In this episode of the How To Sell Show Podcast, Scott Sylvan Bell delivers one of his most hard-hitting conversations yet — “HTSS210 - Clowns, Cowards, and Cheats: How Sales Lost Its Soul.” This episode peels back the curtain on the dark side of modern sales culture — where hype has replaced honesty, clicks have replaced competence, and dopamine has replaced discipline.

Scott dives deep into how the profession that once stood for integrity, service, and craftsmanship got hijacked by attention-seekers, silent enablers, and con artists masquerading as experts. The clowns sell hype for views, the cowards stay quiet to protect their comfort, and the cheats exploit ambition to make a fast buck. Together, they’ve turned sales into a spectacle — and real professionals are left to clean up the damage.

This episode exposes the motivational industrial complex — a cycle that feeds on insecurity and sells the illusion of progress. Scott explains why the “hope economy” thrives on fake success stories and how the industry rewards chaos instead of competence. But there’s a turning point ahead: the rise of AI is about to separate the real from the fake. The algorithms will stop favoring the loudest voices and start rewarding the most skilled.

You’ll also hear Scott’s Sales Code of Honor, a modern creed for professionals who still believe in helping clients win, not manipulating them for views. He shares what the future of ethical sales looks like — and why integrity, not influence, is what will define the next generation of closers.

If you’ve ever felt disillusioned by the circus that sales has become, this episode will reignite your pride in the craft. Tune in to rediscover what sales was always meant to be — a calling, not a performance.

Every salesperson experiences a dip in performance—but the real pros know how to shorten the slump and get back to peak performance fast. In this episode of The How to Sell Show, Scott Sylvan Bell breaks down the proven Business Growth Strategies and sales performance frameworks that help you reduce dwell time in sales and bounce back stronger than ever. You’ll discover how to identify the root causes of a slump—whether it’s distractions, fatigue, or self-sabotage—and how to use practical, field-tested tools to recover your momentum. Scott explains why slumps are a natural part of selling and shows you how to build resilience, clarity, and purpose so you can maintain consistency in both mindset and results.

Scott introduces his Respawn Framework, a powerful process modeled after elite performers and video-game logic that helps salespeople reset, refocus, and rise again. You’ll learn how to use resilience, visualization, positive self-talk, and goal refresh cycles to restore confidence, get back to full capacity, and eliminate wasted dwell time between wins. This episode goes deep into how to measure progress, re-establish your restore point, and develop mental toughness that sticks. Whether you’re new to sales or a seasoned closer, these insights will help you move from panic and frustration to purpose and peak performance.

If you’ve ever asked how to recover from a sales slump, how to get motivated after a slow month, or how to increase sales performance consistently, this episode delivers the roadmap. You’ll leave with ten actionable ways to shorten your slump—from revisiting your goals and re-engaging past clients to upgrading your environment and taking better care of yourself. Tune in to The How to Sell Show to discover the mindset and strategy behind cutting your dwell time, increasing profitability, and mastering your comeback. Follow @ConsultingSecrets and @ScottSylvanBell for more sales training, sales mindset coaching, and real-world tips on how to sell more, make more, and stay unstoppable.

Your ability to set expectations as a salesperson is one of the most underrated skills in closing deals. In this episode of The How to Sell Show, host Scott Sylvan Bell breaks down how setting clear expectations throughout the sales process helps create alignment, trust, and commitment. When clients can “see” or “hear” the goals early on, they understand what’s coming next—and that makes every step smoother.

Scott explains how using boundaries in your sales process isn’t about being rigid—it’s about communicating effectively and protecting both sides of the agreement. You’ll learn how to define outcomes, structure the conversation, and use expectation-setting as a closing tool that builds confidence.

If you want to improve your ability to communicate clearly, reduce misunderstandings, and close more deals, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to The How to Sell Show and discover why great salespeople don’t just talk about results—they define them from the start.

As a salesperson, your roles, responsibilities, and self-image will evolve over time. This evolution is something you can take within a few years or over your lifetime of sales. 

How to prepare for a sales job 

There are multiple approaches to interviewing salespeople. If you have never been in sales there is a feel to the interview. Some people fly off the seat of their pants while others use a full structure. It is important to note that some Business Owners and or Sales Managers like to see salespeople squirm. You will want to be prepared for an easy sales meeting or a difficult one. Either way, it will come down to your skills, conversation, rapport, and charm. You can learn from sales job interviews as to things 

Why do sales interviews matter 

A sales interview is a way for a company to decide to hire you or not. This seems simple enough. Some companies cant find a closer and are willing to hire someone to train. Sales interviews can range from easy to difficult. The better you prepare and the better your answers are you can improve your chances of getting hired. If you are looking for a sales job, this content could prepare you for what to expect. 

