't go over too well. I look back and realize how differently I would have handled this scenario today. I would have: 1. Sat down with the team and cleaned the pipe. Identified our gap to goal and the accounts most likely to close in the given time period. 2. Gotten an honest appraisal of where we were and who we should go after. Met with each seller individually and come up with three ideas I would help them with to close those specific accounts. 3. Sent an encouraging, rallying email to the team letting them know I believe in them and that we would work together to hit our goal. The difference? Understanding that everything is a team sport. And team sports need great leadership to thrive. I needed to support and lead the team to close those accounts and continue to rally for QoQ growth. So I took that lesson to heart. For the future of the company my only job was to lead and their success was my success. In that framework, we ended up getting to $50M in revenue in three years and selling the company for $200M. Teamwork truly makes the dream work.

Here are my 6 personal ALL-TIME favourite sales films (plus a new one I'm adding to the list)... 1) The Founder 2) Joy 3) The Pursuit of Happyness 4) Glengarry Glen Ross 5) Jerry Maguire 6) The Wolf of Wall Street I think "The Founder" and "Joy" are my top favourites. Joy is a brilliant film and hugely inspiring story, and I love how hard Ray Kroc worked to build the empire of McDonald's, and how his skills as a salesperson helped him achieve that "Glengarry Glen Ross" is a classic! "The Pursuit of Happyness" is a brilliant example of real hard work and grit and "Jerry Maguire" really highlights competitiveness and the drive needed to succeed I know "Wolf of Wall Street" is a controversial one, but if you can look past the poor choices he made, there are some very powerful sales skills and lessons in there (plus a very entertaining film!) PLUS I'm adding a new one to this list, AIR (the film about the Nike/Michael Jordan story) - It's incredible and full of inspiration around resilience and persistence What are your favourite sales films? What ones would be on your list? Credit The Daily Sales