No such thing as a freebie

The grass is greener

on the other side. Maybe so but it's usually pretty green right where you're standing. Perhaps the most difficult thing for a salesperson to do is point the finger of blame at themselves. Not to say the customer wasn't interested but rather "I failed to interest the customer." It's harder than you might think.

Salespeople tend to attribute their success and failure to external forces. It was a good day or it was a bad day. We pretend we don't know what we did on the good day to make it good or what we did on the bad day either. Actually, that isn't always true because sometimes we get bold and take credit for the good day but we still proclaim the bad day happened through no fault of our own - it's just the fickle hand of fate.

Well, if you read some of my other post then you know that I call 'em like I see 'em, The truth is you know exactly what you did on the good days to make them good and vise versa. Your product or service remains pretty much the same from day to day. Your clients remains the same as well. The only real variable is us. Sad but true; you can't blame them even though it is certainly easier than pointing the finger back at you.

The great news is that we only have ourselves to blame. We are the only variable. You see, the grass can be green where we're standing as long as we keep our heads screwed on right. If you want to be a sales professional then you have to be "pro" in all aspects of your game.

It's 3:00 o'clock in the morning and you wake up in tremendous pain. You rush to the E.R. to find out that you need an emergency appendectomy. The surgeon is called at home, he gets out of bed and trips and falls over a toy his kid left on the floor. He gets in the car and discovers the battery is dead. Not frazzled, he takes his wife's car only to find it's almost out of gas. While at the gas station filling up it begins to rain in buckets. A car drives through a pothole that just filled with water and completely drenches the surgeon.

When he finally makes it to the hospital and steps into the operating room, all the crap that just happened to him had better go completely out of his mind. He must be able to completely focus on the task at hand. Can you imagine the surgeon coming up after the operation and saying

"Hey listen, I'm really sorry your scar's all f**ked up.
You won't believe what I went through to get here!"

Nobody, especially your customer, cares about your personal bullshit and yet I've heard salespeople say almost nonchalantly "Yeah, my head just wasn't into it today." No one is perfect and we all have bad days and sometimes our head isn't into it.

Just remember that if you blow one - it isn't a freebie. There is no such thing as a freebie. If you blow one it isn't because you've had a bad day - it's the other way around. A lack of focus and the inability to control one's emotions results in a bad day.

Now check this out: If you can control your head and your emotions that little bit extra then amazingly what seemed like a bad day all of a sudden gets good. In fact, it will probably turn into a story for the other salespeople about how the S.O.B. didn't want to buy and how you turned him around. You star! And you are a star because it's true. You kept your head right and you made some green grass.

Sink the hook. Worry about the consequences later!

I sold transmissions many years ago.

I'm not a mechanic and

I didn't know anything about cars.

I sold them for three days and finally on the fourth day I asked my boss "What are these things all over the floor?" He told me they were transmissions. I was amazed. No shit, I had no idea!

You say that's impossible but here's how it worked. I saw a classified ad in the sales section but the ad didn't disclose the name of the company. It advertised a base plus commission which sounded good so I called. It turned out to be a well known national transmission repair franchise and I was assured they were looking for a salesman and not a mechanic. I went to the interview and wound up with the job. I wasn't refereed to as a salesman and I wore a white shirt like a manager so the customers assumed that I was a mechanic who made good.

When someone called with a possible transmission problem I would follow a script and either get them to drive in or I would send a tow truck. From there I would test drive the car and then sell the" pull". The "pull" was an internal inspection of the transmission for $85.00 and it was also scripted. In fact, the entire sales process was scripted and it worked well.

You see, what was drilled into my head was RETAIN AND SELL. Get the car in the shop and sell the "pull". Once the customer spent the initial $85.00, it was much easier to sell the rest of the job.
Let's throw a monkey wrench into the works. Let's say the shop was busy with at least a one day backlog (maybe 2 or 3) and the customer said he would agree to the inspection but ONLY UNDER THE CONDITION that we were able to complete the repair and return his car the same day because he absolutely needed his car back the same day. We would tell him "no problem" even if we knew there was no way in hell . We'd give him a ride home if necessary and call him later to sell the the entire job. The customer would authorize the repair and reiterate that he had to have the car back by the end of the day. We'd reiterate "no problem."

