Daily Motivations - HOW TO MASTER THE ART OF SELLING

Episode Date: August 16, 2022

How to Master the Art of Selling Quotes “How many no’s am I willing to accept on my way to success?” ― Tom Hopkins, How to Master the Art of Selling “On a piece of paper, write down the formula for our human reaction: S-P-R This stands for Stimulus—Pause—Response.” ― Tom Hopkins, How to Master the Art of Selling “If you stop training and learning you start sinking. Nobody can float: You're either rising or sinking. It's been this way for a thousand years. The only difference is that you can rise, or you'll sink, a whole lot faster now.” ― Tom Hopkins, How to Master the Art of Selling “I know personally how lonely and frustrating the life of a salesperson can be. When I started, I was as much a failure as anyone until I was able to get the proper training to ensure my success. At that time, I swore if ever I could share my success with others, I would do it with high quality and at an investment that anyone could afford. You may feel that I am trying to sell you something-—and that is true. I’m in the business of selling just like you. However, if you know something is good, you have an obligation to offer it to your client. My” ― Tom Hopkins, How to Master the Art of Selling Instagram - @daily_motivationsorg     Facebook- @daily_motivationsorg Interested in sponsoring this show reach out to us via [e-mail] Speakers: Brian Tracy Grab your Ultimate Female Body Fitness Guide Ebook  copy now at an exclusive 50% off discount  https://selar.co/42zb40?currency=USD Kindly Support Us Below to sustain future episodes. Support the Show.

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Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BidMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. The reason we're teaching you 24 sales closing techniques is simply this. The average sale, over 80% of sales, are closed after the fifth attempt at closing. That means after the fifth time that you have asked or given the prospect an opportunity to buy, that's when over 80% of the closes take place. And only about 10% of salespeople have enough closing techniques and have enough ability to ask for the sale more than five times without giving up.

The more closing techniques you know, the more likely it is that you will close the sale in the course of the sales interview. Remember, selling is a skill. Good salespeople are made, not born. Most of the most successful salespeople in America were at one time shy, insecure, and clumsy at selling. They became great salespeople by learning and practicing the essential skills of selling, including how to close the sale.

And if you do what they do, you'll be successful too, and nothing can stop you. Before we start talking about the closes, I'd like to talk about the antecedents to closing. I think one of Murphy's laws is that before you do anything, you have to do something else first. And before you close, you have to do several other things first. So let me give you the two psychological antecedents to closing. In other words, you must have these if you want to be effective. Number one, of course, which you've heard a thousand times, is enthusiasm. 51% of all closing effectiveness

comes from your enthusiasm, your excitement about the product. And as a matter of fact, one of the best definitions I ever heard of a sale is that a sale is what takes place when there is a transfer of enthusiasm. In other words, when you transfer your enthusiasm about the product or service into the mind of the other person, a sale takes place. Now, this requires, of course, that you have some enthusiasm to transfer into the mind of the other person, which means that the most effective salespeople know their product, they believe in their product, they love their product, and they believe that their product has very worthwhile benefits for their customer.

And this is something that I suggest to you, and I've suggested to thousands of salespeople, that if you don't believe in Your product if you don't love your product if you wouldn't use it yourself if you wouldn't sell it to your best friend or your mother Then you're probably selling the wrong product because you can never get that head of enthusiasm That is transferred into the mind of the prospect that caused them to buy now with regard to enthusiasm I don't mean the raw raw jump around type of enthusiasm. I mean, what is called constrained enthusiasm? It's when the enthusiasm is kept inside you like a kettle, a boiling kettle with the lid put on it,

so that you literally whistle with enthusiasm. You have sort of a dynamic tension of excitement about you, but it isn't in the speed of talk or it isn't in your actions. It's contained within. And constrained enthusiasm has perhaps the most powerful effect on human personality that you can imagine as ralph walter emerson said nothing great Was ever accomplished without enthusiasm well the second psychological quality is Confident expectations you must confidently expect that the person is going to say yes if you ask Often enough if you ask the person to buy you must constantly expect them by so you act ask expectantly

