This article is the 5th article in the Sales Training 101 article series.

Photo Courtesy of Brian Solis
I know I do. So, let me explain.
First, have you heard of Gary Vaynerchuk (@Garyvee) yet? He’s the brash, animated guy behind Wine Library TV, a video blog that sells wine, and GaryVaynerchuk.com, a video blog that helps entrepreneurs become successful.
But why does he matter to you?
Gary Vaynerchuk is an expert salesman. He makes a ton of money selling wine on the internet and now selling his ideas and advice on new media. He’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time, and tons of other media outlets (check his About Page).
But how can he help you sell?
I came across Gary Vaynerchuk over at Technosailor, and I was hooked on his videos. I watched every video on his entrepreneur video blog and then went to Wine Library TV, and watched a ton of videos about wine.
Did I mention I hate wine? I absolutely hate the taste of wine, and Gary had me so curious that I went out and had a glass of wine with dinner. I still hated it, but I had it because of Gary.
Just like you, I was left wondering how he managed to convince me to have wine, so I watched his videos again and now, without further ado, here are five ways you can sell like Vaynerchuk:
Embrace Yourself
In a world where nothing is private, you need to embrace yourself. Everything you do is on display somewhere, so you might as well show your true colors to keep the message clear and consistent.
As a new or experienced salesman, your clients and prospects will find out your true intentions. So, you might as well show them. If you’re trying to help, great. Help them. Unfortunately, if you’re selling for the wrong reasons, you better find the right reasons or else you won’t be successful.
Here is Gary stressing the importance of embracing yourself (source):
Go and Get It
It seems simple right? Yet, so many people stand around waiting for success to be handed to them on a silver platter. It just doesn’t make sense.
Successful sales people put themselves in the line of fire (the most crowded places) with a bullet proof vest (a plan) and emerge victorious on all occasions. You can’t sit around waiting for clients to find you, you need to find them and show them why you’re the salesman for the job.
Check out Gary proving this point to the max (source):
Work The Room
Fifty years ago corporations controlled what consumers read and saw about their products. Their job was to present the products to the masses so they would buy them.
Not anymore.
With the internet taking the power away from the gatekeepers (newspapers, television, and radio), everyone has a voice and the corporation who fosters that conversation will be successful.
Not only does this affect corporations, it affects salesmen.
Fifty years ago, when someone wanted to buy a new car, they want to their local dealership because they did not have a choice. They dealt with the people and bought the cars.
Not anymore.
Today, people have the choice of buying local or across the world. If you wanted to buy a car, you could buy it in Texas and have it shipped. If you wanted to buy a computer, you could skip Best Buy and order it on the internet.
The times have changed.
Salesmen are no longer speaking at a set local audience. They need to communicate with their local audience to ensure they don’t go elsewhere. So, work the room, Gary style.
Gary Vaynerchuk Working the Room (source):
Word of Mouth
We all know the importance of word of mouth. If you make people feel great, they will talk about you and your business to their friends.
Master car salesman Joe Girard would regularly take out the car service staff to lunch. As a result, Girard’s clients would get preferential treatment and would rarely wait on line to have their car serviced.
Guess what happened? All of the car buyers talked about it and everyone wanted to deal with Joe Girard.
Now, people today are much more popular than they were twenty years ago. They have hundreds or thousands of friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. They have hundreds or thousands of loyal readers on their blogs and forums. One huge supporter can be the difference between success and failure.
So, salesmen, not only do you need to keep the client happy with their purchase, you need to get your client talking about you. You need to make sure you take those extra steps and devote more time and resources to making your clients feel great.
Here is Gary on Word of Mouth and Brand Equity(source):
Better Than Zero
When people start a business, they talk about their dreams and where they can end up if they’re successful. They relish in their small victories by posting money on the wall, and celebrating every win.
When people become successful, they forget about their small victories. They forget about their first sale, first account, and their grand-opening. They become focused on their biggest clients and they forget the rest.
Salesmen should never forget their small clients. Sure, they may not be as valuable, but they were there when you first started. They were there keeping you afloat while you built your business.
Here is Gary talking about his theory “Better Than Zero” (source):
Sell Like Vaynerchuk
Are you ready to start selling like Gary Vaynerchuk? Leave a comment.


{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow awesome guy.
He sounds a lot and looks a lot like the guy that came to my school and gave a presentation about 2 weeks ago.
@Trevor – He is pretty awesome. I came across his site and I watched almost every one his videos in one sitting. It was a treasure chest filled with knowledge.
Great post and great collection of some of Gary’s best! Congrats on the post!
@Jeff: Thank you, I hope you like the rest of the site too! Gary Vaynerchuk has been a huge inspiration for me.
I am addicted to Gary! I don’t miss an episode.
there is no doubt gary is awesome and has really blown up this year which is super awesome. //g
Great article, I’m also a huge Gary Vaynerchuk fan!
In case you didn’t know, Gary just tweeted about this article, well done!