We'd suggest that he should call before coming to pick up his vehicle just in case something unforeseen came up but we certainly didn't anticipate that happening.

He'd call back at 5:00 o'clock just to make sure everything was OK and we'd fabricate some excuse as to why the car wouldn't be ready as anticipated and that we would finish the job the next day. If we couldn't get to it the next day then we would simply repeat the process.

Well that's not right....that's not fair....that's misleading!

To that the OldManSalesMaster says "GROW UP". First point - No Harm - No Foul. Yes, it could be argued it was unscrupulous to mislead the customer knowingly. However, the way I see it is if I would have answered honestly that there was no way we could have his car finished when he wanted , then there are two possible outcomes. One is that I could have still retained the job.

The other is more probable. The customer would have declined to get the repair done now because he previously stated that he "needed" his car back by the end of the day. He would have driven away, possibly returning for the repair at a future date but, more likely, not. The likelihood is he would have broken down somewhere else and a different repair shop would have gotten the work. Lastly, if he really would have freaked out about not getting his car back when promised, then we would have rented him a car at our expense until his car was ready.

Secondly, if you have a good script to use, use it. Don't feel the need to show the other salespeople or prove to yourself just how creative you are. Sales is not about ego stroking, it's about maximizing your earnings potential.

"Canned pitches are for lesser salesmen. Certainly they don't expect ME to use one."


Just read the f**kin' script.

Memorize it and use it word for word. Odds are that it works pretty well just the way it is or the powers that be wouldn't want you to use it. You should definitely add your own personality once you've mastered the script, just don't try to reinvent the wheel.

Think about it. There is no logical business reason you would be asked to use something that doesn't work well. The only possible exception is you work for moron. If this is the case you should leave their employment.

Third, product knowledge is overrated. Yes, it's nice to know something about what you're selling and you'll pick up the jargon soon enough. Obviously, the ability for salesprofessionals to speak knowledgeably about the features and benefits of the product or service they're selling is essential. Listen, if you really love what you're selling then, by all means, learn everything you can about it and the competition as well.

What I'm simply suggesting is you don't have to know absolutely everything in order to dive into the deep end. Screw it! Dive in! You'll learn! I think people spend too much time getting prepared in the beginning. Really, just dive in. The water's fine and if it's not and you lose a sale, chalk it up as a learning experience and dive in again. Don't use excessive preparation as an excuse to not dive in.

Lastly and most important, remember RETAIN AND SELL! This gem can be applied so many ways but it doesn't matter what you're selling, the point is SINK THE HOOK . Certainly it makes sense to qualify your prospect and you should try not to waste time with someone who can't afford or doesn't want or need your product or service. Just don't disqualify them prematurely, it's done all the time and it costs us sales. You can't reel him/her in unless you begin with the hook in the mouth.

Get him to bite. Go that far at least.

Don't worry that he may spit the hook, just get it in and start selling. Too many sales are lost because "we know within the first 30 seconds that this guy's not going to buy." We tell ourselves we might have a problem meeting a delivery date or maybe we won't have enough for a minimum order. You see, as a professional salesperson we still can't read minds and we aren't always able to anticipate every obstacle so always try to sink the hook! Don't anticipate objections. Do the work, sink the hook and then see where it leads.

Don't worry about filling the order initially. Just get it and then worry
about trying to fill it. You can always come up with a legitimate sounding excuse. I think you'll be amazed at how creative you can be.

Well by now you're probably saying "That's it. I've had enough of this OldManSalesMaster. First he tells me customers are like cattle and now he's telling me to lie to them. I JUST CAN'T DO IT."

The truth is I'm not saying to lie to them, I'm just telling you to look at the big picture. Somebody was going to put a transmission in that car and we sold a good one so why shouldn't I be the one to sell it. If you noticed I've never suggested doing the wrong thing by the customer. I am saying the customer can bend to our will sometimes too, it doesn't always have to be the other way around.

The customer is not always right but they are always the customer and should be treated fairly. We're salesprofessionals, not waiters. Remember for a sale to work well it has to be a win/win situation. The customer needs to win but don't forget that's it's equally important we win too!

Post a comment. Tell me what you think!

Your customer is really a cow!

I don’t care about the customer and neither should you.

