Relating a story of someone else who was in a similar situation as the future client is always effective because the client will identify with that person. Tell the future client about someone who procrastinated and wished he/she hadn’t or conversely, someone who didn’t procrastinate and received tremendous benefit from making an immediate buying decision.

Phraseology: “You know, about a month ago, I had a client facing a decision similar to the one you’re considering today. He went ahead with our comprehensive medical plan and had a need to use it just last week. The situation was unfortunate; however, his burden would have been doubled had he not gone ahead with the insurance.”

To read all of my closes, get a copy of Sales Closing for Dummies. To listen to them delivered and learn how to write your own, listen to my audio titled, Academy of Master Closing — available in both CD and MP3.

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

During one of the most brutal battles of World War I, the fighting stopped for one particular evening. Christmas Eve. Men on both sides of the battle lines hunkered down in their cold fox holes for at least one night of peace.

Soon, a Christmas carol was heard floating on the cold air across the contested ground. The language was different, but everyone knew the tune and soon both sides were singing together. Before the evening was over several of the men emerged from their muddy trenches, met in “no man’s land,” and exchanged greetings and even humble Christmas gifts with their enemies.

If battle-hardened men who were in the midst of trying to conquer each other’s territory can find common ground in no man’s land, then certainly we salespeople can do the same thing on the showroom floor, at the executive desk, or the dining room table.

Finding that common ground is critical to building a level of trust that lowers sales resistance. During this early segment of the sales process, you should search for areas of interest you share with each new person you meet. The supply of topics is practically endless. For example, family, the weather, sports, hobbies, or current events are natural choices in consumer sales. If you’re in business-to-business sales, you can always ask those questions as well as questions about their company, products or industry. (more…)

When your potential clients say something just costs too much, it’s often just a stall. However, it’s a good sign because it means they’re feeling motivated to own your product or service. (They didn’t say, “it’s not right for us” or “we don’t want it.”) They now need your help to justify or rationalize going ahead.

Your first move is to use the Reduction to the Ridiculous close (in the June issue) to get them thinking about the smallest amount of money that’s holding them back. If the fact that the amount is kind of ridiculous doesn’t overcome their concern, your next step is to us the Oblique Comparison Close. It is simply a strategy where you compare that small daily or hourly amount to something they might consider doing or giving up that costs the same amount in order to gain the benefits of your product.

The phraseology might sound something like this, “John and Mary, you seem to really want this new living room suite. With the investment being only $2.25 per day more than you had originally hoped, what do you think you could do to come up with that extra amount? Think about how you spend your money on a daily basis. What might you be willing to give up in order to have these beautiful pieces in your living room?”

Chances are good that if you’re talking with a couple, one of them will pick on another’s bad coffee habit or waste of gasoline running oddball errands instead of grouping them together. Or, they may just decide to cut back on their consumption of soda or sweets. It doesn’t matter how they do it, what matters is that they are the ones talking themselves into owning the furniture at this point. Your work is done…all except the paperwork.

To read all of my closes, get a copy of Sales Closing for Dummies. To listen to them delivered and learn how to write your own, listen to my audio titled, Academy of Master Closing — available in both CD and MP3.

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

One of the best things I can ever hear from my clients is, “You’re early!” It’s always said with pleasant surprise as if salespeople are notoriously late. Unfortunately, many are. All too many people have developed the “always running a few minutes late” habit. And it is a habit. Sad but true, that habit puts those folks out of the running with many potential clients.

Running late presents a very negative image. Unpredictable and unprepared are other ways potential clients will interpret your actions if you run late for meetings with them. Neither of those words are very comforting when you’re considering doing business with someone over a long period of time or if the purchase involves much of their security (spelled M.O.N.E.Y.).

Champion salespeople have figured out that there are more benefits to be had by arriving early. If you must wait in the lobby or a conference room because you’re early, observe the workings of the office…the interactions among the employees. Understanding their level of professionalism and comfort with each other will help you make your presentation just right for them.

Also, being early may afford you the opportunity to chat with the receptionist or another staff member and gain valuable insight into the decision-maker’s thought process about the decision to do business with you.

Early is good!

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This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

I’m not trying to get you happily involved in a new supplement here. The vitamins I am referring to are for getting and keeping enthusiasm for your sales career rather than getting physically fit. Take a daily dose of these vitamins and you’ll start closing more sales:

Vitamin D – DISCIPLINE
Discipline is having the ability to do what you don’t want to do when the motivation to do it is gone. Discipline helps you to control your mind and protect your body from the daily pain of rejection a selling career can bring.

Discipline will help you make one more call after a rejection because your daily goal is to end on a positive note.

It will get you out of bed in the morning to face each new selling day with a positive outlook.

It will help you serve your clients better by returning calls and handling challenges as quickly and effectively as possible.

Think about how disciplined you are in your career. Be honest and note any flaws you have. Then discipline yourself to start working on improvements in those areas.

