Steli Efti, Founder & CEO of Close.io, has created an excellent 16 part video series on how to sell. The series is posted on YouTube. While the presentation focuses mainly on inside sales and start-ups, some of his advice can also help outside salespeople and those working for major corporations.

Here are some of the key takeaways –

1). Hustle –  you have to hustle if you want to make sales. Sitting on your ass and waiting for the phone to ring isn’t going to work. If you want to get into the money zone you need to get out of your comfort zone. You have to be proactive. While you hope your company has a good marketing department that can provide good inbound leads, you have to take responsibility for your own success. Remember – the marketing team isn’t working on commission – you are. So start calling.

2). Show up, follow-up and close – really, in summary, that’s what selling is all about. Just showing up daily (and on time), making your calls, following up with more calls and emails, and closing is the key to your success. It’s not rocket science. You just have to be consistent in your actions. Sure, there are certain techniques that you can learn along the way. There are a lot of books, articles, and blogs to help you. But when you think about it, selling is like acting – you just have to bury your negative emotions and bad mood, and professionally play the role you were hired to do. You have a process, use it well, and you will be successful. But don’t try to fake it until you make it. Clients can spot a phony a mile away. Just make it work – now.

3). Rejection is your friend – Embrace it. If you are not getting a lot of rejections, you are not doing your job well. Don’t focus on just the low hanging fruit – go after the high hanging fruit with the potential of bigger sales. Low hanging fruit is for order takers. Salespeople don’t take orders – they make orders happen.

4). Be a Journalist –  Ask good questions. Listen more and talk less. If you really want to help your clients and solve their problems, you need to dig deep by asking for good qualifying or needs-based questions. You want to be seen as a problem solver, not a sleazy salesperson trying to peddle his wares.

5). Value – focus on selling value, not features. When you do a feature vomit on your client, he will run, not walk, away from you. Remember – it’s not about you, it’s about your client. What value do you offer that’s going to solve his problems? If you don’t have what the prospect needs, be honest, and move on. As the old saying goes, there are plenty of other fish in the sea to catch.

6). Lead generation – as I mentioned in other posts, there are many ways of finding leads. But before you start buying or developing leads, review your existing customers (if you have any). Create a client profile of your top 5 to 10 best customers. Who are they? Why are they buying from you? Do you see any patterns? Once you have a good idea of who your clients are, you can then start targeting prospects that fit the same pattern. It’s better to narrow down your prospects than waste time going too broad. Yes, a wide net will catch a lot of fish – but do you want big fish or minnows?

7). Objections – there is a lot of advice on how to handle objections. In my opinion, the most common objection is the price. However, it’s always a good idea to list some common objections and has answers prepared for them. In short, it’s better to be ready and respond with one or two sentences, then fumble around sounding like a fool. Because if you sound like a bumbling idiot, the next sound you hear will be “click.”

8). Send emails – contrary to popular belief, cold calling is more than just making phone calls and leaving voice mail messages. You also need to send emails. Some clients respond better with emails than by phone. No problem. The key is to connect with your prospect and hopefully get the sale. Phone, email or carrier pigeon, do whatever it takes to make the connection. Get a response. If it’s no, OK…but don’t cross your prospect off your list too fast. Try to circle back later. Maybe he will be in a better mood or have a budget to move forward. Based on studies I’ve read, you need to make anywhere from 6 to 8 attempts before a prospect will acknowledge your existence.

To help you learn more about selling, Close.io is offering a free 30-day startup sales success course sent to you via email.

Here is the link – http://close.io/free-sales-course

I thought the videos were on point. I have two criticisms – First,  I wish the Close.io would put the videos on an organized playlist on their YouTube channel to make it easy to follow each presentation. I found myself jumping around too much trying to find the next video in the proper order.

Second, Mr. Efti argues that start-ups shouldn’t hire traditional salespeople because they don’t know how to adjust to an ever-changing work environment. I disagree. I’ve worked at major corporations that constantly go through reorgs and other changes throughout the year. I also know salespeople who have worked at major corporations who had their compensation packages changed every quarter – if not every month.

For example, one of my friends uses to work for a popular large car dealership in the Washington, D.C. area. Every month, the car salesperson with the lowest sales of the month would be fired – regardless of his seniority or his sales record YTD. Why? Because the sales manager wanted to keep his sales team “on their toes.”

Nice guy.

My point is this – any good salesperson has to know how to be flexible in order to survive. The business world – whether we are talking about start-ups or major companies – is changing all the time. If you are seeking a nice, safe conservative job, become a banker or an accountant. The sales process is constantly evolving – either keep up or switch careers.

Close.io has other videos I would recommend that you check out. Also, the company has one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read about selling. Yes, they are promoting their product to some degree (hell, we are all in sales). However, the blogs offer great sales advice that you can apply in any industry.

Below is a sample video from the 16-part presentation –