Now hear me out. I don’t mean “stick it" to the customer because that’s bad for repeat sales. That would affect your income and understand this - generating MAXIMUM INCOME should be the primary reason why you’re in sales. When I say I don’t care about the customer what I really mean is that I only care about him as a
source of income.

I don’t care about their personal lives. I don't care about their marital problems or their golf game. I definitely don't care about their usually pathetic reasons why they can't buy. Friends care, friends understand.

I am not their friend.

You should not be

their friend.

I understand relationship selling and I believe in it. A good rapport with a client leads to larger and more frequent sales. It also makes the sales professionals job much more enjoyable but I ONLY CARE to the extent that it affects my income. GET IT! The reason to listen to him is because if you’re a good listener then you’ll hear when he makes a mistake. He may do this by admitting that your product or service would benefit him or he might disclose a need for a different product or service that you sell. Setting him up to make a tactical mistake or a mistake in logic and then using it to our advantage is essential in successful selling. It's all a game and the reason to play is to win money.

Deep down every buyer knows how the game is played and if they didn't want to play then they wouldn't allow themselves to listen to your pitch. Most objections you incur when trying to get into the pitch are simply initial resistance - get by this and many times you'll find the reason for that initial resistance is obvious.

It's about the MONEY.

They are weak and don't want to listen because they fear that they might find several benefits to what you are selling and then they will have to work harder to find more excuses why they're not buying. That's a lot of effort; it's easier to get rid of you before you get started.

Just remember when they agree to listen to your pitch or whether they just don't stop you from pitching them, they are giving their consent, passively or actively. It doesn't really matter, even with passive consent you have earned the right to either sell them or get a logical explanation as to why they aren't buying. So how do you apply this gem that I just laid on you?

Do everything in your power to make the pitch. Don't think of excuses why it's a waste of time or effort. It doesn't matter if you have to push your way in the door, just get in the door. Don't worry about being too aggressive or pushy and somehow forcing the prospect to buy something they truly don't want. What a moral dilemma that would be. You probably couldn't live with yourself if that were to happen. Luckily, that's probably not going to happen. When people determine they don't want something they almost always find a way to refuse your offer and no amount of magic sales dust is going to change that outcome.

Let me emphasis. Don't talk about getting into the demo, presentation, pitch - do it! After all, if the customer allows you to get into the pitch then you have a reasonable shot at making the sale. Don't second guess yourself, just charge! Even if you need to be more assertive than usual, if you manage to get the pitch off it's only because the prospect allowed you to, isn't it?

One other thing on the subject. One excuse commonly used when prospecting for new customers or selling repeat buyers, an excuse that really makes me want to puke is the classic "I don't want to be too pushy or he'll never buy from us or buy from us again." Let me clue you in. There is no such thing as repeat business until you get the initial order. Also, the surest way to have an active customer go dormant is to be too "nice" or too understanding of all of their excuses.

Wake up. They're not your friends or your buddies.

They're not shit until they buy and then you have to

keep them buying.

Whether it's a new prospect or a long time buyer the idea is to make the sale now. If you believe in your product or service, then you should pitch it with conviction, and in most cases that requires you to be assertive. Trust yourself to know when to back pedal or when to release some of the pressure - you are a professional, right? All I'm saying is the limit before risking the loss of a sale is much greater than most salespeople think. The only way to establish that limit is to be aggressive and push. The end game is to get an immediate return on your investment of time and effort.

Having a great relationship or even personally liking your customer and being aggressive in business aren't mutually exclusive. Just remember the purpose of the relationship is to produce income. A cattleman's purpose for raising cattle is to produce income. He might have a favorite or two but he's not supposed to be friends with them and understand when they don't feel like giving milk or getting slaughtered. You shouldn't have to explain to your family why they have to go without so your customer can buy from someone else. Someone who's a little less understanding and a little more aggressive.

Work like an immigrant

"He's such a bright boy.

If he'd only apply himself he could get straight A's but instead of studying and doing the work when he should, he waits until the last minute and settles for B's and C's."

Does that sound familiar?

It seems to be a common link between many salesmen and it's OK - when you're 14!

IT'S NOT OK ANYMORE. YOU'RE A GROWN MAN.

Everybody doesn't like you

and they won't like you

more if you're a screw up.

