"Please just SHUT UP already!"
Shut up? Yes, shut up!
To explain, let me tell you a story:
One day, once I'd figured out how to close sales - which of course means I was getting people to buy from me, without doing any pushy selling - I had an experience I have never forgotten.
I was in an appointment with the managing partner of a big, imposing law firm. He had many framed news articles all over his walls about the multi-million dollar awards he'd won for his clients.
Like the law firm, he was big and imposing, and not exactly an "easy" prospect. Just seeing his success as a trial lawyer told me that I'd probably met my match when it came to the negotiating game, and this would be a tough one to crack.
I was there to present my proposal and hopefully close the deal. This was a large firm, with well over 40 attorneys and a huge support staff, so the cost of the phone system I was proposing was in the $100,000 range. In other words, it was a major purchase for them.
I presented my solution, answered questions and objections, and then sat back - and then I SHUT UP.
The big famous lawyer sat back and shut up too. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the price.
Then he got up and began pacing around the room, still staring at my proposal.
Minutes dragged on for what seemed like hours. Like most salespeople, I was uncomfortable with the silence, and really wanted to say something to break it, but I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut.
Minutes dragged on for what seemed like hours.
After some more pacing around and huffing and puffing on his part, he finally said, "Ok, we'll buy it."
And that was that. I walked out with a signed contract, a signed check, and a wonderful feeling of victory like no other! Not to mention a big fat commission check.
Why Most Salespeople Lose Sales
Few salespeople are able to keep their mouths shut in a tense closing situation like that. That's why there are so few superstars in the sales world.
It takes a lot of strength and fortitude to be able to stay quiet when all you want to do is break the silence!
But as the old sales rule goes, "He who speaks first, loses." And it's true.
Most salespeople lose for two major reasons:
#1. In those closing appointments, when the prospect is silent and thinking about the purchase, the salesperson breaks the silence by saying something, and alas, as the saying goes, "He who speaks first, loses."
#2. They're in a closing appointment with a prospect who is not fully qualified, and ready, willing, and able to buy right now.
Obviously, that managing partner signed a $100,000 check that day because he WAS in fact fully qualified, ready, willing, and able to buy. And those are the ONLY kind of prospects you should spend your precious and valuable time with.
And guess what? I didn't find him by cold calling. No way. People like that aren't even accessible via cold calls, let alone even willing to take one.
I found him by modern sales prospecting and lead generation methods. No "dialing for dollars" or "pounding the pavement" or "banging on doors."
No "dialing for dollars" or "pounding the pavement" or "banging on doors."
That crap may have worked in the 1950s, but we're in the 21st Century now, my friends.
If YOU want to close deals with the whales, then the whales need to know who YOUare.
Make a name and rep
utation for yourself. Celebritize yourself. Dress the part. Write a book and get it printed cheap online, and sign autographed copies to people you meet. It will make you an authority figure in their minds.
Be where the buyers are. I can't tell you how many deals I closed that began with sitting at the bar in a restaurant to have dinner after 5pm. I did my homework, learned where the whales hang out, and I hung out there too.
You can do the same. Believe me, if I can do it, then YOU can do it!
If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.
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