In this review, I go through Brad Lea's Closer's School Masterclass, sharing both an in-depth summary of the multi-hour training as well as showing its pros and cons.
When you are weighing an online sales course, you want to be sure to look for two aspects:
1. Does the teacher actually have sales experience?
2. Do they share enough details to help you become a proficient salesperson or closer (whichever is your goal)?
I'll answer these questions in the review of Brad's Closer School below.
But before we jump in
Here's a little about how sales trainers have helped me
In 2014, I joined a coaching program that enabled me to quit my 9-5 in 7 months by building and ranking simple websites that generate leads for small businesses using free traffic from Google.
How I Made Sure I'd Never Go Back to a Job
2 Skills.
Lead Generation and Closing
First, the lead generation coaching program taught me how to push sites to the top of Google (and gave me foundational sales knowledge to close business owners on renting my digital assets).
The tree site next to me is one of 70 lead gen sites that give me monthly mailbox money.
That's a technical skill that few have.
(In case you are wondering how you can learn it, hit the button below)
Second, I learned to sell.
Now, I'll take Jordan Belfort over Grant Cardone anyday of the week,
but let's see how Brad Lea stands up to the competition!
Who's Brad Lea?
Brad Lea is a legit sales guy having spent over 25 years in the auto sales industry before moving into the internet-based training sector.
After going around the country training sales teams, Brad had an epiphany in 1999: what if he could use this brand new internet to offer his sales training to many dealers at once?
LightSpeed VT was born.
It's now the online training platform that many well-known trainers use share their knowledge and skills, figures like Grant Cardone, Daymond John, Tony Robbins, Jonathan Hawkins, Eric Thomas and more.
And, according to Glassdoor, Lightspeedvt does pretty well:
How Brad Lea Went From Homeless to Millionaire
Brad's Background and Story
Brad Lea was raised in a hardworking, blue-collar family, which influenced his entrepreneurial spirit. He became a care salesperson where he developed strong interpersonal skills, charisma, and resilience. Brad has been married multiple times and has several children from various relationships. At some point he left home to follow his "goals" but he didn't turn out successful and he ran out of money. He was homeless for a short period and lived on a beachside.
Turning Point in His Life
His time spent homeless, living on a beach by choice, gave him a unique perspective in life and taught him to be grateful. He realized the importance of being genuine and authentic, so he stopped pretending to be someone he's not. This shift in his life affected how he handled his business and personal relationships.
How Brad Lea Got Rich
After the mindset shift, Brad got to work. He started various businesses including LightSpeed VT, a virtual training platform. He used his skills in sales and his charismatic personality to grow the businesses. Brad diversified his income sources by creating a YouTube channel and podcast. These outlets also boosted his online presence and grew traffic to his sites.
What's not mentioned in the interview: Charisma, resilience, and hardwork are not enough to make you a successful entrepreneur. You need to have substantial financial backing to start and scale any business.
Now let's see if Brad's "Closer School" does as well.
Closer School Masterclass Review
Foundation: Mindset
In this section, Brad covers the basics of a great sales mindset.
He emphasizes 7 different characteristics that make up the seeds of a strong outlook and enable you to respond (not react) to every situation you are a part of.
The most important one, Brad says, is gratefulness.
So important, in fact, that it's the first thing Brad does when he gets up:
He writes down a few things that he is grateful for.
There's a ton of science that backs up the profound impact on daily gratefulness
Harvard University said this:
In traditional sales training, I was taught to "fake it 'til I make it."
Brad flips that cliche' on it's head, saying
Be Authentic
“Worry more about how you think about yourself, because when you know you are competent and think highly of yourself, that comes out in your interactions with others.”
Brad Lea
In Brad's Closer School, he's got 4 videos on developing your mindset, each sharing some overall philosophy and a practical tidbit that you can begin to incorporate in your life.
Similarly to Brad, I've realized the importance of gratefulness.
In fact, last year, the coaching program that gave me the skills to quit my job developed a tool for daily mindset development, called the Hustle Handbook.
Part 2:
Another helpful mindset bomb Brad drops is on self-confidence
Some other mindset gurus might touch on it, but Brad explains how to develop it in a helpful, short and sweet manner
He lays out a simple 3 step process
Brad Lea's Self-Confidence Formula
If you work through this process, you'll find that, over time, your walk will have more a bounce in it, you'll feel better about yourself and you'll have a greater level of influence on others.
Me?
I worked through a similar process using Belfort's Straight Line System, which pushed the dial of my income to over 50k per month.
And really, it's not just about you making more money, it's about getting the strength you need to reach out and help more people
My clients will actually reach out to me, sending messages like this:
And this:
I agree with Brad Lea when he says this about mindset development
Step 1: Preparation
You must get ready for the sale in a couple different ways:
(1) Your Appearance and (2) Your Product/Service Knowledge
Here's why
Brad Lea puts a spin on the cliche "Dress to Impress"
Rather than dressing to impress others, like your prospects (those who you want to buy your product), you should dress to impress yourself.
Why the switch?