One other little tidbit to chew on. In the real world, it pays a hell of a lot more being an A student than a B or C student.

Let's face it, you probably wouldn't be in sales unless you had some innate ability. There are two key ingredients necessary to be a successful salesperson. First is intelligence. Simply put you have to be a little smarter than the average bear. You don't have to be a genius but the brighter the better. If you're reading this blog then you probably have this talent. Isn't that nice?

You didn't have to do shit to get it -

you were born with it.

Many of you have been skating by

on it your entire lives.

I heard a tape one time where the salesman was complaining how he had 10 years experience and how he should be making more and how he was under appreciated. The narrator went on to explain that the salesman didn't have 10 years experience but he had one year of experience 10 times over. The truth hurts! Many of us are guilty of that and usually the smarter we are the more guilty we are. You know, "Why kill myself?" and "If he were really that good then he wouldn't have to work so hard." The classic "Listen to a sales CD? Read a motivational book? I did that shit when I was 19."

The end result of all this

God given talent is

we wind up turning into

lazy shits.

I have to tell you - you get to a certain age and it's just not "cool" anymore. You can't do the bare bones minimum forever if you want some meaningful cash in your life. If you're good with being a bagger at the grocery store when you're 70 then, by all means, don't kill yourself. Settle for C's.

Ingredient number 2

is the dreaded

WORK ETHIC.

I mean bust your ass. I mean work like you have everything that means anything to you riding on your next sale. In all my years in sales, the one deciding factor between the best and the rest has always been work ethic. You say "But I don't want to work that hard. It's just not worth it to me." That's great, just please get the f**k out of my face. Go work at the convenience store and bitch about how you're not paid what you're worth.

It's all about work ethic and the funny part is that lots of people convince themselves they really are a hard worker when they are not. Ask yourself this question when you're trying to justify to yourself how hard you worked on a day when you haven't met your goals and you want to "make it up tomorrow." Ready.... "If I knew that I would lose my (house/car/savings) based upon today's results, would I still quit for the day or is there (something/anything) that I can do to take care of today? I'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow."

You see, you need the work ethic of an immigrant. You need the work ethic of a business owner who stands to lose everything if his or her business goes under. You say "But I don't want to work like and immigrant and I don't want pressure like the business owner." Fine, just don't kid yourself into thinking that you're a sales winner. You're not and you need to get into retail. You'll make a terrific clerk in the men's department. Don't laugh because it really has to be one way or the other. When it comes to how hard one works, there really is no middle road.

If you want the rewards then you must pay the price. The price is working harder than you have to. The price is not doing almost enough. The price is busting your ass and it's a bitch and you probably don't wanna and if you can do it anyway......then the rewards are extra sweeeet!

If you like this post or if you hate this post, I would really appreciate any and all comments.

Crap smells good, right?

My first real sales job
was as an encyclopedia salesman back in the late '70's. We didn't call ourselves salesmen, we were marketing reps! Salespeople are bad and pushy and only care about themselves. Our pitch was simple for the prospects to understand. It went as follows:

We worked for a marketing company which offered a $4,000, 40 VOLUME, MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY at a greatly reduced, almost give-away price to a select few couples if they were fortunate enough to "qualify."

In order to qualify for this special program they had to prove they were educationally minded and agree to write a testimonial letter for use in our advertising.

Of course, the real reason we wanted them
to answer the qualifying questions was to
build value.

"I'm sure you can see why we call this a MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY!
"Which books of the set do you think you would use the most Mrs Jones?"
"And you Mr. Jones, which books would you use the most Mr. Jones?"

With each answer they moved closer to owning a new set of encyclopedias.

"Mr. and Mrs Jones, if you were accepted into our program it is extremely important that this LIBRARY be displayed in a prominent place so your friends and neighbors could see it. Where exactly would you display this 40 volume MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY?"

The prospects were so concerned with "qualifying" that they would happily explain what a wonderful resource this would be to have in their home and how they would get tremendous use out of it, and how they would even install new, glass bookshelves so the world could see their 40 VOLUME MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY.

All of this, of course, was a

complete bunch of crap

but it was an extremely effective tool. Why would you bother trying to qualify for something unless you really wanted it.

Creating the want

is the most important

thing in sales.