Vitamin E – ENTHUSIASM
People will make buying decisions based more on your enthusiasm for your product or service than on your product knowledge. Don’t believe it? Pay attention the next time you feel motivated to make a purchase. It’ll be fairly likely that the salesperson uses the product themselves or would if they could afford it. They are excited about its features and the benefits owners experience.

Vitamin B – BELIEVABILITY
This vitamin works in connection with Vitamin E above. If you don’t truly believe your product or service is exceptional and can relate the details of its benefits honestly, people will know. They’ll recognize insincerity in your voice, body language or even in your eyes…and they won’t buy.

Vitamin C – COMPREHENSION
Not only must you comprehend the value of your product or service, you must understand the emotional states of your potential clients.

If you are in retail, there’s bound to be a reason your customer is considering the purchase of that expensive pair of jeans, beautiful dress or finely tailored suit. You want to find out and build on those emotions until you have their credit card or check in your cash drawer.

In business sales, purchasing agents or committees want to make wise decisions because they then become the heroes for the company. There’s a certain emotional satisfaction and perhaps some recognition or reward in finding a good solution to a company challenge.

Vitamin A – APPLICATION
When you learn new strategies and techniques for selling, it’s essential that you apply them as soon as possible to a real-life selling situation in order to start benefiting from them. If you don’t, you’re old reflexes will quickly have you reverting back to your previous sales methods that just weren’t cutting it. Application is what helps you develop new habits and achieve new, higher levels of production.

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This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

Most of us were born with two ears and one mouth. What we’re not born with is an innate understanding that God provided us those tools in the proportion they were meant to be used if we are to become effective communicators and survive well in our world.

If we learn to listen twice as much as we talk, we will pick up on valuable bits and pieces of information that will be to our benefit in the selling arena.

Unfortunately, most salespeople operate under the misconception that the reverse is true — that they must talk twice as much as the average person in order to move products and services.

By listening, you will learn exactly what it is your potential future client wishes to own with regard to benefits. You can then turn that information into a sale by demonstrating the features of your product or service that fulfill those needs.

The best single bit of advice for anyone in sales is this: Listen twice as much as you talk!

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This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

For years people have contacted me wanting more information on telephone techniques. Today’s generation of selling demands thorough understanding of the use of the telephone. So how do you gain your share of the million-dollar telephone sales market? By being prepared. People today invest in more products and services over the phone and online than ever before — and they never meet the sales representative. The telephone is a tool of business and it is imperative that we as salespeople know how to use it.

When a consumer calls to inquire about your product or service, we as salespeople, have a moral obligation to turn that inquiry call into a presentation — especially if the company you represent has been in business awhile and has created a reputation.

You have no idea of the large number of consumers who pick up the phone every day, call a department store or a company, and the person who answers for the company has never been trained to use the telephone. Oftentimes, salespeople make it sound as if they are doing the caller a favor by answering the questions. That’s a shame.

As salespeople, we have a responsibility to increase our company’s profit so it stays in existence. When you chose your job as a salesperson, one of your jobs was to do anything in your power to increase your company’s profits — that is your lifeblood and existence. (more…)

As a sales professional, you encounter more people in different companies in a single month than the average employee at a single company does in a year. Think about what Company A is doing to survive the current market challenge and consider if it’s something Company B might also benefit from. Of course, never share information between competing companies, but when appropriate, be a walking reference guide for all of your clients. Not only will they thank you verbally for the input, they’ll thank you with their continued business.

If you’re not investing all of your time servicing your largest accounts because they’ve cut back, invest more time with your smaller accounts. They may appreciate the added attention and you might find new avenues to sales through increased business with them or from referrals they hadn’t given you before (when you weren’t giving them your highest level of service.)

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

I recommend the use of intent statements to set the stage for every presentation. An intent statement is designed to reduce sales resistance that is created by the unknown. When potential clients don’t know what to expect next their minds tend to wander and their anxieties build.

Your intent statements tell your clients clearly what they can expect from your time together and relieve any sales pressure they are imagining. It accomplishes two very important tasks:

1. It introduces an agenda of sorts so everyone has a clear picture of what to expect.

2. It lets your potential clients know that it’s okay to say “no.” (No, I’m not crazy…read on!) (more…)

The average business loses 15% of their clients on an annual basis. It’s safe to assume that some clients move away or sadly, pass away. If you sell to businesses, some of them may close. But, many simply stop coming. That’s because you haven’t established relationships with those clients. The clients feel no loyalty…no obligation to return.

With the cost of gaining new business five times that of keeping current clients, it’s wise to do all you can to keep those people coming back for more.

Even if your product has a long life span and people shouldn’t need to replace it for a long time, you still want to work on keeping those clients loyal to you. The reason: They’ll tell their friends, relatives and even strangers about what a great experience they had with you. They’ll be your biggest fans and provide free advertising for you with their testimonials and referrals. (more…)