Brad's logic builds on his self-confidence process he laid out earlier:
If you dress so that you feel like a million bucks (even if that means less formally), you have a better impression on your potential clients than if you come across as uncomfortable in your suit and tie.
The second way to ready yourself for the sale is become an expert in what you are selling
Here's what Brad recommends you do to be product prepared
Brad Lea's Product Prep Tactics
Brad wraps up this step emphasizing mindset, saying
It Begins and Ends with Mindset
“It really doesn’t matter who thinks you can’t as long as you’re not one of them.”
Brad Lea
Step 2: The Introduction
This section is the Closing School's shortest as, according to Brad, it's the simplest.
Note: I think that Jordan Belfort would take a bit of an issue with this, saying that the first few seconds of the interaction have a profound impact on how you position yourself for the relationship.
"Meet as many people as you can every single day," is Brad's advice here.
Brad talks about the intro correctly as "the opening of a relationship," where you walk up confidently, put out your hand, saying "Hi, my name is ____, and yours?"
Then you are into the next phase of the interaction: Gathering Intel.
Step 3: Gather Intel
There's 2 sides to the coin of gathering intel in 2020.
What are they?
Think of it like a give and take
1st: You want be prepared with your product knowledge so you can answer any and all of their questions.
That's the give.
2nd: You want to have your questions for your potential customer ready, so you diagnose how you can best help without wasting any time.
Brad includes a list of do's and don'ts to help you when you are gathering intel.
Here's a partial list:
Closing School Keys to Remember
For those old-school "high-pressure" salespeople, Brad offers a warning:
He says this as it's no longer cool to judge your conversation partner, thinking they have nothing to offer, as you can't see the referrals they could give you.
What should you ask as you are gathering intel?
Brad suggests asking questions along the following three lines:
Intel Discovery Queries
Obviously you wouldn't ask them directly, but you'd smooth them over by phrasing them like:
- Can you help me understand...?
- Talk to me about....?
When you are talking with your potential clients, Brad finishes the section with a helpful tip:
Once you've gathered that kind of information, you'll be able to begin building the value of your product.
That's Step 4.
Let's get into it!
Step 4: Build Value
This step is where you help connect the dots between your service and the customer's problem in their mind.
You are also building the value of what you do so that they will not question you on the price in the future when the deal is being closed.
Building Value Best Practices
Unfortunately, Brad doesn't go into much more detail, saying that since this training is a masterclass, it's much more focused on helping you develop the proper mindset.
Step 5: Ask for the Sale
Brad's repeated motto through out this section:
"If you don't ask, you won't ever get"
How to Ask for the Sale
Brad wraps up this section as rapidly as an amazon package wrapper, with repeated encouragement to ask for the sale.
Step 6: Close the Deal
At the beginning of this section, Brad makes the distinction between "selling" and "closing."
Brad defines the difference this way
"Selling ends and closing begins with the customer says 'no.'"
He and Jordan Belfort differ on their presentations on closing as Belfort combines "selling" and "closing" into a third, new variable, which he calls "influencing."
Here's a super short (30 seconds) video of Jordan explaining "influencing"
Many who are new to sales look for specific "closes" to use.
Here's where Brad's "Closer School," falls short imo.
He includes little material on the actual specifics of closing, nor does he use many examples.
Basically, Brad repeats the general mantra that the "best problem solvers are the best closers" over and over.
The big irony to me is that he calls it the "Closer School," but when he trains on closing, he leaves a lot to be desired.
Maybe I have too high of expectations of a masterclass, maybe not.
But as far as I can tell, the masterclass is named one thing, but does another.
If you are looking for an introduction to the entire sales process, which Brad does a very good job explaining, I'd recommend it.
Here's a visual of the sales process that Brad goes through
Brad Lea's Sales Process
If you want to learn more about closing specifically, I'd encourage you to look into Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Sales 4.0 (the full sales and closing course is 5k, but he's also sells the closing section for 400 dollars, which is how much Brad charges for his training masterclass)
All that said, let's keep moving.
Step 7: The Indoctrination
After you close them as your client, your works not done yet.
Now you've got to encourage them to stick around.
Everyone knows that when you get married, you've got to keep "dating your spouse" to have a successful relationship.
Same thing goes with your clients.
To keep the door open for referrals and second money, you'll want to keep showing your appreciation for them, sending them notes on holidays like Christmas, their birthday as well as periodic updates on your service offerings.
Saying "Hey" every 6 months or so is good enough.
Basically keep the line of communication open by touching base more often than Ricky Henderson
Henderson Holds the Record for the Most Stolen Bases in NBL History
Career vs. Job (Your Book of Business)
For those who want to build a career in sales, Brad does an excellent job explaining how to do that.
He shows how you can build your own book of business by adding a little ingenuity and a little extra hustle.
If you have a job in sales, you probably were given a number of accounts that you are responsible to maintain, a collection of companies who have done business with your company in the past.
Figure out how you can grow that and you'll increase your value to your company.
Don't just call those accounts, but look for a few new accounts to start seeing that you can add to the list.
Start building more relationships and some of them will turn into customers.
Inside this section, Brad tells the story of how he used an index card "CRM" in the 90's to build his company up to where it is today.
