The Game with Alex Hormozi - ☠️THE THREE HORSEMEN OF THE SALES APOCALYPSE...and the THEORY behind each one. Once you understand this, you never need to "memorize" overcomes ever again | Ep 90

Episode Date: December 8, 2018

“You know, you're going to do it sooner or later. Might as well do it now." Today, Alex (@AlexHormozi) talks about the "Three Horsemen of the Sales Apocalypse," which are the three main obstacles entrepreneurs need to overcome in order to succeed in sales: price, delay, and decision-maker. He offers strategies and techniques for overcoming these obstacles and emphasizes the importance of understanding the theory behind each one to find success in sales.Welcome to The Game w/Alex Hormozi, hosted by entrepreneur, founder, investor, author, public speaker, and content creator Alex Hormozi. On this podcast you’ll hear how to get more customers, make more profit per customer, how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons Alex has learned on his path from $100M to $1B in net worth.Timestamps:(0:51) - Understanding three main obstacles in sales(2:39) - Establishing value and overcoming price objections(4:06) - Overcoming decision-making delays with closing techniques(7:41) - Summary: Overcoming decision-maker closes(9:14) - Common sales obstacles: time, fear, and fitnessFollow Alex Hormozi’s Socials:LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Acquisition

Coming from downtown Austin, I am, I've been sort of like this, this content piece has been bogging in my head for a while, and either it's going to turn out really, really epic, or it will be really not epic, but hopefully it's epic. So I'm calling this the three horsemen of the sales apocalypse, which are the only three obstacles that you will ever need to overcome. Now, I contemplated making this super, super, super, super tactical, but like I have probably 20 overcomes for each one of these things that are like, here's a paragraph and this is the line of reasoning behind it. But I thought it might be more valuable for you to kind of understand the theory behind each one

of them, because once you understand the theory behind each obstacle and what you're really overcoming, then it's the difference between executing, you know, cooking a recipe and being a chef. Right? like a line cook just follows the steps in the recipe and then they can reproduce what the chef is making. So if you were trying to be a chef of sales, then understanding these three things at a theoretical level will help you continue to develop new things, new overcomes that are specific to how you talk and your personality and your facility trainers, et cetera. So for those you don't know, the three main obstacles that you have to overcome in any sale, not overcome,

but that can come up in a sale. And this is typically when you have not provided a sufficient gap, basically saying like, you want to get here, you are currently here, here's your gap, and there's enough pain that you're going to want to cross it, and here's my bridge, right? Now, if that bridge that you made was not good enough, right, then the three obstacles are price, delay, as in stalling saying, hey, I need it.

So price is like, hey, that's too expensive. I don't have that kind of money, et cetera. The second is delay being like, hey, I need to think about it. let me go home, let me sleep, you know, I never make decisions quickly, all that kind of stuff, right? And the third is decision maker. So like, you know what, I have to talk to my husband. I never make decisions without him. We have a rule that over $100, you know, whatever. VS. They're going to tell you, right? So what each of these is and then the subsequent theory that you need to understand. So anything that has to do with price is a question of value, meaning that person doesn't think that you've

described enough value to what you're selling them. And, exaggerate an example of this that will show you that I'm right when I say this is that if you were to say, hey, for $500, I'm going to give you this house, they would find $500, right? Because the value is so high and clear, right? And so if you have that in your mind, then you can always think if this is a price issue, then it means I didn't establish the gap and I need to build value. But you don't necessarily need to build value in terms of what they get. Sometimes it's decreasing what they need to do. Right. And if you remember one of my past videos, it was like the value equation is magnitude of outcome, likelihood of achieving, which is conviction where they actually believe that they're going to get there, divided by time and effort. And so typically it's going to be the conviction piece where they actually believe you that you're going to need to work on. And then sometimes it can be decreasing time and effort. Usually you don't need to increase the magnitude of the outcome because most people get that part. It's usually the believing. They'll perceive likelihood of achieving it. And then the time and effort. They're like, you know what, this sounds like a lot of work.

And so breaking down how easy you have made it for them builds the value, right? So that in a nutshell is all of all of the price overcomes that you will ever hear will be based around value. Comparing other things that they've spent to what they're doing now. Do they really like we vote with their dollars about the things that we care about? Like all of that stuff is going to come down to value, right? The second is delay, right? So any delay closes, I have to think about it. I'm not sure or whatever, right?

There's a million of the overcomes, you know, you're going to do it sooner or later, might as well do it now, so you can start to join the benefits sooner, whatever, right? There's a million of these types of closes. But the thing is that all of them in common have one key thing, which is that you're going to confront the decision and you're going to identify the variables that that prospect needs to use to make the decision. And so most people don't like making decisions because they're afraid of being wrong, right, making a mistake.

