MBA975 Q&A Wednesday: What sales guides or resources do you recommend for non-sales people?

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Hey O welcome to the $100 MBA show, your go to place for business improvement with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar mba, a complete business training and community online. If you're building a new product, a new business, trying to decide on pricing, trying to decide on your logo, then you need to check out our seven part course on Idea Validation. This seven video course is going to show you how to make sure that what you're creating is actually what people want. This course comes with a handy practical workbook that you can download and best of all, it's all for free. Just go to 100 MBA net to enroll right now. Today's episode is a Q and a Wednesday episode. On our Q and A Wednesday episodes I answer a question from one of our listeners. If you have a question that you want to ask, just email me over@omar00mba.net I'd love to answer your question. Today's question comes from Alexander and Alexander asks what sales guides or resources do you recommend for non salespeople? Such a good question. A lot of us perceive ourselves as non salespeople and that's because maybe you don't have a lot of Sales experience. And you're looking for some good tips, some good pointers so you can get out there and start practicing and you can start actually making some sales. This is why I love this question so much. It means that you're a doer, that you're actually willing to do something that's uncomfortable for now to achieve your goal. I love this. So I'm definitely gonna give you some really awesome resources. So if you're like Alexander and you're listening today, you're gonna get a crash course in sales in a short amount of time with these guides, with these resources, I'll share with you today. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. So Alexander emailed me with a great question. I wanna give you the full context of the question. I listened to your episode today. Step sales process. Thank you. And it made me think, maybe you can direct me to the right place. I have physical products in art, art supplies, and I sell these products online. But I'd also like to approach small local stores with my art supplies. I'd like to team up with them. Maybe I can give them a cut of the sales. Are you aware of any sales materials that I can get into to better my sales skills? Thank you for everything you're doing. I get a lot out of your show. Thank you. Well, thank you, Alexander, for writing in and for asking this great question. First thing I want to say is that sales is a skill. Just like any skill, anything that you do now on a regular basis is a skill that you picked up if you play video games. There was a point where you didn't play video games and you learned how to play video games. I don't play video games. If I picked up a controller right now on any game, I would have no idea. It would take me some time, but I could pick it up if I wanted to. It's a skill. And just like video games, sales can be exciting and fun and rewarding and heck, let's be honest, your business relies on it, especially if you have a small business and you're going to need to do the bulk of the sales. So I first want to recommend some books that are really going to help you understand the whole point of sales and give you some simple pointers to follow so you can have some confidence in the process. Now, my first recommendation is actually not a sales book, but really a human interaction and communication book. And that's really what sales is. And this book is how to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie. This is probably the most recommended business book ever. People that don't read books read this book. So if you haven't read this book yet, you really should because it really breaks down human nature, interaction, how to build strong relationships with people, how to make sure it's a win win for everybody. So you're going into stores, you want to sell your art supplies to them, you want to make sure that they get a cut of the sales, you want to make sure it's a mutually beneficial interaction. And this book really touches on how to make sure you know how to serve people and make them feel like you care. And it's genuine. It's not scammy. It's really trying to do your best to be a good person. Now, I know maybe the title is a little bit cheesy, how to Win Friends and Influence People. But it's one of the best investments you can make when it comes to just being better at business and in sales. All right, book number two. And this is a book I'm reading right now. And I find it to be incredibly insightful. And best of all, it's really short. It's about 150 pages long. And it's called exactly what to say by Phil M. Jones. Now, I met Phil Jones in person. I know him personally. I met him at a speaker's meetup and then again at a conference. And this guy's the real deal. He's just not some sort of author that studies sales. He's a salesperson that decided to write a book. This book gets rave reviews, not only from people that are new to sales, but senior people in sales and marketing. One of the top reviews is somebody who I highly respect in sales and writes this book is the book I Wish I wrote. The point is, the book really breaks down how to approach every sales situation. And he actually gives you exactly what to say. A script. And obviously you can modify the script, but it puts you at ease. He breaks down something that seems so nebulous and confusing to something that's a simple formula. He talks about what really motivates people to buy and how to get them over that buyer's line in a way that's honest, genuine, and beneficial to the person you're selling to. So highly recommend this book, exactly what to say by Phil M. Jones. He's English, so if you love the English accent, you should pick up the audiobook. The third book I want to recommend to you is a book that's a little bit broader, it's a little bit more big picture and it's a book I would recommend you'd read after the first two. And you've done some sales, got some sales under your belt, and you want to really maybe take it to the next level. And that's the Ultimate Sales machine by Chet Holmes. He talks about how to create a sales system, not just be good at one on one sales, but how to create a system around your business. So it's a process that goes on and on and on and one that you can duplicate and hand over to somebody else. Now, if you're looking for a course, something that's guided step by step, I highly recommend you check out Matthew Kimberly. You can check him out@MatthewKimberly.com, he's one of the best salespeople I've ever seen. And full disclosure, I know Matthew personally. I've gotten to know him through the years and I know him as a salesperson and an actual person and it's the same person. So it's really genuine and he really believes in what he does. He's also English. I don't know what's up with the British, but they're really good at sales. But if you go to matthewkimberly.com and sign up for his newsletter or one of his free opt ins, his ebooks, you'll be on his email and he'll let you know when the course that he offers opens up. It's called Professional Persuasion. When enrollment's open, he'll let you know. But I've seen his course. It's incredible and it really does take you by the hand. Of course, I would recommend you check out the $100 MBA. We have a whole sales course inside the $100 MBA. But at the moment, enrollment into the $100 MBA is closed because we're working on a whole new refreshed version of it. But if you go to our website, 100 MBA net, you can sign up for a waiting list and you'll be notified as soon as enrollments open. All right, shameless plug over. But hey, Alexander asked thy ticket lady Jennifer of Coolidge.

Well, many thanks, good sir. Here is my Discover card.

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With the times. You're playing the loot.

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Discover is accepted at 99% of places.

That take credit cards nationwide based on.

The February 2025 Nielsen report.

Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why Our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the courseroom to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella. Edu.

To wrap up today's Q and A Wednesday's question, Are there any sales resources I recommend to non salespeople? 3 books I highly recommend. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, exactly what to say by Phil M. Jones, the Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. And check out matthewkimberly.com if you're interested in an online course in sales as well as the $100 MBA. When we open up for enrollment, you can sign up for the waiting list. All right, that wraps up today's lesson. Thank you so much for asking that question, Alexander. If you are listening right now and you have a question that you would love to have answered here on the show, just email me@omar mba net. I'd love to answer it on Q and A Wednesday. That's it for me today, guys. But before I go, I want to leave you with this. When it comes to learning a skill like sales and you're reading a book, you're gonna need to read the book more than once. Sometimes you just need to read it one time to get your head around the concepts to actually change your mindset. Then you gotta read it again to actually know what to do to implement the things that they say. And then you might want to read it a third time to refresh your memory and to motivate you to take action. So I like to read books more than once when it comes to gaining a new skill. Now, if you're employed, if you're in a job right now, but you want to get into business, you want to build a side hustle, well, you're in luck because the next two episodes are dedicated to that topic, how to Build a Business on the side. It's a two part lesson, first part coming tomorrow and the next part the day after. I'm going to get into how to conceive the business idea, how to organize your time, how to make sure that you're on track, how to grow the business even though you're still working full time, and even how to have an exit strategy with your job once it's time to take your business to the next level. All that in the next two episodes. So make sure you hit subscribe so you do not miss it. All right, I'll check you tomorrow. Until then, take care.

At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why Our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the courseroom to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella. Eduardo.