Questions you may get on a sales interview for a new job 

To start with this is not really a question but a view of an action. In this day and age people, can't say they didn't know how to get somewhere. Most employers will look at:

1. Did they show up on time prepared with notes, pen, and or paper? 

• Sports – college

1. What is their favorite adversity story?

Questions to ask new salespeople

When someone is new to sales the questions asked may be different than questions asked to veteran sales reps. 

1. Would they be willing to start with just following up or at a lower level position?

You have tons of options when looking for a sales job. Just so you know sales interviews are not supposed to be easy. 

The reasons why your sales team is failing 

This may be a tough conversation for some Executives, Business Owners as well as Managers. It's not always the sales team's problem that creates a lack of sales. For this reason, we are not going to talk about salespeople. We will exclude salespeople from this conversation just for a moment. For a moment we will imagine that they are perfect. This is the only way we can examine this side of the conversation. 

The problems internally in your business

When you look at the people inside your business running they show, are they the right people? You could have the right team inside the sales department with a great manager and great team.   You could have a wrong culture outside of the sales team. Your support staff may be the problem. There is no common goal to take care of the client. There is the idea “I need to get my job done and the client will work around me”. This is where the office makes it difficult to do business:

• They reschedule

The office created problems for salespeople 

When the office staff doesn't want to help clients or help salespeople in their roles it creates chaos. Salespeople can hit downturns in sales for the sole reason they get caught up in all of the office issues. These feelings can make salespeople question, their role as well as if the buyer is going to be happy with the product, service, install or delivery. This is a tough feeling for salespeople as they can think internally:

• You want me to close the deal but you don't want to give me the help I need

Salespeople end up thinking "Now I'm worried" and they are not focused on closing the deals. They start to focus on all of the problems they are going to face after the deal. 

How your office also creates problems for salespeople 

Sometimes your staff looks for perfection that can never be obtained. People in the office are paid by the hour or by salary from the deal that has been closed. They just want to get "their task" done. Sometimes the office just doesn't care. There are also times where there are bullies in the office. Where this business disconnect comes from:

• Ownership and or upper management that doesn’t see the problem – they don’t know its happening

How to make your sales team perform better 

Your sales team has the capability of being great. There are actions you can take as an Executive, Business Owner, or Manager. Some of these truths may be uncomfortable to hear and or see. Here are the places you may hear about the problems you have in your office:

• A consultant friend hears and shares this episode of the "How to sell show"

Why your sales team fails from the office results in 

There are real-life problems created by issues in your office. The repercussions of a office that is stuck in doing things their way hurt your business. They also can make Executives, Business Owners, and Managers look ineffective and weak. You can end up with: 

• Lost deals

Here is how you can fix poor office performance 

There are ways for you to get back on track. Your ability to find a path to helping a sales team is possible. Here are some steps you can take to get a high-performance sales team:

• Really examine what happens in an organization

How to use emotions in sales to close deals

You can use emotions in sales to close deals. Please make sure to do this right or you will be seen as manipulative. If you are not careful you can induce reactance and skepticism in your presentations. When you reach reactance or skepticism in your sales process you can close the deal but it will probably take hard closing or heavy discounting to close. When you use emotions incorrectly or push too hard enough you can trigger contempt and that will lead to no sale. 

Should salespeople use emotions in sales?

You should absolutely use emotions in sales to close deals. If you are not using emotions in sales to close deals it, you are leaving money on the table. There are times where you must pay attention to how you ask questions and interact with your buyers. Some ground rules for using emotions in sales:

• Your vocabulary has to match your style

Where salespeople struggle using emotions in sales 

You do have to know something about using emotions in sales. You use emotion in sales with the buyers you meet with but you hold fast about your beliefs and conversations. You don't allow the conversations to move you too far emotionally. If you get too emotionally wrapped up it creates problems later on down the road. You being too emotional takes you out of control. You need certainty, they need emotions. In sales, your buyer is looking to you for leadership.