He had a section for each day of the year, so he knew who to contact and how to follow up with each company.
As time went on, he had more and more people to contact, too many, in fact, that he needed to hire assistants to contact the business for him.
That's how he built his company.
Asking for Referrals
If you don't ask for them, you won't get them.
Make it a habit to ask for referrals every single time, and you'll multiply the size of yoru business.
How should you ask for the sale?
Brad
Asking for Referrals the Right Way
Throughout this section, Brad emphasizes the need to ask for the referral immediately, and not wait a week or two.
Prospecting
Did you wince as you read "Prospecting"?
Brad says:
"People who hate prospecting don’t really know what they are doing."
You want to prospect like a banji
What’s a pipeline?
A recorded list of opportunities and prospects that are ready or getting ready to make a buying decision with you.
What's the benefit of keeping your pipeline full?
If you are low on potential customers, you'll likely sound desperate.
and you know what they say about sounding desperate:
Sounding desperate never sells
(in business or in dating lol)
Keep a full pipeline by selling regularly
What's a full pipeline?
More than just a few.
Brad encourages you to have the following minimum:
"You should always have at least 50 prospects in your pipeline."
Having a pipeline is part and parsel to being a true pro.
You can’t really say you are a professional and not have a pipeline.
"You can’t really say you are a professional and not have a pipeline."
Brad Lea
In order to have a full pipeline, you need to prospect on a daily basis.
You keep your pipeline full by being intentional about it.
Wondering how to get your own pipeline started?
Brad lays out some structure:
5 Step Prospect Producing Process:
Does that sound like a lot of effort?
Tough beans
"You know why they call it ‘work’? Because it works"
Brad Lea
Wondering how you keep your pipeline going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny?
Brad closes up the lesson with a few tips to keep it topped off:
Best Practices to Maintain Your Pipeline
Leveraging Social Media
Social media is the new tv, newspaper and radio.
You get more attention through those channels than through "traditional" sources in 2020.
In this section, to put it shortly, Brad Lea flips on his "Grant Cardone" side:
Get attention to get more sales
After his passionate speech about attention, Brad goes on to lay out the 3 basic steps to grow your social following in 2020:
Step 1: provide value – then people share and you get more a following
What content has value?
you might be asking
That depends on what you’re trying to sell or attract
Post what people value
People don’t follow companies, they follow people
Be consistent with posts
(Brad notes here that he posts 1-2 times per day on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, not counting going live)
Step 2: Engage with commenters by replying or liking their comment
This shows your audience that you value their input.
Step 3: Rinse & Repeat Steps 1-3
Follow Up
Follow up is the single greatest way to increase your sales.
You can get more sales if you follow up.
But if you are just asking, "You ready to buy yet?"
That's just plain annoying (and rude according to Brad)
Don’t be pushy!
You want to come across as nice and considerate
(You want to be the person they enjoy and anticipate hearing from, not the one who they avoid)
Frequency of Follow-up
So how should you follow up?
Brad suggests either sharing helpful information or reaching out simply to check in or ask a question.
Sincerely wanting to help them make the best decision for their life.
Invest in Relationships
Relationships are the new economy according to Brad.
Right of the bat, Brad encourages you to read Dale Carnegie's class "How to Win Friends and Influence People" to see how valuable relationships can be, both professionally and personally.
I read it a few years ago, and it reminded me to consistently listen to understand, rather than to merely planning to reply.
Brad then dives into the foundations of relationships, encouraging honesty through and through.
"Integrity and ethics are foundational building blocks of any relationship."
Brad Lea
Don’t bend over backwards for toxic people. Eliminate them or they will cause other relationships you have to erode.
Sometimes, you have to walk in solitude, but that's better than drowning among toxic personalities.
“I’d rather be alone than be around the wrong people," says Brad.
The rest of this section Brad fills up with suggestions on making the most relationships.
A few are:
At the end of the day, you want to be a giver, not a taker.
To build the best relationships, you want to serve the person (not just get the sale).
Social Commentary on Brad's Closer School
What Reddit and Quora Are Saying About Brad Lea
Quora is pretty postive.
Reddit provides a spectrum, from hate to appreciation.
Pros and Cons
of Brad's Closer School Masterclass
Pros
Cons
Overall, what Brad has put together is not a masterclass on closing, so much as an overview on the complete sales process and how salespeople who want to be successful sales professionals can structure their processes and interactions with their prospects and clients.
"Closer School" would be better named "An Overview of the Sales Process," but Brad knows that it wouldn't sell if it were titled that.
So you can learn a lot by scoping in on how experienced sales guys, like Brad Lea, market their courses, but I wouldn't count on the title of the training being an accurate reflection of what the pro actually teaches.
How Lead Generation & Sales Training Lifted Me From My 9-5 to 52k Per Month
Before I left the job world forever in 2014, I remember knowing nothing about sales or how to generate money online.
Since joining this lead gen coaching program, I've conquered both those obstacles.
Here's a short video (4 minutes) of Simon (former trucker) sharing how this program has transformed him from padawan to sales master and internet entrepreneur.
Learn more about this program by clicking the button below
