Sales Lessons From Linda Evangalista
In the 90s Linda Evangalista famously said “We have this saying, Christy [Turlington] and I… we don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day.” . While she may not have known it at the time, Linda was giving us a masterclass in positioning - a critical skill for all sales professionals.
Here's how we can all elevate our sales game by channeling our inner Linda Evangalista:
Be Confident in Your Offering
It takes ovaries to make a comment like ‘I don’t get out of bed for less than $10K’ and even more to actually enforce that. My dream is for all the women we work with to uphold this unwavering belief in themselves. So how can we do that? This is not going to be an article where I say ‘confidence’ and have the conversation stop there. You’re smarter than that and deserve better so here are some practical tips on how to foster a Linda Evangalista sense of self belief. For starters, Linda would have had a solid understanding of her market: what were industry standards in terms of the ‘going rate for a day’s work’? Knowing how other providers in your industry price and package their offerings can give you a good sense of whether your offering falls in line with industry standards. Can you charge more? 100% but having this knowledge is powerful information to arm yourself with during sales conversations. Linda also had a good handle on the supply and demand relationship of her offering and her industry. In the same article linked above Linda talked about chopping her locks off, rocking a pixie cut and being able to quadruple her rates. At the time the article was published she had 700 magazine covers under her belt and was referenced as ‘the world’s supermodel’. Fashion designers and magazines alike couldn’t get enough which positioned her to command higher rates than some of her fellow supermodels. Understanding how to create pent up demand for your services in relation to your market is the quickest way to 1) differentiate yourself from your competition and 2) command premium pricing. True confidence in your offering is bolstered by in an intimate knowledge of your industry - both in terms of how others price and package their offerings and how you create demand for your offering. One of the most effective way to create demand for your offering is through niching which you can read more about here.
Disqualification in Your Pre-sales Process
Backlash following Linda’s comment quickly ensued and while she continued to work there were certain designers and publications that were put off. Some might argue this hurt her - but given that she’s considered one of the most influential models of all time I’d beg to differ. If nothing else Linda’s comment would have repelled those that were not willing to value her work at the pricing she wanted and attracted those that did. Win win. Linda’s comment, whether intentional or not, disqualified designers and magazines that weren’t willing to pay her what she was worth. Genius. Disqualification is often the primary job of your marketing but there are strategies you can employ to disqualify unfit prospects during your pre-sales process. Before I hop on the phone with any prospect they are sent an email with pre-screening questions and actions. My time is valuable and our company offers premium education opportunities. If someone wants to join us they need to 1. State their intention for a conversation - this weeds out rate shoppers and tire kickers 2. Review our website and programing in detail - this ensures they have foundational knowledge of the work we do so we can spend our time together personalizing the information rather than covering the basics and 3. Complete a brief application providing information about their business, what their current challenges are and what they hope to get out of working together. If a prospect can’t take 15 minutes to complete these steps, we won’t take 30 minutes out of my day to speak with them.
Here at SAFI Media I have my own saying: “I don’t get on the phone with unqualified prospects” and it’s by channeling my inner Linda Evangalista, having an intimate knowledge of my industry, understanding how we dominate our niche and mapping out a clear pre-sales process that allows me to say and mean this. As a result, not only are the sales calls more enjoyable (for both me and the prospect) but I’m protecting my time AND my close ratio as a salesperson.
