00:15:49 · Peter Ahn
If you want your buyer to divulge information that is private to them or that might be sensitive or something that they're uncomfortable sharing, you also need to be able to mirror that and show that. A lot of great salespeople are... This goes back to honesty. They can be very, very honest about their situation and be very open, and that opens up the other side to open up about their own problems too. So that's that's one thing. I'll give you a very tangible example. Let's say I tell a buyer like, hey. I'm a little nervous about this deal because I don't feel like I did a great job with the demo on the last call. Do you feel that's the case? You know, that's very vulnerable. Right? To say that, hey. Like, I didn't do a good job on the sales call. But psychologically, happens is the other side is like, oh, Peter's being very honest and vulnerable. Let me also share with them something that is equal to that level of question or answer or information. So I think that's one thing. The second thing is you have to be a really great listener if you want to be able to mirror people and if you want to be able to understand people. You also need to be able to take answers and follow the breadcrumbs and follow-up with more questions that help you dig in to the root of why people are saying certain things. I think that's the second part. The third part to build trust and EQ is you need to be really, really good at your craft. You need to understand your industry in the space really, really well because in this day and age, people trust experts. You're not gonna be able to hold a conversation with somebody if you're surface level or if you're not able to show that you know what you're talking about or that you're an expert in your field. Those are, like, three tangible things. The other thing I would say about building EQ is you just have to be around people a lot in different environments. So if I were just on Zoom calls all day, like, it probably wouldn't help me with EQ, but I try to meet people for coffee. Like, I try to vary things, you know, like text people, go to bars or dinners with people, and, you know
00:17:44 · S0, S1, S2
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00:18:39 · S2, S3, S4
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00:19:39 · Peter Ahn
[00:19:39] S5: Spend time around people and really understand what makes people tick, what gives them motivation both on the personal and professional side. That's the other thing I think with EQ is if you're in sales, you can't always be talking about your product or business. You have to have a genuine interest in the other person as a person. And if you don't have a genuine interest, that shows. If you're just asking a set of questions about the weather or where they're from or how many kids they have, like, those are very trained. But the question is what do you do with that information, and how do you actually remember people's kids names or remember people's hobbies and ask more about their interests. I think the reason why I was successful at sales is because one, I have a genuine passion for technology and understanding more about the technology than my competition. And then the second thing is I'm a hard worker. You know, Dropbox had ping pong tables, they had a cafeteria, and I never played a game of ping pong at Dropbox. Maybe I did once or twice, but I always pride myself on being the hardest worker in the room, and clients notice that. If you're the fastest person to reply to an email, if you're the fastest person to get back to somebody or find a solution, that is a lot of what customers are looking for because they wanna understand that when there's a problem, you're gonna be there. So the other reason why I was successful in sales is because I took outlier characteristics and what I perceived to be weaknesses of myself and turned them into superpowers. I'll give a very tangible example. English was my second language. Initially, as a kid growing up, I had a stuttering problem. I was not very confident speaking English. But fast forward to today, I teach people how to communicate, and I think I'm more effective at it because I've actually created phrases that help slow down the conversation. So when I need to buy more time to think, I have phrases like, let me think about that, or that's a great question, but I don't know the exact answer right now, or can we go back to what you said in the beginning of the conversation?
00:21:37 · Peter Ahn
A lot of these phrases were designed to help me slow the conversation down, and I think it resonates with a lot of people who are not natural communicators because they can imagine how to authentically slow the speed of the conversation down for them. So turning something like that into a superpower. The other thing too is I thought it was gonna be a weakness to be an Asian salesperson because there weren't that many Asian salespeople. But then I decided to actually lean into that and take people to Korean barbecue or karaoke bars instead of steakhouses and stuffy bars. Right? So I think a lot of, like, putting my personality into the sales process also made me successful because it made me memorable as a seller. My vision is to teach sales to as many people who think that sales is not for them and to get them confident in the craft. And then for existing sellers or existing sales teams, change the focus not just only on numbers and results, but also empowering individuals to feel like they have their own personality in the deal. And so I'd love to start to educate people more on the art of sales and how important that that is and the nuance of communication in a way where people see sales as an example of how to do great business, not as an example of stereotypes or sales bro culture or something else. Right? I do believe sales can change the world. I think right now there's a lot of waste in technology spend, and I think a lot of people are getting convinced of the wrong things. And so I think a great way sales can change the world is if we can start making a dent in that where people feel like salespeople are trustworthy people and not people who are trying to buy their next Ferrari. The other way I think sales can change the world is that I do think the best salespeople are the best communicators. When you're trying to give your next speech or you're trying to connect as a diplomat with another country, I think it's sales. Like, if you're good at sales, you can understand how to negotiate with countries as well, right, if you're a diplomat. So I think, like, my dream would be, like, if other industries look at salespeople and they're like, wow, I don't wanna just learn sales from this salesperson. I wanna learn how to communicate, or I wanna learn how to bridge the gap. I wanna learn how to bridge misunderstandings. That would be like a dream.
00:23:47 · Peter Ahn, S0, S6, S1, S3, S7
So bringing sales into a noble profession. I think the most important thing in sales is to have a confident mentality. If you're not confident, people are gonna sense that right away. And then the other thing with technical sales is you have to be as close of a thought leader expert as possible to the product that you're selling because sales is a lot about education as well. So if you're able to confidently educate your prospects, you'll do very well in sales. Ad[00:24:24] S0: Are you ever shopping online and suddenly a discount that helps you save pops up? It makes your day, sometimes even your week. Want that feeling month after month? Well, new customers who save by switching their home and auto insurance to Progressive save hundreds. Cue your happy dance. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states. Ad[00:24:51] S6: The secret society of semi homemade? Listen up. Sam's Club has premade dishes for a Thanksgiving feast that's ready in two hours, all while tasting suspiciously homemade. Ad[00:25:02] S5: Come join us. Ad[00:25:03] S1: Sam's Club. Ad[00:25:04] S3: Individual oven times may vary. Ad[00:25:06] S7: Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change. Your receipt did. The sausage McMuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5. Only at McDonald's for a limited time.