How to make your competition in sales work harder 

You should make it harder for your competition to sell against you. How you present ask questions and interact should make the “competition” job hard implicitly and explicitly. There are a few ways to make that happen:

• Show they are not prepared

Emotional word tracks to use in sales 

You can use emotional words to your advantage. These words can be found in any thesaurus you can get your hands on. You will want to add these types of words in your presentation. The key is for you to use emotional words in your sales presentation before your buyer does. Here are some words and word tracks that you can use in your presentation:

• You – the favorite word of everyone: you, your, yours (name)

• At the end of the day

• Negative execution emotional words:

Abuse, Awkward, Bumbling, clumsy, here is what to look for, inconsistent, inept, malpractice, Neglect, poor execution, Unimpressed.

• Frustration - I don’t want you to choose the wrong option and be frustrated – Aggravation, Agitated, Anger, Annoy, Annoyance, boring, consequences, content Disappointment, Dissatisfied, Disturbance, disqualified, enrage, Hindrance, Provoke – you use these words to talk about their problem and the competition.

• Danger words –AKA bad boy words, banned, Beware, Cautious, Clandestine, controversial, covert, Exclusive, Hidden, out of bounds, private, secret, Sense of danger, unpublished, Veiled, warning, Stealthy, Underground & Silent.

Using negative emotional words in your sales process 

You can use these words to talk about your product and or service without the negative attachment. You use these words to explain the negative consequences of using the competition's products or services. – build doubt

How to use Primacy and recency in sales

You can use the power of psychology with your buyers. There will be times where you want to engage with the people you meet within a way that can trigger emotions. Sometimes this is the feeling of missing out (FOMO) and sometimes this is just convrsational. 

• Miss out – You will regret missing out vs I don’t want you to miss out (words that can Convery this are) Get in while you can, Last chance, Last ones, Last time ever, members-only, Only time ever, limited quantities, Prices will be raised, This offer is going away, Time will expire, your secret special.

When to use emotions in sales with buyers 

At the beginning of a conversation, most of your buyers will need to be enticed to talk about their emotions and or feelings. You do have to set the pace with this and use your emotional words first as well as questions.

Use silence to your advantage. It takes  03 – 06 seconds for most questions to be answered. The magic happens at 15 – 20 seconds. 

Invite people to share more with you. Not every question can be an emotional-based one. You will trigger manipulation feelings with the buyer. Once again be aware that you have to control your feelings as you may include your buyer's emotions. Remember, even angry people will buy

How to use goals to sell more 

If you look at goal setting there are so many pieces of information from you to choose from. You have to find what works for you. There isn't a one size fits all goal-setting process for everyone. It's ok to try something and if it doesn’t work find something that does. Your job is to find a plan, stick to it and work it. You can always modify as needed, in the end, this is your recipe. 

Goal setting and sales 

One of the common mistakes salespeople and entrepreneurs make is to think they have to wait until January 1st every year to start with their goals. You will find consistency in sales starts with expectations and tracking. Plenty of salespeople and companies struggle with consistency and tracking. 

Goal setting data points 

Most stats about goal and goal setting have no attribution. Most studies have too small of sample sizes. It's tough to judge off success off of 10 people vs 1000 people. The Harvard Study Study has been shown to be fake or nonexistent. Here are the 2 constants you will find when you study goal setting. 

• You are 33% - 43% more likely to achieve a goal if it's written down. 2015 Gail Matthews

The goal-setting common experience 

There are some common traits in goal setting that seem to be a strong constant. These items are mentioned in just about every example, article, podcast, YouTube video as well as goal setting courses:

• Write your goals down

Area 1 - You do have to have your foundation (the 4Ds):

• Discipline – How strong is your discipline – do you need someone to monitor you or tell you what to do? 

Area 2 – Reason why

Have a strong reason why to escape from struggling. This concept is the main drive above all and everything else that I see help people propel. There are 4 main topics with plenty of subtopics. 3 of these are common ideas and 1 isnt.

What is the deep-down reason for your goal? Not the reason you tell everyone. If you were to speak to a confidential source what would you tell them? This conversation may be super personal. For others, it can be an open book.  

Your desires and personal outcomes matter

• Prove yourself right – It was something I wanted to do, Show others what you can do – I want others to see me and hear me

Questions to ponder for your reason why  

• What does the goal mean to you, how have you attached to the outcome?

