The contract of over 1 million euros

In the previous article I wrote about the "myth" of starting businesses from scratch, without money invested (respectively the story with goat's milk, but also with Santa's agency).

Meanwhile, the reactions have multiplied.

"Wow !!! Yes, Daniel, this is more than an entrepreneurship course !! I am very pleased with the information received, Daniel, and thank you for completely changing my vision of entrepreneurship ... you are great !!"

Bogdan

"God! I don't think I've read anything more applicable and valuable about entrepreneurship. I have an active bankruptcy and I understand what I did wrong. It seems so obvious to me now, after reading your writings. Thank you!"

Alexandra

It's time to tell you what my plan is with this mini-course.

In the first phase, with the story of bankruptcy, I aimed to highlight how an inexperienced entrepreneur thinks and why this type of thinking leads you, almost irremediably, to bankruptcy.

In the second story, the one with goat's milk, I wanted to highlight the SIMPLICITY of a start-up that grows organically. We complain that we don't have the money to start a business, but in reality, any of us would like to start something, he can do it relatively easily without throwing money left and right.

I owe you two more stories:

• the story of education (which is a sales lesson);
• the story of freedom (how you can build a business around a passion or skill you have, in response to the employee status you want to get rid of).

Today is the time to tell you the story of education, or how I signed a contract of over one million euros at the age of 23, although - as a freelancer, I was fighting with several well-known companies in the field.

I used an extremely simple sales technique, adapted to my client.

But for starters, I want to explain the context. I was 23 years old, I had a lot of confidence in financing programs. I had built a great team and won big projects (as an employee).

When I felt I could do more, I resigned. I then started 2 startups - both failures. Mentally and emotionally I was not in my best period. I found myself faced with the situation of re-employment.

With one last effort, I said I would go back to that thing I was best at - namely, consulting in funding programs. I was just a kid. I didn't have a team, I didn't have relationships - I just knew how to write projects and I knew I was doing well.

I had heard of a Romanian-German company that wanted to invest in equipment in Romania. I took my heart in my teeth and went to see what it was all about.

I was an introvert, I didn't have sales skills, my work was mostly intellectual and it took place between four walls.

I made a presentation, printed it and went to a first meeting. People liked me because I managed to master myself and it was obvious that I knew my "job". But much more was needed than that. I was a very young freelancer, while the others who also wanted the contract were specialized companies.

That's how I realized I had to raise. In one of the meetings (there were about 5 in total), I asked about the competition, the others who wanted the contract. And they gave me details - like that they had come to the team to make a presentation of the services, that they had put diplomas and accreditations on the table, etc.

Back then, I was devouring marketing and sales books, and I remembered a simple technique told by one of the mammoths of American marketing, Jay Abraham.

The example was of the unbreakable glass leader in the USA who, in direct meetings with potential buyers, gave them goggles and hammers with which to try to break the product.

The method of getting the customer to directly test the promise in the offer (unbreakable glass) brought the company to the top of sales in the field. All the salesmen were wearing glasses, goggles and hammers. And customers became enthusiastic about the product, to the detriment of the competition.

I felt like I wasn't one of the favorites, so I made a decisive move. I took one of the projects I had done in the past that resembled what the client wanted. We are talking here about a bookcase that weighed a few pounds.

I went with him in a bag to my potential clients, went into the general manager's office and put him in his arms.

"No, I didn't come with accreditations and other useless papers for you. I came with a project similar to the one you want to do. It's exactly on the line of financing you want to access, with a budget, sketches ... all .. I did it. If I won this one, I can win yours too! "

He rolled his eyes, swallowed hard and took the project and leafed through it in front of me for about 20 minutes, without even speaking.

I clapped my hands and signed the consulting contract.

I repeat - I was a child! One who was hungry for results, but just an introverted child who talked to the point and often nothing over. I could still talk to him about projects, just like the others did, or I could show him one.

I consider myself a very good marketer now, but in direct sales I had big problems expressing myself. For a long time I avoided this, I was somehow ashamed to make a sale. This is given that the business survives depending on how well the sales are going (of course).

What are the lessons in this story?

1. The reasons why a customer buys

There are four reasons why a customer buys from you. If you somehow manage to check all 4 reasons, then your chances increase a lot:

• the customer likes you;
• the customer trusts you;
• the client needs (at least partially) what you offer him;
• user experience (the process of selling overall, how it feels to buy).

Unfortunately, few companies are able to offer maximum on the 4 directions, because many of them are purely subjective.

I managed:

• by authenticity to conquer them - I never denied that I would be a freelancer, I always said exactly the things I had done and not (see "you like");
• through the project shown - I pointed to the chapter "trust"; most of the time this is solved through testimonials, case studies, but also accreditations, trainings, prizes won, etc. (see "trusts you");
• also through the project - I showed that I understand EXACTLY their need, because the project was very close to what they were looking for (see "needs what you offer");
• through the stories about the projects I had been involved in, I made him dream with my eyes open; the project I gave him in his hand made him, for a short period of time, put himself in the shoes of the one who won the project (see "user experience").

The most difficult to "process" is the last chapter. The "user experience". I have a rule that I wrote down and keep it on the desk, in plain sight. It is closely related to a quote from the Bible (which has entire marketing passages, if you read it with "correct" eyes).

The Bible says, "What you don't like, don't do to anyone else!"

The marketing rule says, "Behave with your customer the way someone else wants you to be when you buy."

2 - Stories (with successes or failures) help you more than cold sales techniques

At 23, I was in full swing, reading a lot about marketing and sales. And yet, what stuck in my mind when I was in context was a story. Not a specific technique, not a strategy - but a simple story.

When I understood this, I documented all the theories about marketing and sales with stories (I practically attached characters and case studies to them, so that they could be applied more easily).

Since then, I've been throwing away particularly technical / didactic books - and I've surrounded myself with "live" books, autobiographies, interviews or even metaphors. They have a lot more impact and help you a lot more in the long run.

3 - The people around you are very important

We all know that if you have enthusiastic people who have results, you become a copy of them over time. But in the beginning, when you barely make a name for yourself, you don't have access to these people (you don't see them, you can't stick to them, they don't trust you).

The only alternative is to create a truly successful environment for yourself.

How do you do that?

Putting your professional / non-formal education first:

• through books written by successful people;
• interviews and videos with these people;
• events in which they participate.

By reading success stories and ways these people managed to get through the blockages, you will have the feeling that anything is possible. They give you confidence and solution-oriented thinking.

Reading a book by a man who has the results you want has the same impact as a coffee you drink with its author. You learn a lot, provided you have a direction.

In time, you will attract people who have the thoughts of those you follow through their works.

4 - There are 1001 types of marketing and sales

I'm telling you this because I don't want you to give up the idea of ​​a business just because you don't know how to sell right now.

Indeed, in all successful companies that have grown organically from scratch, I have found that the entrepreneur behind it (or one of the direct partners) has a penchant for sales or has taken on this role.

In start-ups the sale is the most important (see the example with goat's milk), but the sale can be done in 1001 ways. It is important to find the way in which you express yourself best (at the beginning).

For example, I, as a marketer, tested all possible sales methods. But my love for writing brings me to the few channels through which I can express myself at the level of excellence:

• entrepreneurship, personal leadership and marketing blog;
• the books I write;
• the emails I send.

All this has led to a point where I have built my whole business around my lifestyle.

P.S. If you like to read while drinking coffee, you can offer me a coffee too.