And so what you have to do is say, okay, cool, well, let's just walk through to the, you know, like, I need to think about it. Cool. What do you need to think about? And then they're like, cool, well, let me tell you what most people used to make the decision, right? There's three main things. Do you know what they are? And they're like, I don't know. Like, one, do you believe that this program is going to help you get to where you're trying to go? Okay. Two, do you want to do it with me in this facility? Three, do you believe that you can do it? And they're like, yeah, like, okay, cool. So like, there's nothing to think about. Let's go. You know what I mean? And so, in It's just that everyone fears actually making decisions. And so you have to walk them through that process. There's a million different obstacles like closes for delays. But at the end of the day, you're going to force them to confront the decision. That is it. That's all it is. You're explaining to them that there's going to be no difference in information tomorrow

than there is right now. And like you can even walk them through the fact that most people are afraid of making decisions because they're afraid of making mistakes. Am I right? Real quick, guys, you guys already know that I don't run any ads on this and I don't sell anything. And so the only ask that I can ever have of you guys is that you help me spread the words so we can out more entrepreneurs, make more money, feed their families, make better products,

and have better experiences for their employees and customers. And the only way we do that is if you can rate and review and share this podcast. So the single thing that I ask you do is you can just leave a review. It'll take you 10 seconds or one type of the thumb. It would mean the absolute world to me. And more importantly, it may change the world for someone else. Right. Okay.

Well, let's look at what the best case would look like. Let's look at what the worst case would look like. Right. And so you help them confront and make the decision. And that is everything that has to do. So when you hear, I need to think about it. Think confront, right? Identify variables.

Help them make the decision. Price, think value. I must not, I probably need to increase their conviction, right? And I probably need to increase in their perception of how little time and effort they will need to have. And that means that I need to show them the value by saying how easy I have made this for them and how unethethwithable it is. Right. You cannot. And I said, the third one, I'm cruising through these.

So you guys digging this? Let's go. Okay. Is decision making, right? This is probably my least favorite one because I think these people are victims and they're annoying because I couldn't even sack up and tell me that they don't want to do something. They have to say, I have to talk to my husband about it, which just drives me up a wall. But anyways, here, what you're going to try and do is feed off of past agreements that you already know are there.

So an example would be, well, does your husband already know that you're, you? are dissatisfied with how you look. Yes. Is he happy with the fact that you're dissatisfied with how you look? No. Okay, so he agrees that you, like, that he supports you in the fact that you should do something. Yes. Okay, then why would he not support you here?

Right? So it's like you have to feed off the past agreements to get the current one. So it's kind of like a logical step that you have to go through because at the end of the day, if someone says they cannot make the decision, then, then like you can't close them. So you're basically trying to establish that they've actually been given permission. They just weren't aware of it. And so you just need to logic them through the fact that they have been given permission. Like, does your husband know you're here right now?

Yes. Does he support the fact that you're trying to get healthy? Yes. Right. Like, you're stacking these. Oops, I'm almost like not going to home like over. You're stacking these agreements to lead to the natural outcome of yes, you're empowered enough.

They agree with you enough that you can make this decision. Right. And then you can tackle on little things like, hey, it's better to rest for forgiveness than permission. Hey, if your husband's anything like my wife, they've never really stopped me to do something that I was really passionate about. Is this something that you're really interested in? Of course it is. Okay, great. So then, you know, like, there's little things that you can say like that. But the main, the sticking of it is that you find past agreements and then you drag them to the present and apply them to the current situation. All right. That's how you get over decision maker closes. So hopefully this was valid for you. But understanding those three main obstacles and what are the real key drivers that we're trying to bring home? with price you're going to work on conviction and you're going to increase you're going to decrease the time and effort or the perceived time and effort for it right increasing the perceived maxeter

of outcome most people do that pretty decently in the sales like if you're if you're future pacing it all and talking about what they're going to feel like what they're going to look like and what you know what it feels like to step on the scale at xm x pounds you've kind of you've painted that picture right and so usually most people will lack on the conviction side and then making the time and effort seem more reasonable because of the effort you put it on your side. Delay, confrontation, and identification of variables. That's all you're doing, right? Making them confront the decision and then giving them the variables that they need to make

the decision so that they feel good about it. Paint the best case, paint the worst case scenario for them. And then decision maker, like I just said, passed agreements. Now, there's one that could be like the hidden fourth obstacle of this, which I call like fitness related obstacles or like outside circumstance perceived obstacles, which would be, you know, I have a hip injury. Like, what do you guys do for that? Right? They're not real obstacles. You just have to be prepared with answers. Like, I can't work out on Tuesdays. Is that going to be a problem? I hate broccoli. Is there broccoli on the meal plant? Like, like, those types

of things are not real obstacles, but sometimes people, like a salesperson who's nervous will get tripped up on someone says something like that and think it's a deal breaker. But the reality, you just have to know what you're going to say there. And so any, any type of, you know, time related thing, the easy, like, there's a million ways to get around those things, which is just like, Let's walk through your schedule together and let's figure out a time that works and like can move things around. It's just problem solving, but they're not real obstacles. So anyways, guys, if that was valid before you, I hope it was. Rather than giving you the super say this and then say this and say this, which there's always the time for that.

Those are the three main ones that your sales guys need to overcome and understand what's the actual mechanism behind it that actually makes the overcome work. Hope that makes sense. You can throw a thumbs up so that other people can see it. That'd be swell. Otherwise, have an amazing hump day. You guys are awesome. I love you all, and I'll get you guys on the clipside. Right.