Area 3 – The groupings and explanations

These are typically tied to a date and a sum of money or outcome. You can set a time and date fairly easily. By March 30th I will hit 500k in gross income from all of my businesses. Royalties, equity, mastermind and consulting. You can then add these 14 dimensions or groupings:

• Actions – Things you want to do and or achieve

Area 3 – The underpinnings  

What you have as moving parts inside of a goal (here are the elements):

Light version goals vs master planning may be easier. The light version may be how you talk about the goal. Master planning is what will it take for you to get there. What will you need to have to reach your goal? (what framework is needed to make what you want to have happened work out)

• Attention – how much time do you have to put towards the goal?

Bonus area

Adversity map advances planning – this is where I point out what could go wrong and what to do to get back on track. This is not super detailed. This is about saying “___________” could happen. The unexpected is unexpected. This helps with planning. In business, these could be called red team events.

Who you can name in your goal adversity map:

• People – what if the wrong people enter my life, how will I know?

When you look at this preparation you don't look at it every day. This is just prep for what may be. This is more of a “who is in my way or could get in my way session”

Side notes about goal setting 

Pie-in-the-sky goals can be spotted by people who know how to listen and or watch.  There are items that can be red flags "I am going to be the top salesperson this year". You will find that the more steps needed the fewer actions people take. What can you do to streamline your goal-setting process? How can you make your goals stepped up?

You can imagine and "Feel the feeling" with as much imagination as possible. When you think through success, where do you share your wins, who do you share them with?

Things you can do to reach your goals:

• Less can be more when you work on your goals and goal setting. There are multiple ways for you to streamline the sales process. 

Here is where I differ

Once again this is what works for me, you may need to find your own path. You can use an  accountability partner – I talk my goals out as a check in with a good friend and they do the same. We poke holes in ideas – not as an aggressive action “have you thought about_________” have you considered __________” and or “could you make this pivot __________” – sometimes these meetings are hard.

I have learned from great marketers around me “everything is a test” I take that for actions I take and don’t really beat myself up when things don’t work right

• Knowledge is power

Money is emotional in business and sales 

You will find that when you spend money or make money it is emotional. This comes down to  the money spent vs time to make it. You will want to understand this concept in order to close more deals. When you can grasp the money vs time concept you can have better communication with your buyers. If you add in the understanding of risk it's that much more impressive. When older people tell you their age, it’s a money issue. 

Trust helps close deals in sales 

As consumers, we have a fear of being taken advantage of. We don't want to lose out. This fear comes down to protecting your back end and not losing. When you win there is a dopamine rush, when you lose there is panic. 

Time vs cost in sales and emotions 

When you make money you calculate the time, energy, and or effort it takes to make a purchase. This is normal for most people for mid-range and large purchases. Sometimes what you sell will take weeks, months, or years to pay for. This comes down to time, energy, and or effort. People buy on emotion and justify with logic:

• There is an emotional feel to spending money 

As a salesperson, it helps to understand these concepts not just for the purchase, but also the objections as well as the problems faced after a deal. There is emotion to a sales presentation:

• Sometimes you hit it off immediately with buyers 

Think about how upset or angry you get when you make a mistake or when something goes wrong. There is risk in making a mistake, you could be:

• Irritated

Talking about emotions in sales

Early on in your sales career, you may have fears about emotional conversations and questions. You can use emotional questions with your buyers and be ok. You do need to pay attention to how often you have them so they don't feel manipulative. Ways you can lock in emotions in the sales process:

• You can ask for the feelings, the right amount. How many emotional questions you choose to ask is a personal decision

Set the expectations emotionally with your buyers 

You can reduce problems and or issues with your buyers by setting the expectation. Explain to buyers what will happen emotionally if they go the wrong way. You can talk people through their decision-making process. The way you communicate can be:

• This can be explicit or a hint

How to explain the outcome with emotions

You can use emotional words to explain and set expectations. Remember to not use too much, just in a few places. You can mirror the words of the buyer when you ask emotional questions.  A mismatch may not work to your favor.  If they say upset don’t use anger for them, save that for another example.

• Use certainty – I am certain you will be happy with this

Things you can do when sales go sideways

1. Contact the person immediately – the sooner the better

Making money is emotional and spending money is as well 

You have to remember money is emotional. Spending, making, losing, saving and thinking about money can bring in emotions. To sell more you will want to think through people sell how they buy. Setting expectations can help close deals. Tell them what to expect. Tell them what to do if something happens. Last of all don’t sell perfection.  

