Paul M. Caffrey (00:01.521)
I'm excited to be joined by Ricky Pearl, co -founder of Pointer, and we're going to get straight into the best sales tips that Ricky has to provide. How are you doing, Ricky? How's it going?
Ricky Pearl (00:11.407)
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on.
Paul M. Caffrey (00:13.745)
I'm delighted that you're here. And my first question is, what is your number one prospecting tip?
Ricky Pearl (00:21.878)
Consistency. Absolute consistency. Just keep doing it. And the only thing you need to measure is how many conversations you're having with people who could potentially buy your product.
Paul M. Caffrey (00:34.769)
really like that to the point. How many conversations have you had this week with that right ideal persona? You probably know what that answer is in your head and you're probably thinking it's a bit low. And if it's a bit low, it's probably because of a lack of consistency. So yeah, appreciate you sharing that from a sales perspective. What's your number one sales tip?
Ricky Pearl (00:42.03)
I
Ricky Pearl (00:56.718)
Sell to people who want your product, not who need your product.
Paul M. Caffrey (01:03.78)
Okay. And how do we decide if they want, how do we, yeah, how do you decide if we want their products?
Ricky Pearl (01:04.974)
Strongman to the left, right?
Ricky Pearl (01:09.806)
The, the clients that are found to be the stickiest are the ones that have chosen to work with you, not because there was no other alternatives, not because they were desperate, but because this is what they've chosen. The ones that just like need something needs change. I feel like needs are far more fickle than wants. And for example, the people who are our best clients are the ones who want help training their apps.
And because they know how to do it, because they could do it themselves, they appreciate the effort we put in. So we actively say to everyone like, you can do this yourself. Here's everything that you could do. Do it yourself. And they're like, no, Ricky, we still want your support. This is a great client.
Paul M. Caffrey (01:55.537)
Fantastic. And for reps out there who are looking to get ahead, what's your number one tip to get promoted, Ricky?
Ricky Pearl (02:05.102)
It's like that, when everyone says, like, if you're running away from a bear, you don't have to be foster than the bear. You just got to be foster than your friend. Yeah. for me, it's professional development. Keep learning. Keep trying to do better. Learn your manager's job, understand their pains and be a good employee.
Paul M. Caffrey (02:24.945)
Gotcha. Yeah. So be intentional for sure. I can hear that coming through and assess who you're up against. So often people think it's a might arrive fit for that job. But to your point, it's really, are you a better candidate than maybe some of the others who are there? So I really like that better analogy. When you're looking to get better at sales, what are some books that you recommend people check out?
Ricky Pearl (02:49.55)
I really like books that require an element of introspection. I think sales is a, is a personal challenge more than it is external more often than not. So books like the mountain is you, psychology books, books about your own discipline and your own habits. Even atomic habits, things like that I find to be most beneficial for me. I love Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, things that help you understand just human nature, psychology and yourself. I think we'll take you further.
Then reading phenomenal books like Jolt, which will teach you about buyer behavior and reducing risk in a sale cycle.
Paul M. Caffrey (03:27.217)
Great. And there are some great authors mentioned there and a lot of fantastic books to check out by them for sure. When it comes to preparation, what does doing the work before the work look like for you, Ricky?
Ricky Pearl (03:43.438)
I've got two contrarian views here. The first is don't over prepare. And I don't mean that as much about for sound account executives, but very often people use research and preparation as a crutch to not do the work, which is the conflict, which is the potential rejection, which is the difficult conversation. I think preparation stops and has marginal diminishing returns. That being said,
I think you should go into every conversation knowing exactly what the prospect expects you to know.
Paul M. Caffrey (04:20.433)
I really like that.
Ricky Pearl (04:22.649)
If sometimes that means you've read about the company, you know, you know how many don't ask them how many employees they have. If you haven't looked it up in LinkedIn, that's lazy.
Paul M. Caffrey (04:31.249)
Yeah, yeah, you want to you want to really you can validate it. But just ask and it doesn't show it doesn't show the best light on you for sure. You've got lots of tips that you share on LinkedIn and they're fantastic. How can people find out more about you, Ricky? How can I find out more about your business pointer? Where can they go?
Ricky Pearl (04:47.598)
pointerstrategy .com .au for the website on LinkedIn. I accept all connection requests, unless you give me some cheesy sales pitch, I probably won't, but connect with me. All of my resources are in the bio and I'm always happy to have a conversation with anyone.
Paul M. Caffrey (05:02.577)
Great, well thanks so much for coming on, Ricky. You've been an absolute blast.
Ricky Pearl (05:06.062)
Thanks for having me.