Would you like the red one or the green one today? In other words, not are you going to take one or not, is this what you had in mind, but you ask it expectantly. And the more confidently you expect to sell, the more likely it is that you will sell. And of course, again, confidence in selling comes from knowledge, it comes from practice, it comes from experience, it comes from believing that the product can do what you say the product will do. Well, in the process of selling, there are other steps that you have to take. The first step, of course, is qualifying. You cannot sell a product until you have thoroughly qualified the prospect. And every one of us has been in a situation where we have walked into a store or onto a used car lot, and somebody comes up and says, why don't you take it? Or, are you going to buy it today? Or they try to close you

without ever asking you what it is you want or what you need. And there's nothing makes us more furious than to have somebody treat us like an idiot. So you have to qualify the prospect. You have to find out four things, the answers to four things. Question number one, does the prospect need what you're selling? Question number two, can the prospect use what you're selling? Like many companies may need a computer, but they may not be able to use it because of the manpower, because of the configuration of the organization. Number three, can the person afford the product? And number four, does the person want the product? You see, before you can close, the prospect has to

have demonstrated that he or she has a desire to enjoy the benefits of your product or service. So once you've gone through the presentation, once you've gone through and you've qualified on all four of those categories and the person wants to buy it, then you're in a position to begin closing. Most of the close in every sale is made in the presentations. In some products, especially in real estate, most of the close is made in how well you present the product to the prospect. The closing technique at the end is almost irrelevant. In many products, the closing technique is very, very important. The key reason why the closing technique is the end is almost irrelevant in many products The closing technique is very very important The key reason why the closing technique is important is this is that the moment of closing is always difficult

There's always a moment of tension We call this buyer's remorse in advance if you like Where whenever we feel that whenever we reach the point where we have to make an important decision whenever we have to put up money Lay ourselves on the line What happens is this tension wells up inside of us. And this tension is called the fear of failure. And every single one of us as human beings has this fear of failure. On the part of the customer, the tension in the closing moments of the sale is caused by the fear of making a mistake, the fear of buying the wrong thing, the fear of paying too much, the fear of being criticized by

other people. And what happens when a person feels this fear? It's almost like having a spear in the stomach. What do they do? They back away. And whenever they have this fear, they back away and they say things like, let me think it over. Leave me some material. Could you call me back next week? I have to talk it over with someone else. I have to check it out. I can't afford it and so on and so forth. These are simply ways of the prospect telling you that i don't think if i make this decision it'll be the right thing for me well the other key stopping point at the close is the fear of rejection the fear of the person saying no you see we each down each of us deep down inside has this fear of being told no to this fear of being rejected so one of the things that we do is we very elaborately structure our lives in such a

way that we don't put ourselves in front of people that say no. And by the way, if you have an easiness about people saying no to you, you've picked a very interesting profession to get into. Because four out of five sales calls end with no's. Even in the very best of time, in the most boom economy with the finest product, 80% of the people you talk to are going to say no. And when times are tough, 90%. And when times are tougher, 95%. You're quite aware of this, and it goes up and up and up. So you must be aware that people are going to say no. And one of the key factors in being

successful in selling is be prepared to hear a no and continue. When the person says, no, I don't think so, you must be able to just let it roll off your back like water off a duck's back. You must realize that a no, excuse me, a no is not personal. When a person says no to you, they're not saying no to you in most cases. They're saying no to a whole package of things and for a whole package of reasons. Well, when you get to the end of the close, when you get to the end of the sales presentation, you've done your prospecting, you've done your contacting, you've done your presentation, you've overcome objections.

Now you come to the final moment. You know that the person wants it, but there's this approach avoidance. There's this sales resistance. There's this fear, this uneasiness, this tension starts to build up, and your job is to get through that moment, that tense moment, as rapidly and as painlessly as possible. And closing techniques are not techniques to manipulate other people. They're not techniques to get people to buy things they don't want, don't need, can't use, and can't afford. They're techniques to get people past that moment of tension. And the professional closer takes the person smoothly past the point of the close,

and the unprofessional person sits there, and at the end of the presentation they say, well, what do you think? You ever done that? Well, what do you think? And you know what the person says? The tension starts to build up, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, like jaws, like that shark coming in, boom, boom, boom.

