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You might be familiar with his cult classic business book, “$100M Offers.” Or the fact that he’s built multiple deca-million-dollar businesses. Or maybe something resonated when you heard him speak about sales and business.
I’m talking about the one and only Alex Hormozi, of course.
I’ve used Alex Hormozi sales training in the form of books, YouTube, and podcast episodes to scale my business to $500,000 ARR. I’ll use his methods to scale to seven figures next year.
Now, I’m going to show you how to use Alex Homozi’s sales training philosophy to grow your business. I’ll walk you through the best sales tips, business lessons, and frameworks he used to build multiple eight-figure companies. Let’s go.👇🏾
1. Give, give, give, ask
If you have an audience, their level of trust in you goes up the longer you wait to ask for a sale; then, it dwindles when you do.
Of course you have to sell to your audience at some point, but the more strategic you are about the process, the more money you can make in the long term.
Alex says that if you want to get rich, you should be long-term greedy instead of short-term greedy.
Here’s what both look like.
Short-term greedy: You build an audience and sell them as many low-quality products as possible as fast as possible. You’ll make some sales, sure. But you’ll also turn off a huge portion of your audience in the process. You keep making quick offers to make quick money, and your audience gets burned out.
Long-term greedy: You build an audience and focus on providing value. You provide free content that is better than your competition’s paid product. You entertain, inspire, and educate your audience. By the time you have a product for sale, they think, “If I got so much value from the free content, I can only imagine what the paid product can deliver.” Then, you can sell a high-quality product at premium prices and make a ton of cash in one fell swoop.
Alex uses Gary Vaynerchuk as an example. Gary is a popular social media expert and agency owner who also creates content for people to show them how to run businesses and create content.
Gary’s primary source of income isn’t his B2C audience, so he mostly gives away content.
Every once in a while, though, he makes a big ask. When he launched a book, he asked hard.
You can squeeze your audience for tiny amounts of cash and burn them out. Or you can wait and make a huge ask that will make you rich forever.
2. The offer is king
Alex’s book, “$100M Offers” is all about creating offers people can’t refuse.
The “offer” is everything they will get in exchange for giving you money.
If you want to create a killer offer, you have to understand the different components of providing value:
- Dream outcome: What’s the life-changing outcome your customer is trying to achieve in their life or business? Six-pack abs, an extra million a year in revenue, traffic to their website, or a healthy and happy relationship are all examples.
- Perceived likelihood of achievement: In the customer’s eyes, based both on their perception of themselves and whether or not you can help them, how likely do they think the dream outcome is?
- Time delay: How long will it take to achieve the dream outcome?
- Effort and sacrifice: People default to wanting to achieve the outcome in the easiest and fastest way possible.
The “value equation” goes like this:
Dream outcome x perceived likelihood of achievement/time delay x effort and sacrifice = value.
The most valuable products get you the dream outcome, guaranteed, as fast as possible with little to no effort.
Let’s say the dream outcome for your potential customer is losing weight and getting a six-pack.
Your prospect could buy a book, do all the workouts, diet, and train for months or years. The time delay is long, the perceived likelihood of achievement is low, and it takes a ton of effort and sacrifice (which is why someone might only pay $10 for a book on fitness).
Or, a person could hire a personal trainer who will tell them exactly what workouts to do, create a customized meal plan, and check in constantly to make sure they’re on track. People pay more for customized training because the likelihood goes up and the time delay and sacrifice go down.
Last, another option would be liposuction. The effort is zero, the time delay is non-existent, and the likelihood of achievement is 100%—which is why it costs upwards of $20,000.
So the question becomes—when looking at the available options—how can you make your offer more valuable and stack the deck in your favor so you can charge higher prices?
Creating your grand slam offer
Make a list of every single problem your potential customer has.
Next, create a list of solutions to those problems, and don’t limit yourself to whether or not you can do them. Just brainstorm everything you can think of.
For example, if you are helping people lose weight and they hate shopping for healthy food, you could go to the store and shop for them.
You probably wouldn’t do this, but the point of the exercise is to think about every way you can solve their problems.
Then, after that, you look for the most valuable things you can do with the least amount of effort.
Take the best ones and add them to your offer. Some examples are below.
Done for you services: Alex ran a gym turnaround business where he would fly to your gym, create all the advertisements, personally sell the people who walked in the door, and sell your gym to full capacity. He’d only keep the initial month of sales and you’d keep all the rest. He would only get paid if you did. Pretty hard to say no to, right?
Done with you services: Can you provide a way to do the work with the customer to help them achieve the goal? Instead of just selling someone a program on how to do something, you can give them coaching time, walk them through the process step by step, and personally deliver some parts of the process.
