The year is 2015 and my inbox is flooded with people wanting to come sell for me. As I check my Facebook DMs, I see message after message that says, “Can I come work with you?” “Hey man, you should buy X from me.”
I had a strategy for sorting the real opportunities from the fake. The problem is, my method really pissed off the fake. Like, we are talking steaming mad.
I’d reply to them with “I’m not hiring,” or “That pitch is weak.”
What I was doing, is seeing how well they handle pushback, objections and criticism. If they want to work with or for me, they are gonna get a lot of both. Well, 99.9% of the people fell over on the first push.
The following sequence from a Porsche salesman from Arizona really happened.
But he’s not alone, it’s happened like this or worse 1,000+ times in the last few years.
Dude: Hey man I’m a big fan. Come to Arizona and buy a Porsche from me. (That was literally his pitch, how fucking horrible.)
Me: Man, I drive a McLaren. I’m not interested in a Porsche. I eat Porsches for breakfast. But let’s talk about how horrible that pitch was. You want me to fly from Texas to Arizona and buy a $150K car from you then drive it home? You really need to work on your sales pitch, bro.
Dude: Fuck you man, I’ll fly to Texas and beat your ass you weak piece of shit douche bag.
Me: That escalated quickly. (blocked)
Let’s talk about this exchange for a second because it happens a lot. I had no idea how easily upset people would be by the truth. Let’s get real here. This guy didn’t ask me if I like Porsches and didn’t ask me if I already owned one (which I did at the time; we had a Cayenne). He came at me with a ridiculously selfish sales pitch: “I like you. Buy my stuff,” then when corrected, he exploded with roid rage and death threats.
He didn’t explode because he’s a badass. He exploded because he’s soft.
He’s prolly surrounded by some echo chamber of friends online and lives in a conflict-free world.
Think of it this way. If you went to a basketball coach and missed all your free throw shots, the coach would tell you that you sucked and would help you fix it. The same goes for me. If your pitch sucks I can’t just sit back and let you keep pitching the way you are. I’m a coach. It’s my job not to let that happen to you.
Yet most people react with all sorts of crazy if you correct their sales pitch. I’ve had more death threats and “I’ll beat your ass” moments in my DM than I could ever care to count. All I was trying to do with every single one of them, is help.
A fool rejects help to protect his delicate ego.
But really, what most of us need is rejection and improvement every day. Sadly, in modern times most people fear and run from rejection.
Anger is a symptom of fear. Every time a person is angry they are projecting fear.
When someone gets mad at me, I ask myself what are they scared of? so I can help them. Back in the day I just told them to “fuck off” but now I’m a lot nicer. When I correct a salesman’s pitch and he goes off on me, he’s scared that I am right. His pitch does suck and that’s why he’s not making the money he wants to make. Admitting that would take responsibility and ownership of the need for improvement. Many people’s egos just won’t let them admit it.
Social media has everyone triggered these days. Salespeople are no different. Having a bad day on the sales floor? Hop on social media and take your anger out on strangers with absolutely no consequences. Seems like a good deal, right?
If that’s your pattern right now, you will be running it forever if you don’t make a change.
If you’re not making the money you want to make, don’t take it out on someone online; find a way to make more. Pick up a sales book; get a training program; master a new way of selling. Learn how to get leads using software like PhoneSites.com and add a new skill set to your arsenal. Getting angry at strangers online isn’t going to make your commission check any bigger.
You have to treat social media just like real life. There’s no way people would say to me in real life what they say online. One guy who was fuming at me for no reason told everyone he was going to beat me up at some event. When I met the guy, he was nice and polite to me. Online he’s a complete troll. I don’t see how anyone would want to live that way. Why not be nice online and off? Being an angry little troll never helped anyone make more money.
I can see it from a mile away.
Guy goes to close the sale, misses the deal, gets online, sees someone post about a sale, goes off on them, runs same old anger pattern and repeats the process daily.
I feel bad for the people I see doing this, but much like any other addict, you can’t change them. They must want to change themselves first.
In real life, when a face-to-face customer gives you an objection, you must man up and handle it or lose the sale. On social media, you can go off on a prospect and block them if they say something you don’t like. The latter is making salespeople soft.
In reality, you can use online rejections to get better at closing. Learn how to influence and persuade people online just like you do off. If you will drop your ego and look at the opportunities you have to actually make sales instead of making enemies, you can make good money. I used to argue with trolls. Now, I politely change their mind or ignore them. My ultimate close is turning a hater into a fan.
The next time you catch yourself getting mad at someone online, ask yourself what am I afraid of? Then figure out what fears you need to face to stop being so damn soft on social media.