The person says, well, I think I'll think it over. I think I have to talk it over to someone else. Even if they want it, the tension starts to build up. So in this presentation, in the next few minutes, we're going to talk about the 24 best closing techniques. Welcome to Daily Motivation, where you get motivated and inspired. Number one closing technique begins with getting appointments. Is there anybody here who uses the telephone to get appointments? You notice how difficult and frustrating it is. Many

people do not use the telephone because they've been rejected and turned down so many times on the telephone that the very thought of it causes them to be angry and frustrated and tense. So what they do is they find every other way possible to make contacts. And the telephone, of course, is the finest and the fastest way, if you know how to use it properly. So in approaching a prospect and using the telephone, the key is this, that the first thing that you say to the prospect, once you have found out who it is, has to be something that breaks preoccupation, grabs attention, and points to the result or benefit of the product. Now, let me give you an example.

I used to sell, believe it or not, sales training programs. And I would qualify my prospects and I would call and make appointments. And I found that I could get appointments nine out of ten times with qualified prospects using this very simple technique. What I'd do is I'd call up and I'd ask the secretary, I'd say, who is the person who makes the decisions in this area? Who is the person who makes the decisions about sales training for your sales force? They would say, well, that would be Mr. Jones. I'd say, fine. What is his first name, please? Bill Jones.

I'd say, can I speak to Mr. Jones? I'd say, hello, Mr. Jones. This is Brian Tracy. How would you like to see a method that would enable you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12 months? Now, if you're speaking to the right person, the question will be aimed at something that is of relevance and something that the other person needs. Now, what do sales managers sit around and think about all day long?

Increasing sales. Sales being down, sales being up, but increasing sales. When you say, would you like to see a system that will enable you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12 months? The first question or the next question the prospect asks is, what is it? And that's where you go into the close. And when you are telephoning for an appointment, you are telephoning to sell an appointment,

not to sell a product. The biggest mistake we make is we go in to start describing our product on the telephone, and the person says, well, no, I'm sorry, I'm not interested, can't afford it, I don't have the time, and so on. So all you do is you're selling 10 minutes.

You say, that's exactly what I want to talk to you about. I need about 10 minutes of your time. I'll show you what I've got, and you can judge for yourself if it's what you want. If the person says something like, and I used to hear this, they say, well, how much is it? They don't even know what it is.

You ever heard that? How much is it? And this is the way you handle that. You say, Mr. Prospect, if it's not exactly what you're looking for, there's no charge at all. Very good, very good response. Get the price thing out of the way.

If it's not exactly what you're looking for, it doesn't cost you anything. Then the person says, well, could you tell me a little bit about it? I say, well, that's why I need just 10 minutes of your time. Just 10 minutes, I'll be able to show you what I've got, and you can judge for yourself if it's what you're looking for. Now, the person will often, now remember this, is that good prospects are always busy and hard to get to.

Poor prospects are not busy, and they're easy to get to. If you call up somebody and you ask for an appointment, they say, sure, come on over any time. You can be sure the person isn't going to buy anything from you. So you have to be very, very sharp in using the telephone. Now the person's going to say this, the prospect's going to say this, well, could you tell me a little bit about it? You say, yes, I would like to, but there's something I have to show you.

As soon as you say the word show, you've eliminated the necessity to describe it on the telephone. First says, well, could you send me something in the mail? I say, I would like to send it to you in the mail, but you know how bad the mails are. Why don't I drop it off personally sometime this afternoon? Now, if the person is at all serious, they'll say, okay, drop it off personally sometime this afternoon. I'll say, will you be there?

