How many times have you heard salespeople say that you should develop a style that is authentically you?

“Find your own style” they say.

For me, this was one of the most confusing things to figure out.

I didn’t even know where to start.

Did I have to make up a whole new process?

Then, I’d see people mocking other salespeople, solely because they sounded too much like the coach they were learning from.

So, how do you actually do it?

If you’re brand new to sales, start at the beginning.

Learn a basic sales process. An underlying framework.

It doesn’t matter, just start with one.

I spoke about Jordan Belfort’s straight line selling system in a previous newsletter. It’s not amazing, but it’s a very cheap start.

Get on some calls, practice, see what you like.

If something doesn’t feel right, look for solutions.

Keep it specific to a particular section of the script.

Don’t try and change everything at once.

An example most can relate to: objections.

Every new salesperson dreads them.

You get nervous, fumble and lose sales because you don’t know how to handle them.

The partner objection is a pretty common one.

Focus on that first.

Note: don’t spend money on trying to learn how to overcome it, it’s all already out there for free.

All you need to do is google “How to handle partner objection.”

Copy and paste the 5-10 different ways you find.

Read them out loud to yourself.

Try them all on calls, see what feels right.

You’ll know what hits and what doesn’t.

Take the best bits from each of them and make your own version.

This is something that happens over months, not days.

Once you know how to overcome it, the next logical step is to learn how to pre-handle it.

Understand why it comes up and how to cover it upstream.

Same process: Google “how to pre-handle the partner objection on a sales call” and watch some youtube videos.

Learn a bunch of different ways, try them out.

You’ll also draw from the research you did earlier on how to handle it at the end of the call.

It’ll come together for something that is authentically you.

Now, just do that with the whole script over the space of years.

Learn a new thing, implement it, test it.

What works or feels right for someone else might not be good for you, and that’s ok.

But what about sales training programs?

If you’re brand new, small investments are ok, but don’t make huge investments.

Once you have a base in sales (6-12 months), then look to invest in a program.

The reason I say this - you have to have an understanding of what you know and don’t know to make a smart decision. You can only pick what has good marketing, not what will yield you best results.

I see way too many people new to sales get pushed into a 5-15k sales program that they don’t need, and to be honest, they could have learned from an hour long youtube video or a $20 book.

The information is out there, you just need to look for it.

Action Steps

Pick one section of your calls each week that you feel could be better.

Google solutions, but don’t fall for the marketing. There is so much free content out there.

Once you have 10-15 different options, practice them out loud to yourself.

Rewrite them.

Add them to your script and see what fits.