Resources: Can you create a resource that can make it easier to achieve the dream outcome? I coach writers to write and get paid. I provide blog post templates, checklists, and links to the best publications to submit their work, which saves them time and energy.
Structuring the offer is so important that he wrote an entire book I couldn’t fully cover here, but the takeaway is clear.
What you sell, how you deliver what you sell, and the way the offer is structured matter more than the process of selling it. Get the offer right, and sales will be ten times easier.
Now it’s your turn
Grab a pen and paper and write down every single problem your potential client is struggling with. No problem is too small.
Wait a day and revisit your list.
For each problem, come up with a potential solution that you can add to your offer.
Narrow your list down to the components that provide the most long-term value with a small amount of repeated effort and sacrifice to deliver.
The component may be something that takes a ton of time, energy, and even money to build ONCE—but requires little to no effort to maintain for each new client.
The most extreme example of this would be something like software.
Last, turn the solution into copy you can use to sell your offer. The easiest way to do this is to add the words “how to.”
- Problem: Bad at sales
- Solution: Word-for-word sales script
- Copy: How to land clients (even if you suck at sales)
Example
One of my students is a health and vitality coach for men in their 40s and older. Here is his offer exercise:
| Problem | Solution | Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Low energy throughout the day | Personalized nutrition and exercise plan | How to boost your energy levels and keep up with your kids all day long |
| Decreased libido | Hormone-balancing diet and targeted supplements | How to reignite your passion and feel like a newlywed again |
| Brain fog affecting work performance | Brain-boosting workout routines and cognitive exercises | How to sharpen your mind and crush it at work (while still having energy for family time) |
| Difficulty losing stubborn belly fat | Tailored HIIT workouts and metabolic reset program | How to finally shed that dad bod and feel confident shirtless at the beach |
| Lack of time for self-care | Time-efficient 20-minute workout plans | How to get fit in just 20 minutes a day (even with a busy dad schedule) |
| Poor sleep quality | Sleep optimization techniques and evening routines | How to wake up refreshed and ready to tackle both parenting and work challenges |
| Stress management struggles | Stress-busting workout routines and mindfulness practices | How to become a calm, cool, and collected dad (even when life gets chaotic) |
| Decreased strength and muscle mass | Progressive strength training program | How to build "superhero dad" strength that impresses your kids and boosts your confidence |
| Lack of motivation to exercise | Accountability system and goal-setting workshops | How to stay motivated and consistent with your fitness (even when you'd rather crash on the couch) |
| Poor eating habits due to busy lifestyle | Meal prep strategies and quick, healthy recipes | How to fuel your body like a pro athlete (without spending hours in the kitchen) |
3. Presenting your offer as a “new opportunity”
When crafting and selling your offer, it’s often more compelling to present it as a new opportunity rather than an improvement on existing solutions.
This approach can help you stand out in a crowded market and attract clients who are looking for something different.
Improvement offers sell through pain. New opportunities sell away from pain.
Why people don’t want improvement offers
- Improvement is hard: Most people have tried to improve in the past and it didn’t work. Selling them a better way to do something they’ve already tried just reminds them of their pain.
- Desire vs. ambition: Everyone has desire, but very few people have serious ambition. Improvement offers are selling to overachieving, ambitious people (which eliminates the vast majority of potential buyers). With a new opportunity, they don’t know what the process will be, so they don’t have to go through the familiar pain to get the result.
- Memories of poor past decisions: If your followers need improvement, then they have to admit failure. For them to say yes, they have to admit their past efforts fell short. Nobody wants to admit they’re wrong. An improvement offer forces them to admit they’re wrong.
- Commodity pricing: Selling improvement means you’re selling against dozens or hundreds of other competitors selling the same thing.
Why new opportunities are better than improvements
- Novelty factor: People are drawn to new and exciting concepts.
- Differentiation: It sets you apart from competitors who are simply offering “better” versions of the same thing.
- Higher perceived value: New opportunities often command higher prices because they’re unique.
- Enthusiasm: Clients are more likely to get excited about a fresh approach.
Examples of “new opportunity” offers
- The Movie Star Body Program → It promises a new style of training that will give you a Hollywood actor physique with minimalist training, intermittent fasting (which means you can eat big meals full of carbs you love), and “reverse pyramid training” that helps you build muscle faster.
- Introverted Alpha → A system for meeting a girlfriend for shy men where you hone your attractiveness instead of using “pick up artist tactics.”
- Vendingpreneuer → A new style of passive income that many people haven’t tried before (vending machines).
- Words to Dollars → Helps writers monetize faster with high-ticket clients instead of wasting years writing Medium articles, publishing books, and other inefficient methods.
We’ve covered some foundational principles. Now, let’s get into some sales tactics.