Yes, I'll be there. Okay, about three o'clock, I'll be in your neighborhood. I'll drop it off personally. Don't mail information. When people say, send me some information in the mail, what they're saying is, go away. I'm not interested. And when you send it to them in the mail, it goes right across the desk and into the wastebasket. If you're going to send things in the mail, what you do is you put it in the envelope, throw it in your own wastebasket, save yourself a stamp. We make the mistake of thinking we could throw it in the mail and then we're actually making sales. No, we're not making sales. So what you ask for is 10 minutes and this is the key

expression. You be the judge. You decide for yourself if this is what you're looking for. And if you'll say it in that way, the person will say, well, I don't know. All I need is 10 minutes of your time and you can judge for yourself. Because what this does is this says that you'll only be there for a short period of time you will put no pressure on the person you'll just show them what you've got like a arab trader in the bazaar lays out their wares if the person doesn't want to select one in 10 minutes you'll be gone now i have found that if you ask for 30 minutes you will have to wait for weeks maybe forever if you ask for 10 minutes you can always be slipped in don't make the mistake of doing the old insurance salesman trick.

God bless the insurance industry. Of saying, how about 10 o'clock today or 2 o'clock tomorrow? This alternative, close on it. Don't do that because it's been used so many times that what it does is it insults the other person. Just say, sometime this afternoon or maybe sometime tomorrow. Be very flexible. Once the person gives you a time.

Now, this is another thing they do. They say, why don't you call me on Monday and we'll set up an appointment. And what you say to them is this. You say, look, I've got my calendar right here. Is your calendar handy? Dumb question. Of course, the person's at their desk. Their calendar is handy. You say, let's set up a time right now. How about 10 o'clock Monday morning? Don't allow yourself to be put off with this call me back on Monday nonsense because it's just another way of them avoiding seeing you. Remember, the very best customers you'll ever have are the ones you're going to have to fight to get in to see. They are the ones who are the best for you. So when they try to put you off and they try to

avoid you and they try to make excuses, it's what they're saying is this may be a very, very good customer. And somebody is going to get to that prospect and somebody is going to sell the prospect. It might as well be you. So just be persistent, be polite, be firm. Say, look, all you need is 10 minutes of your time. Just 10 minutes will do it. 10 minutes, you'll be able to decide for yourself and just sell 10 minutes. If they ask you about your product or service, say, it's too involved to go into on the phone, but it'd just be take 10 minutes and I'll show you what I've got. And sell only that. So if you cannot close on the telephone appointments, you can't even get to first base and become good at it. If you are shy about using the phone, if you're anxious, if you don't like to use the telephone,

it's because you've had frustrating experiences in the past. Okay, close number two. This is called the approach close. You use this right at the beginning of the sales presentation. And the purpose of the approach close is to get the person to make a commitment to giving a decision at the end of the presentation rather than the person saying afterwards, I have to think it over. And the approach close is something that you use when you have a product or service which is used and needed by almost everybody. And what you say

is this. You say, Mr. Prospect, recognizing that at the beginning of the sales presentation, sales resistance is the highest. The person's resistance is up. Remember, we live in a commercial society. People are trying to sell us something every single day, 50 times a day, 2,000 advertisements a day is what we see in our society. Radio, newspaper, television, billboard, buses, and so on. Everybody's trying to sell us something. So we have natural, from the age of five years old, sales resistance. And you have to overcome it. And it's a beautiful way to overcome it at the beginning. You simply say this, Mr. Prospect, I'm not going to try to sell you anything now. I'm not going to try to sell you anything right now. Just relax. The person says, oh, that's good.. Prospect, I'm not going to try to sell you anything now. I'm not going to try to sell you anything right now. Just relax. Chris says, oh, that's good. All I'm going to do

is I'm going to show you some of the reasons why people have bought this product and continue to buy it over the years, or one of the reasons why thousands or some of the reasons why thousands of people have purchased this product. And all I ask you to do is look at the reasons why others have bought it and judge for yourself and tell me one way or the other whether or not this applies to you and to your situation. Is that fair? I'll just show you what others have bought it and you just tell me whether or not it applies to you and your situation. The person will say, okay, see what you're doing is you've offered them a deal. The deal is, I won't try to sell you if you will listen with an open mind to my presentation. And the person says, okay, I'll listen with an open mind. And then you go into your normal presentation. And you go

