SPOTIO had the pleasure of speaking with Dave Robards… yes, THE Dave Robards, as in THE Sales and Marketing Manager at Cardone Training Technologies, Inc.! This conversation included candid remarks, abounding with nuggets of usable information and resources to help you become move from an average salesperson or sales manager to a great one.
I encourage you to hop on over to SPOTIO Facebook and watch the video in it’s entirety. Not only is there a VERY special FREEBIE at the end, but there are a ton of takeaways from this conversation that you can put into place today to launch yourself out of average and into greatness!
How It’s Done at Grant Cardone’s Sales Training Office
On Grant Cardone’s turf, things are done a bit…ummm, “differently.” It is mandatory for Grant’s sales team to train BEFORE they even get to the office. Once the sales team arrives, 30 minutes BEFORE the rest of the staff, they role play for 30 minutes just like pro athletes warm up before a game.
“We train everyday,” said Robards. “On average we spend 30 to 40 minutes on our own time and then role play at the office so that we are warmed up and ready to go.”
Because of this elite practice, Dave has a daily routine that is absolutely crucial so that he can recommit to greatness every single day. He does admit and quite frankly is realistic in that sometimes his routine gets thrown off a bit, but he tries his best to stick to the following:
The night before, write BIG goals before going to sleep. These are the goals that when you write them down, it’s hard to go to sleep because you can’t get them out of your mind.
1. The next morning, the alarm goes off at 4:45am. It takes Dave about 15 minutes to wake up and get out of bed. He writes his big goals again. This ensures he starts and ends each day with his goals.
2. Dave then heads to the gym to workout for 1 hour and 20 minutes, at a minimum. He says that if you’re not committed or obsessed with something, don’t do it.
3. After working out, he cooks breakfast (6 eggs) while he listens to audio training.
4. Dave is out the door by 8am to arrive at the office by 8:30am to role play.
5. At 9am, Cardone’s whole team has a meeting where Grant talks about what’s happening and successes.
6. From 9:20am until 6pm, Dave is “pounding the phones.”
“The key is to have and be consistent with your schedule,” said Robards. “Even though it’s a daily struggle, it leads to greatness via discipline.”
Train, Train and Then Train Some More
Dave is big on training and for good reason. He insists on seeking information from someone who is doing better than you by reading a book or blog, listening to podcasts or investing in yourself by taking a training class.
“Work on a skill everyday,” said Robards. “It takes only one day to get rusty.”
Some sales managers have the mindset that they don’t want to cram training down the throats of their salespeople. Dave insists that this is being “average.”
“What if the U.S. military says, ‘Well, I don’t want to cram training down people’s throat?” exclaimed Robards. “What about your favorite football team…imagine the owner saying, ‘Well, I just don’t want to cram training down their throat.’ REALLY?!”
Another objection often heard about training— “Why invest the time and resources into someone who is likely to only stick around from 3 to 6 months anyway.” The answer is quite simple. If you aren’t investing in your sales team, you are literally going backwards. The people on your team are your most important asset and the salespeople are the lifeblood of your organization. It’s time to change your thinking.
Imagine if you do not train your salespeople and they stick around for a year or longer. What a mess you will have on your hands! Remember these difficult truths: people will let you down; they will steal from you; they will quit; you will be disappointed. You must get over it and get used to it. Invest into people; train your salespeople while they are on your team.
Robard’s Cold Call Script for Grant Cardone Sales Training
Dave is so dedicated to training that he broke out with a little impromptu teaching session during our conversation. He demonstrated the 100% cold call script that he uses daily. Here’s how it goes:
“Hey, this is Dave calling from Grant Cardone’s office. I know you don’t know me and I don’t know you and this is a cold call. We’re working with a lot of companies in your industry right now. They’re seeing about a 30% increase in revenue in as little as 90 days. My boss Grant asked me to actually give you some access to our sales development program. It takes about 2 minutes to get hooked up. Are you sitting in front of a computer?”
Because Dave trains daily, he is prepared and knows how to handle all the objections that he could possibly face, so he’s ready to answer rejections such as:
“Who is Grant Cardone?”
“I’m busy.”
“We already have sales training.”
“I’m not in front of a computer right now.”
“I’m not interested.” (To this one, Dave comically said, “Of COURSE YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED! How could you be interested?! You don’t have enough information to be interested! But, I’m interested in your company.”)
The pitch that Dave demonstrated is about 35 seconds and can easily be modified for door to door sales.
#1 Mistake Sales Managers Are Making
According to Dave, it’s meetings. He believes you should have a sales meeting every single day that adds value because salespeople are easily distracted and lose focus quickly.
Most sales managers’ meetings consist of a lecture telling their sales team to make sure their pipeline is full, make a bunch of phone calls or door knocks and don’t make a bad call with “motivation” being: “Let’s go get ‘em! Everybody got it?” The whole sales team will inevitably say yes because they are ready to get out of the meeting because nothing of value happened.
OR
Meetings could have daily themes, like Monday meetings discuss the closing; Tuesdays, the follow up; Wednesdays, motivation; however, by Friday, you have to tank your team up on coffee and sugar, just to get them going and then they shut down by 2pm anyway!
“That’s average!” said Robards.
Dave explained that Grant’s program offers a 5-minute, pre-recorded mini boot camp of sorts with content that builds upon each other for 2 to 3 weeks, depending on how you implement it. This transforms sales meetings from just an “activity” to a “process” that builds skill every day. In addition, the salesperson is also required to train on his or her own for 10 to 15 minutes per day. This helps to resolidify the learned content.
“Turn sales meetings into a ‘skills building’ meeting,” explained Robards. “Do it everyday in 20 minutes or less, including role play.”
Overall, Dave’s message revolves around investing your time and resources into your sales team. He said that there are two reasons salespeople leave an organization:
- They are going to get fired because they don’t make enough money.
- They will quit because they don’t make enough money.
“To stop your turnover rate, train your people,” said Robards.
Additional Resources for Grant Cardone Sales Training:
- Be Obsessed or Be Average, book by Grant Cardone.
- Episode 5, Season 1 of Whatever It Takes – Dave’s actual interview with Grant Cardone: https://grantcardonetv.com/grant-cardone-closes-over-the-phone/
- Grant Cardone demonstrating a live sales call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBK64vdljZ0
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