How to create a buyers guide

One of the coolest things you can do for your service and or industry is create a buyers guide. A buyers guide is an explanation for what a buyer could do to make a good decision. This guide is your way to influence the sales process. You get to put your ideas out in front of the buyer before, during, and after the sale. You get to have some help with some of the buyers purchasing behavior. Part of the buyers guide is to help overcome things like getting 3 bids, shopping on the lowest price, and time stalls. 

Most consumers dont know how to purchase items 

Most people don’t know to buy the products and or the services they need. Most companies make it all about the price so it becomes a discounting game. Having a buyer's guide automatically makes you an expert. You are distilling information to make it easy for the buyer. In essence, you can become their hero. At the same time you get to distill the concepts and or ideas that you think are important. 

Buyers psychology and buyers guides 

Your buyer has risk when they make a purchase. Nobody wants to look dumb or silly when they buy. As consumers, we all want to make good choices, and we will go out of our way to not look dumb. This buyer's guide targets people's fears and or risks and helps reduce them. Most salespeople skip visualization of what they do – touch, feel, see, hear. Most salespeople leave a brochure behind that doesn’t answer questions and its just fluff

Building a buyers guide framework

You will want to put some thought into this project. You can do some research by looking for the most common questions your buyers ask. Once you look at the questions you can ask the people you work with. If you still need more content you can look at reviews. You will want to write down all of these questions and confirm they are what is asked. You dont want to create objections you dont have. You then take the objections and turn them into questions about your product and or service. The good new is, you already have all of the research to make this happen

The aspects of a successful buyers guide:

• 10 FAQs – the FAQs are just that, these are the most highlighted common questions – a few of these can be against you competition

Tips on how to build a buyers guide 

Salespeople and even business owners struggle with buyers guides. The hope for them is the first version is the final version. You may have multiple versions of your buyers guide before you feel it is complete. Start small and then validate that it is what you want. You do have to start somewhere. Here are a few concepts to help you out. 

• This is going to be a living doc so it will change over time 

Items to add to a buyers guide 

Once you have your 10 frequently asked questions, your 10 should ask questions and the 10 common mistakes salespeople make you can add more items. You need to have your base work down first so you know what else could be added. 

• Awards from groups 

Your goal is to list out all of your best features and figure out how to highlight them. Once you have the framework built out you can turn this into audio – video with a download. 

How to make your buyer's guide even more powerful 

If you want to go even further there are other elements you can add to your buyer's guide. You can go to a graphic designer and have them design this item. You will want to make sure it isnt too perfect. It does need to have the feel of easy and not expensive. You can add images of people smiling as a priming factor. 

How to make a buyers guide even more exceptional 

Giving someone words on a piece of paper is one thing. Being able to walk someone through a decision is even better. You can add a small section in the back of the guide that uses a matrix pre-filled out with your best benefits and options. You can use checks and X’s to fill in the blanks of your service and or business.

Ways you can use the buyer's guide to help influence the sales process 

The whole goal of the buyer's guide is to make the sales process easier for you. This document is meant to be a tool you can use to help influence the buyer's decision. You can use this document as a lever before, during and after your presentation. 

• The buyer's guide can be used as a closing technique

The mistakes when building a buyers guide 

The goal of the buyer's guide is to reduce friction in the sales process. If the whole thing is a pitch fest you will lose the power this item holds. If the writing is too technical it will be hard to read. If there are spelling errors or punctuation errors people may lose interest in reading it. Yu can always run a FK (Flecsh Kincaid Score) on the writing to make sure it works. Here are a few other things to consider when building a buyers guide.

• Include images, graphs, charts, or anything similar

Last notes about creating your buyer's guide 

Your buyer's guide does need to be released into the wild. You will get ripped off, its part of “the game” be willing and ready to modify what you have and what you do. It will happen within 90 days. As your competition builds theirs out be willing to up your game. You can buy a good url howtobuya__________.com for people to hear or see in a commercial or ad. Add a reference to your buyer's guide in your call to action. If you are a regional company you could license your idea. You could get sponsorship or coop from a vendor to help pay for your guide if you choose. 

The legal parts of a buyers guide 

You may want to consult with an attorney or solicitor to make sure you have not created a legal risk for yourself. Copyright laws and work laws may be in play here so the few dollars you spend on legal qualification can help you. You do not want to specifically name a competing company and or salesperson. Make sure there are not any implications