through the presentation. At the end of the presentation, the prospect cannot say, well, I'll listen with an open mind. And then you go into your normal presentation. And you go through the presentation. At the end of the presentation, the prospect cannot say, well, I have to think it over. You say, Mr. Prospect, you promised you'd give me an answer one way or another. It's a very simple close. You promised you'd give me an answer

one way or another. And from what you've said, it seems that this product is just ideal for your situation. And you can go right through to the close. Another close that you can use right at the beginning is called the demonstration close. And boy, is this ever effective. You can use this for your situation. And you can go right through to the close. Another close that you can use right at the beginning is called the demonstration close. And boy, is this ever effective. You can use this for almost anything.

The demonstration close is what you do to qualify the prospect in the opening statement and to get a clear statement from the prospect that they're in a position to buy and to pay for this product. We used to use this in selling mutual funds. We'd say, Mr. Prospect, if I could show you the very best investment you've ever seen in your life, are you in a position to put $5,000 into it right now?

Prospect says, well, I don't know. No, I haven't got $5,000. How about $4,000? Well, I don't know. How about $3,000? Well, yeah, $3,000.

Yeah, if I could show you the best investment you've ever seen, would you put $3,000 into it? Are you in a position to put $3,000 into it? He says, well, yeah. If you could show me the...

See, now what you've done is you've changed the focus of the discussion. The discussion is not whether or not the person listens to your presentation. The discussion is, can you demonstrate that you actually have an investment or a product that's as good as that? Another thing you can say is, I can show you the best sales training system that you've ever seen, the best, cheapest, finest sales training system you've ever seen. Are you in a position to commit your company to it right now?

The person says, well, you know, it's that good, are you in a position to make a decision right now? I'll say, yeah, I can. Now, when you go through your presentation, at the end of the presentation, the person can't say, well, I've got to check with the boss, I've got to talk to Harry, I've got to crawl across the street. They've already said, yes, I have the money, yes, I'm qualified, yes, I'm in a position to make a decision. So a good, strong opening question that grabs attention and says, geez, like if a person is in the stock market or is investing in anything, when you say, if I could show you the best investment you've ever seen, what's the first thing that they ask? What is it?

Tell me more about it. I'd like to learn about it. I could show you the best investments you've ever seen. Are you in a position to make an investment today? If I could show you the product that you're looking for, are you in a position to make a decision today? In real estate, I've seen this over and over again. One of the first questions that you should ask people when you take them out, instead of going to these people who are kicking tires and looking at homes two years before they ever plan to buy one, is say, if we could find the exact house you're looking for, when would you want to take possession?

Just tell them that as you get into the car. You know, like you'd ask them, what do you think of the weather? Very often, people will tell you, oh, well, we're just looking. You know, we're just sort of in the market. We're just looking at, we're visiting 27 other real estate agents. We're planning to spend two years at it so we know every single house in North Chicago or whatever it happens to be. So ask them that question.

If we could find exactly the house you're looking for, when would you be prepared to take possession? And they can tell you. They say, well, I don't know. Or they'll tell you that they're not in the market at all. Very simple question. And it's not an invasive question. It's not a real question Okay, the hot button closed is considered by many sales professionals to be the most important and the most powerful clothes of all The hot button clothes is based on the fact that 80% the old 80-20 rule 80% of the buying decision

Comes to bear on 20% of the product features. And in my experience, 90% of the buying decision comes to bear on about 10% of the product features. In other words, it is up to you to find the one or two things in your whole offering that are the key determinants of this person buying the product, and then to push that hot button over and over again. Because every time you mention the hot button, the person's desire to own the product goes up. Every time you talk about something that is not really important to them in the sales button, the person's desire to own the product goes up. Every time you talk about something that is not really important to them in the sales presentation, their desire to purchase it goes down. And good salespeople are people who question skillfully and listen carefully. And we find what is called the Freudian slip.