4. Apply the CLOSER framework
Alex Hormozi’s sales training is in the back of my mind during every sales call. He breaks it down into an easy-to-understand framework so you can easily walk through each step.
It’s called the C-L-O-S-E-R framework:
- Clarify why they’re there
- Label them with a problem
- Overview their past pain
- Sell them a vacation
- Explain away their concerns
- Reinforce their decision
Clarify why they’re there
Your prospects are all on the call because they have a problem.
It’s your job to frame the conversation from the start, so that you have a productive sales call instead of giving away free advice.
I like to use this question:
What are the pain points, problems, or challenges that led to you booking a call today?
Don’t let them get away with an answer like:
I’m just looking for more information.
Nobody wastes their precious time going on random calls looking for information. You can bring this up in a light-teasing way and re-direct back to the question:
Do you just sign up for random calls with people to get information (light-hearted joking tone)? You wouldn’t have spent valuable time speaking with me unless something was going on so, what really brought you here today?
This question will naturally transition to the next phase of the sales process.
Label them with a problem
Until you identify a problem that both you and the prospect agree is the root cause of them not getting the desired outcome, don’t move on to the next phase of the conversation.
After you ask the clarifying question at the beginning, you can use additional questions and statements to get to the root of the problem:
- Tell me more about that…
- Out of everything you mentioned what do you think is the number one obstacle to [outcome]?
- What do you think you need most to hit your goal?
Once you’ve clearly labeled the number one problem they’re facing, you can move to the next step.
Sales is about identifying the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
It starts with making your prospect feel understood.
If you meet them where they’re at and find the right problem—the thing that’s keeping them up at night—then you can move them to your solution because you first took the time to put yourself in their shoes.
Overview their past pain
This probably isn’t the first time they’ve tried to get the problem solved.
You want to find out what they’ve already tried so you can emphasize what you do differently and sell that piece of it when it comes to the pitch.
Why?
People don’t want an improved version of a strategy they already tried and failed to implement.
Instead, present your offer as a different path to get what they want. This takes the blame away from them and puts it on the strategy, which will inspire them to try something new.
Ask them about everything they’ve tried to get the result.
Even better, ask them what they’ve spent money on to solve the problem. This will help you re-frame your offer and qualify them as a buyer. Buyers tend to keep buying more stuff to solve their problem—which means they are in an excellent position to take you up on your new offer.
Sell them a vacation
Here’s the biggest mistake rookie salespeople make when trying to sell a product or service of any kind.
They focus on the features and the deliverables, instead of the desired outcome.
Take my world of online courses, coaching, and consulting.
Instead of talking about how many one-on-one calls they’ll get, how many hours of content are inside the program, or what the office hours are, I talk about the outcomes they’ll get after working with me.
Here is an example of me “selling the vacation” when I pitch my offer to my potential students (who want to build online businesses):
The first thing we’ll do is sit down one-on-one to package your knowledge and skills into an offer you can sell for $1,000/mo minimum, so you can build a $10K/mo business. That way you don’t need a big audience or have to work endless hours just to hit your income goals.
Next, we’ll validate your offer by landing your first three high-ticket clients so you can have full confidence your offer works because people opened up their wallets to buy it.
Last, we’ll give you content frameworks to attract clients and show you our sell-by-chat method so you can attract high-quality people who are willing and able to invest in your offer every single day, which will lead to adding $10K/mo recurring in six months.
Notice how my pitch is all about the outcomes they’ll get?
I talk a bit about the “how” and the “what” behind the outcome, but I spend most of my time selling the vacation.
Explain away their concerns
Objection handling is a topic in and of itself which is why we included an entire section on it, but here’s what you have to understand about your sales prospects.
They want to buy. They want to believe you. They wouldn’t be there otherwise. It’s your job to help them.
They are afraid of making a mistake, feeling dumb, and lowering their status. They want to trust you, but maybe they’ve been burned before. They might trust you but don’t trust themselves because they’ve tried and failed.
They’re hurting, and it’s your job to ease the pain.
When you think of objection handling as more of a collaborative effort, this helps. You should genuinely listen and explain away their concerns instead of taking a combative, argumentative approach where you have to convince them to buy. Embrace the collaborative mindset, and selling becomes ten times easier.
Re-affirm their decision
Immediately after buying something, especially if it’s expensive, people can feel “buyer’s remorse.”
Excitement turns into fear. They start second-guessing themselves and questioning whether or not they made the right decision.
This is why it’s important to have a smooth onboarding process right after the transaction is complete.
In my case, I like to bring my community success manager onto the call right then and there. I do the introduction and “pass them off” so he can do a full walkthrough of the community.
I also take a bit of time to show them around if I close well before the next call.
I verbally affirm their decision right then and there. I have video modules in my courses that re-affirm them again before they get access to the meat and potatoes.