I would explain that as a marketing company what my company did was similar to what Proctor & Gamble does by giving away sample tubes of toothpaste, except you can’t hang a 40 VOLUME, MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY on their doorknob. If they answered the qualifying questions correctly, only then would we be able to accept them into this specially discounted program. This program was so special they could easily afford it for only what they would spend daily on the 4 C’s - Cigarettes, Cola, Coffee, and Candy. Hey, I said it was the late seventy’s. We even provided them with a calendar bank so each night they could drop their spare change in the bank, watch the date change, and by the end of the month there would be more than enough for the $29 monthly payment.

It all worked out to about $800 not including interest which was tons of money back then. We worked out of Washington, DC and every night our field manager would drive us to “the area”. The area was different every night but it was always an apartment complex, housing development, or trailer park that the field manager had scouted earlier with an eye out for swing sets and big wheels - both sure signs of kids who desperately needed the benefits of a 40 VOLUME MASTER REFERENCE LIBRARY. If you found these tell tale signs and noticed out of state licence plates then you probably struck GOLD. Off base military housing where pay grade E4 or higher was an automatic credit approval! We were dropped off and with our plastic briefcase in one hand we would start knocking doors with the other.

My first sales manager Al used to say it doesn’t matter what you say; it’s how you say it. You know, there is a lot of truth in that. He would say if you had a smile on your face and nodded your head up and down, people would agree with almost anything.

Try it sometime. Look at someone, start nodding your head up and down,
smile and then say

“Shit smells good, don’t it?”

It takes quite a bit of control for them not to just go along and agree. Here’s a piece of gold. If your customer understands you and believes you then they’ll buy. If you miss one of those elements, they won’t.

You see, Al knew what he was talking about. People want to go along. If people clearly understand you and if they believe what you are saying then they will readily agree. This makes the job of a sales professional so much easier. People love to agree with a point they understand. People want to acquire stuff. They love it. Who doesn’t like owning something new?

The problem is that people don't enjoy spending money without what they perceive as proper justification. It can be painful and folks need to be reassured that they are making a good decision. This is why you must be understood and believable.

Sometimes salespeople just get in the way of the sale and make it difficult for the prospect to say "yes"'. One of the most common ways of getting in the way of the sale is by talking too fast. If you speak too fast then many prospects will stop trying to keep up. They will probably stop believing what you are saying if they are not comprehending all of it. Salespeople talk too fast and we make it sound like something sinister is going on even when it’s not.

Here’s the key to helping your prospect understand and believe you so they are comfortable buying from you so you can make a lot of money.

Ready.....TALK SLOWER.

“Wait a minute" you say. “I’m not one of those slick, fast talking salesmen.”
Well there you go getting defensive and not listening. I'll repeat myself.

SLOW THE F**K DOWN.

You say “But if I slow down then they might give me some objection or start questioning something from earlier and I’ll lose the sale.” I'll give you the key one more time. Just slow down and if you get an objection then respond to it in a slow, almost (but not quite) condescending manner. Be glad they asked the question because you know that sooner or later it was bound to bite you in the butt.

Remember they have to ask questions – it’s all part of the process. Many times they don’t really care about the answer. Many times they are just asking questions to appear as if they are doing their due diligence but all they really care about is the manner in which you respond to them. Practice: nod your head up and down, smile, and say “Shit smells good, don’t it?”

A quick, little encyclopedia story. We used to do as part of the demo what was called the “pros talk” –short for prospectus. We’d take out this impressive volume which contained different sections from the entire set of encyclopedias. We would show the transparent overlays of the human body. Everyone always liked that. At one point we would show how the pages were non-glare and certainly better than a glossy, glaring finish because it reduced eye strain.

One of my fellow salesmen at this juncture would stop his pros talk, raise his head from the book and look at his prospect directly in the eye. He would place his finger just below his eye and gently pull down to expose the inner workings of the eye socket. With sincerity dripping from every pore of his body he would start nodding his head up and down and say “You know, it’s been proven in several medical studies that a glaring, light reflecting page surface can actually burn out the retinas in your eyes.” The amazing thing about it was that everyone could see how that made sense. They would nod their heads up and down and hope like hell that they could qualify for this amazing set of books.

If you enjoyed this post or if you hated this post, I would really appreciate any and all comments.