The Freudian slip says that if you talk to people long enough and give people enough chance to talk, they will tell you everything that you need to know to sell them. And that's why the old saying, telling is not selling, is true. You're only really selling when you're asking questions and giving them the opportunity to tell you what they're looking for, what they want, what they need, what they're concerned about, what their worries are, and listen. And the more you listen and the more you ask questions, the more likely it is that they

will say, this is what I'm looking for. Nito Kabin calls this the key benefit. There's a key benefit that a prospect is looking for before they make a decision. Until they can find that key benefit, they won't make the buying decision. One of my favorite stories. Real estate agent takes a couple up to see this house. It's an old house. It's what they call a starter home, a pre-owned starter home, if you like.

Handyman special. Pulls up to this house. And in the backyard, this beautiful flowering cherry tree. And the salesman says to the couple, what do you think of this house and in the backyard this beautiful flowering cherry tree and the salesman says to the couple what do you think of this house and the wife says look at harry look at that beautiful flowering cherry tree ever since i was a girl i wanted to have a house with a beautiful flowering cherry tree in the backyard and harry says shut up you know how harry is shut up they get out they go into the house salesman's no dummy walks in behind them harry comes in mr tough guy

says you're gonna have to replace the steps he says yes but see a beautiful flowering cherry tree just around the corner and walk into the house say the carpet's gone yes but from here you can see that beautiful flowering cherry tree Mrs. Smith and I walk through there you look at this living room I have to put in new baseboards new lights yes but look at that beautiful view of that lovely flowering cherry tree every single room they went into the kitchen needs new plumbing yes but you can see that beautiful flowering cherry tree the bedrooms are too, but look at the view of that beautiful flowering cherry tree. At the end of the presentation, Mrs. Smith, who makes the buying decision in every home purchase, says, Harry, I sure do love that beautiful flowering cherry tree.

In other words, this is the hot button. You push the hot button over and over again. Now, what amazes me is that salespeople will go out and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and people will say, boy, I'm really interested in a house with a pool. I'm really interested. Here's a beautiful house. Isn't that a beautiful yard? Yes, but it doesn't have a pool in it.

Now here's a beautiful one. If you put a tennis court over there. Yes, but it doesn't have a pool. And this one has a wonderful basement, but it doesn't have a pool. The person keeps saying, this is what I want. It's a pool. And what you do is you listen to that hot button, and you build the sale around that. The trial close is something the professional salesperson asks throughout the presentation

to find out how well they're doing. It's also called the check close. This means that you check how far along you are. So where you present part of your product and you say, what do you think of this so far? Or does this make sense to you? Or is this what you're looking for? Or is this what you had in mind?

Or is this an improvement on what you're looking for? Or is this what you had in mind? Or is this an improvement on what you're doing right now? These are check closes. Now, the wonderful thing about a check close is that the person, prospect, can answer yes or no, and it doesn't end the presentation. If you say, is this the sort of layout that you're looking for? Prospect says, no. You say, fine, well, let's look at this layout over here then. Or you say, is this the colors that you're looking for? Prospect says, yes. You say, good, let's look at more of the colors in this area. So the check closes, it's like you're traveling down a road and you come to a fork. And at the fork, you say, is this what you like or is that what you like? And the next fork, is this what you like? Is that what you like? On the road to the

close. And good salespeople ask check closes throughout. They never present one piece of information without a check close. You drive up in front of the house, you say, you like the outside look of that house? Yes or no. You come in the door, you like the entry hallway? Yes or no. You like this color scheme? Yes or no. You like the way this is laid out? Yes or no. In other words, they keep asking questions and the questions keep giving them feedback that enables them eventually to build a picture, a composite picture of exactly what the prospect want. The power of suggestion close is based on the fact that we are all very susceptible

to the suggestive influences of people around us, which means that when a person is excited about something, excitement is contagious. When a person is enthusiastic about something, enthusiasm is contagious. So what you say in a power of suggestion closed

is you say, boy, you're really going to enjoy the way this car handles on the road. My brother's got one of these cars and boy, does it ever grip the road when he's driving it. In other words, you keep talking to the prospect about the product or service as this lady already got it. You are really going to be happy when you travel in this this summer, or you're really going to enjoy this holiday to Europe, or you are going to love this tour, or you're going to enjoy living in this neighborhood. This is one of the best neighborhoods in this part of the city.

