SEVEN FIGURE SELLING (Part 1 of 7)

By J.B. Bernstein - @JBBERNSTEIN

I have always felt that being a salesperson is the hardest job out there. It takes a special kind of person who can think fast on their feet, be an expert in many business categories, and most importantly, be impervious to rejection.

Selling goods and services that are priced over $1,000,000.00 is almost impossible.  If I can use an analogy here...  Being a good salesman is like being the champion at your golf club. Being a good seven figure salesman is like being Tiger Woods.

Buyers in this exclusive "Seven Figure" market are very limited and fall into two groups:

·       C-Level Corporate officers - CEO, CFO, CMO, ect.

·       Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) - People who have a net worth in excess of $50,000,000.00

Two factors that are unique to this category, that make closing sales very difficult, of course, revolve around price.

1.     Price is in INVERSE proportion to the size of the buying market. That is to say that the higher the price, the less people there are that can afford to buy.

2.     Price is in DIRECT proportion to the complexity and customization of the sale. That is to say that the higher the price, the more the customer expects a very specific and customized product/service.

Another unique dynamic of seven figure selling is that the salesman is not likely to be able to afford the products they sell. Take for instance the salesman who sells private jets or mega-yachts. They might have a small boat or plane, but probably will never have that Embraer Legacy 1000 or a Hinckley 180 foot yacht. The salesman does not run in the same social and business circles that their customers do, and in many ways is looked down on by the customer (even if it is subconscious).

In this seven part series, I will cover some of the main challenges intrinsic to this top tier of sales, complete with some interesting case studies from my career that show ways to circumnavigate these hurdles.

When I was a kid I got fortune cookie that said, "The greatest pleasure in life is doing things people say you can't do." It has been my experience that nothing could be truer.