Continue to congratulate them on making a smart investment over and over again until they are fully integrated into your system, product, or service.
5. Objection handling 101
In sales, you have to learn how to handle objections.
People usually don’t say yes right away. You have to work with them to see the value in your product, help them believe it’s possible to achieve the outcome, and show them that you’re the right person to help them.
The two most common objections in sales are money and time.
I’ve personally used these objection-handling responses and have seen them work.
Objection: I need time to think.
Reply: It doesn’t take time to make a decision; it takes information. I’m your source of information and you have me here right now. What are your concerns? Let’s talk about it so I can help you decide either way.
Why this works: Both parties understand that the real issue is the doubt, indecision, and fear that goes into buying. So, this brings the conversation back to whatever the real issue is so we can work it out.
Objection: I’m busy or don’t have time to commit to this.
Reply: Do you think you’ll be any less busy anytime soon? If not, you can’t achieve the outcome unless everything in your life lines up perfectly, which probably won’t happen. We make time for what’s important. If you can find a way to fit this into your life right now, imagine what your results will be like if time does free up. Let’s work together to find the time.
Why this works: It’s common sense and logical. If the person really wants the outcome, they’ll come to the understanding that they have to make it a priority. If they believe you can help them do that, they’ll buy.
Objection: I can’t afford it.
Reply: Totally get it. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. But if the investment would just make things tight for you, here’s what I’d say. Often, not having money is the best reason to buy. If the investment stings a little, you’ll be more motivated to do the work, so you won’t have to be in a position like this forever.
Why this works: First, it only works if people do have the money. Sometimes they just don’t. But the underlying issue is always doubt, fear, and uncertainty. If you can flip the conversation in their mind and turn that financial sting into motivation, you can close the deal.
These are a few ways you can help people make decisions, which leads to the next point…
6. Be a coach, not a salesperson
If you want to get good at sales, you have to genuinely be there to help people make a decision (instead of just trying to get them to buy).
Alex says that the sales process is coaching.
You’re coaching them to make the right decision, and sometimes the right decision isn’t to buy.
Sometimes you will run into people who aren’t good candidates for what you do.
Sometimes people are too broke to work with you, which is why Alex says, “Solve rich people’s problems, they’ll pay more.”
If you accept anyone who walks in the door with a credit card, you might be running the wrong business.
I listened to a podcast once where he talked about the difference between scammy “make-money-online” gurus and universities.
Make money online gurus:
-
-
- Will take anyone’s money
- Don’t filter out bad prospects who will fail using their products
- Make promises of riches
-
Ivy league university:
-
- Rejects most applicants
- Makes zero-income promises
- Focuses on creating a stellar reputation where the results of the students speak for themselves
In the e-learning space, Alex promotes not taking money from just anyone or making promises to the moon.
Instead, he suggests working with the most qualified people who can actually succeed, charge a premium, and post their results instead of promising anything.
Most people won’t take this route because it’s harder. It takes more time. It means turning down opportunities for easy money.
You can use this attitude to sell anything.
Don’t take the easy way out and try to sell everything to everyone. When you’re trying to sell someone something, ask the right questions with the sole purpose of finding out if they’re a good fit.
If they are, you can push hard for the sale because you know it’s your duty to help them because you can help them. If not, you can part ways.
Alex talks a lot about doing what others won’t: being patient, taking the time to build amazing products, and—most importantly—actually giving a damn about the people you’re trying to help.
That’s the true secret to sales success.
7. Put up more shots
Alex put out fliers to get people to come to his gym. After putting up 500 of them, he was perplexed to find that nobody showed up. He went to a friend who had told him to post the fliers in the first place.
“This flier thing doesn’t work,” Alex said.
“How many fliers did you put up?” said the friend.
“500.”
“Dude, we put up 5,000 fliers just for a test run before we send the real amount.”
When it comes to sales, most people don’t do nearly enough to be profitable. Most business owners should take the amount of time they spend on their sales efforts and 10 or 100x it.
Alex has also talked about this foolproof strategy for getting clients if you’re a freelancer or run an online service business. It’s simple. Send 100 DMs or emails per day.
If you do that long enough, you will have clients. Most freelancers won’t send 100 DMs in their entire careers, which is why they’re broke.
Alex says he learned the nuances of sales by personally doing 4,000 sales calls.
Most people who try to succeed in business don’t do enough reps. Not even close.
They don’t do enough cold calls, they don’t send enough messages, they don’t create enough content, and they don’t go through the grueling process of learning to sell by practicing a ton.
Most sales problems, most business problems, and most life problems are effort problems.
The biggest lesson I learned from Alex is that you have to be willing to do the boring work over and over and over again until you finally win.
Do that and sales won’t be an issue.