You talk to them as though they've already made the decision to buy, and you try to create mental pictures or pictures in their mind of what it's going to be like to use, to enjoy, to benefit, to own the product. And you create these pictures, and they go away, and they start thinking. Instead of thinking, will I buy it or not, they're thinking of how they're going to enjoy it once they've purchased it. The best example of the ascending close is called the part by part close or the yes, yes, yes close.

And this is best used for mutual funds, investments, encyclopedias. Encyclopedias are the perfect example. Anybody here ever sold encyclopedias? When you sell encyclopedias, they teach you the encyclopedia sales presentation. The presentation is brilliant. It was designed by a group of psychiatrists at the cost of a quarter of a million dollars. I tell you what, if you ever want to see something wonderful, call one of the encyclopedia companies or fill in one of those cards and get somebody to call on you.

Absolutely amazing. What it is, is they start off asking you yes questions. And the basic rule is this. Every time you ask a yes question, the prospect's buying temperature goes up three degrees. And we don't know where the prospect's buying temperature is starting from, but we know that there is a certain point at which the prospect will say, I'll take it. And if you can ask a number enough yes questions, the prospect will finally come to the point where they'll say, how do I get it?

And the encyclopedia sales presentation starts off by saying, knock on the door. Hello there. Do you live here? Very good question. do I get it? And the encyclopedia sales presentation starts off by saying, knock on the door. Hello there. Do you live here? Very good question. They're all qualifying questions. If ever the prospect says no, the presentation is over. You see, the prospect says, no, I'm just visiting. There's no point in making a presentation. They say, yes. They said, well, we're doing a survey in this neighborhood, and we'd like to get your opinion on higher education. May I ask you a few questions? The person says, yes. Do you believe in the value of higher education?

Yes. Well, would you be interested in accepting a free set of encyclopedias from us to put in your home? Yes. May I come in and explain it to you? Yes. Yes. Yes.

And there's 42 yes questions. Oh, it should be illegal. At the end of this presentation The person is saying yes. Yes. Yes, and they've bought $1,600 worth of encyclopedias now any presentation can be designed I've used what I do is I design my sales presentations and I'll take sometimes hours sometimes days to do this To design a sales presentation so it fits on one page and it has about seven to ten questions Each question which can be outlined or explained or drawn on one page. And each question starts with a yes. And each question or each question is answered with a yes.

Each question requires that the person agree. And each question becomes more and more product specific until the final yes is when they're going to take delivery. Would you like to take delivery right away? Yes. And this is the kind of presentation that takes skill to design, but it is one of the most powerful presentations that you can imagine. If ever you find yourself saying yes, yes, yes in a sales presentation, you know that you are being given a perfectly professionally designed presentation. The invitational close is where you simply invite

the prospect to make a buying decision. My favorite invitational close is, why don't you give it a try? Why don't you give it a try? Very simple close, especially for anything that the person is buying. When you say, why don't you give it a try, you're saying or you're suggesting that making the purchase decision is not a permanent thing. It's sort of something that you can try. Like saying, why don't you give the car a try? You know, why don't you give a Mercedes a try?