Great job dissecting these different ideas Derek. Gary V has had the last word on how to be successful on the internets. So many people ask me, ‘How do I get started’, ‘How do I become successful’?
Four words and a ton of syllables later: go discover Gary Vaynerchuk.
Great article….Gary is a mastermind and an awesome guy and businessman
Gary’s the real deal. I blog about him constantly, and show his keynote speach at web 2.0 to my team, and friends alike. Great post on a great salesman, and a pretty great guy.
this guy is crazy good! thanks for the post!
I’m one of those people Gary was talking about in the first video, who’s still not sure he’s the real deal. I don’t know what it is; he just rubs me the wrong way. This feeling is made worse by the unwavering, lock-step praise he gets from the entire social media community. Saying something negative about GV is like farting in church.
I’m a big fan of Gary and this collection of videos is no exception… If any of you are new to him, I’d recommend also taking a look at his presentations he’s done too. Inspirational guy and since I’m newly unemployed, I’m really trying to do everything I can right now to take everything to the next level with my web work and things I’ve been passionate about or sitting on for a while… It just takes time and lots of “hustling your face off”.
It’s always a gamble starting and trying to build a business or even doing personal branding, but there’s always something I think you’ll get out of it. Successful or not, you’ll get such a rich education you’ll be able to move on and do it again.
Congrats on the Post! Rick Wolff you can fart in our church.. just sayin.
The 2 biggest things I get from Gary are:
1. Be your self – genuine sells period.
2. Do something (AKA Hustle your face off!). Whatever it is you better be Building it or Talking about all the time. And never go to long with out doing one or the other.
Gary has a ton of good, practical advice and this is really nicely stitched together in this post.
I particularly like the last entry – too many people try to go from Zero to Hero not understanding all the hard work and recognizing the little victories along the way.
Nice job.
@RickWolff I really repsect that and hope I get a chance to meet you and spend time together so you can get a better feel about who I am. I agree w/ you on the fact that anyone and everyone should debate and the universal acceptance I have gotten is humbling and probably a tad over board but I work hard as heck every second to live up to it!
@All , Thank you for stopping by to comment. I hope you enjoyed the article.
@Dennis Being Genuine really is what Gary is all about – that’s for sure.
@Ethan Gary will not show you how to be successful. He will show you that it’s possible, provide the motivation, but being successful is ultimately up to you. You need to be willing to do the work and “hustle your face off.”
@Gary Thank you for stopping by. Your comment shows what a stand up guy you are because you’re willing to show everyone that you’re working your ass off to live up to your press.
Hey Derek,
This blog really changed my stance on letting our customers interact. We are starting both a product blog and a news tips blog for writing better content and effective press releases in the next few months. I wasn’t sure about how commenting and customer interaction would help us, but this article swayed me. Nice work.
@Chelsea
Well, I’m glad it swayed you. You know, there isn’t one right way to do everything but there are several right ways and using a blog is one of them. Let me know how it turns out.
i have to be honest, at first I hated Gary. I didn’t like him because everyone else did, because he was so”avant garde” and out there. He was the badboy of wine. Please, that’s like being the smartest kid in special ed. But it’s true, with time he won me over, too. I still like his business talks more than his wine show though.
@Max I don’t think he’s trying to be the bad boy of wine. I think he’s just a regular guy saying what he thinks.
Every time I go out with friends or coworkers, everyone always tries to pretend they’re somebody when they’re picking the wine. I have no idea why wine got so snobbish, but it’s about time someone like Gary is bringing it down a notch.
He is a true inspiration for entrepreneurs, startups, social media evangelists out there. Great entry showcasing the best-of of Gary.
One fatal flaw in the title — to fully live Gary’s advice, one shouldn’t sell “like” Gary … sell BETTER than Gary. He’s just the tip of the iceberg on dominating an industry through passion.
Good stuff. Similar to this entry, I have some thoughts on branding vs. reputation, perhaps some of you want to chime in?
This blog is a new favorite now.
~Joe
Hi Derek
I’ve found your blog on skelliewag, and boy I’m impressed. Just a question if you ever find this comment on a old article. Do you have specific advice for writers? After all, if you think about it, either if you publish your work on your own or go to some traditional route you have ultimately to sell it to somebody.
@Miguel – You need to do what you need to do, but I think you should always have a blog.
I was using Stumble Upon, and I found your blog. I am nothing but impressed with the quality and expertise of these tips to become a better salesman. In an ideal world, I would wish for every salesman to at least read Sales 101, but then I may be out of a job. You are providing a great service to the industry and have helped me correct my pitfalls and see new ways to prospect clients. I sell custom shower doors for a small company with a lot of potential. Your advice is sure to boost my numbers… I guess what I am trying to say is thanks and keep it coming.
@TJ Thanks for the kind comments.
totally over the top (like he says himself), definately putting me off at first (like he says himself), but he totally won me over with his content (like he says himself).
Amazing dude.
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