If you don't like it after a couple of years, you know, you can go to another car. Why don't you give it a try is a very subtle way of saying it. Or another one is, why don't you take it? One real estate salesman found that his sales went up 40% each time he walked out of the house with a couple and turned to them and said, do you like the house? And they say, well, yeah, why don't you take it? Why don't you make an offer? Bang. And they found that people say, well, sure, well, why not? So why don't you take it? Or don't you make an offer? Bang. And they found it. People say, well, sure. Well, why not? So why don't you take it? Another invitational close is, how many would you like? Or what color would you like? Or would you like us to get started on this right away? Or is this exactly what you had in mind for today? And in other words, what you do is you invite the

person to make a decision. You don't run to the end of the presentation and then stand there and say, well, what do you think? I remember the salesperson comes back to the office and says, boy, do I have a lot of good interviews today. The other one says, yeah, I didn't sell anything either. Remember, you do not offend people by asking them to make a buying decision once they have indicated an interest in owning or enjoying the benefits of your product or service. The next close is what is called a price close. Now, many people say to me that everybody buys everything on price. Have you heard that before? Price is the key thing. Everybody wants the lowest price and so on. In almost every case, I will tell you this. First of all, the price is not the major determinant in selling anything,

unless, of course, you're selling rice and rice and rice, and it's all the identical brand size, shape, and quality. Whenever there's any differentiation in product prices, not the determining factor. The second thing I'll tell you with regard to price is that it's salespeople that make an issue of price. The person says, hey, how much is it? And they immediately get into a wrestling match, and they say, well, it's X number of dollars. The person says, hey, I can't afford that. He says, yeah, but it's worth it. Well, no, I can get it cheaper somewhere else. Yes, but it's not as good as the one we've got. And you get into an argument, and's friend You can never win on price Basic rule on price is price should never come up in a sales presentation until the end of the presentation now if you're selling homes

There's no way that you can avoid or even cars for that matter But if you're selling a product that is a little bit more complex It shouldn't come up until the end This is how I deal with price when people say well how much is it before I've had a chance to tell them what they're Getting you see people always object to price no matter what it is. Everything always costs more than people expect to pay. Isn't that true? Do you ever find that any of your prospects or your customers say, boy, that's a lot cheaper

than I expected? Everything costs more than they expected to pay. But willingness to pay and ability to pay are two different things. Nobody is willing, but most people are able. So the key is, if price comes up before you've had a chance to show the person exactly what it is that they're going to get for the money, first thing you say is, Mr. Prospect, is price your only concern? Is price your only concern?

The prospect will have to say, well, no, price isn't my only concern. You say, well, let's talk about that a little bit later then. Or another thing I say when they say, well, how much is this? If you start a good sales presentation, they're going to get interested. They're going to say, how, let's talk about that a little bit later then. Or another thing I say when they say, well, how much is this? See, if you start a good sales presentation, they're going to get interested. They're going to say, how much is this? And you say, Mr. Prospect, that's the best part. Can I come to that in a couple of minutes? They say, sure.

And now you go on to the presentation. But try not to get into price, and by all means, never argue over price. Have a person, here's another close that you can use for you. This will give you your first baker's dozen. It's called the just-supposed close. The just-supposed close just simply says, Mr. Prospect, just suppose that price is not an obstacle or an object here. Okay, can we do that just for a second and let me finish my presentation?

The person will say, okay. By the time you get to the end of the presentation, you should have spoken so much about the value of what it is that they're going to get that when you mention the price, they say, well, it makes sense. But if you ever mention the price and they say, geez, that's a lot, what they're saying is this. You haven't given me enough reasons to justify that price. By the way, when you get a price objection, what is a price objection?

A price objection is a price question. A price question is when they say, hey, that's too expensive, what they're saying is, from what you've told me so far, I don't see how the product or service can be justified by the price. Can you give me some more information? Basically, that's what they're saying. But they say it in such a way that sometimes they say, oh, jeez, now they're people at price again.

They say, Mr. Prospect, it sounds like a lot of money, but let me tell you why. Another thing, people say, hey, it costs too much. I'll say, Mr. Prospect, we're getting into objections, but this is a very good... Mr. Prospect, you're right. Well, it costs more than your competition. Mr. Prospect, you're right. As a matter of fact, it costs $1,227, more than our closest competition. And yet we sell thousands of these every year to very intelligent people. Would you like to know why?

Sure. Because you've got to get that price out of the way. Other than that, it seems like a big orangutan in the middle of the path between you and the end of the sales presentation. The sudden death is an ultimatum close, and you've all had this experience where you've made a presentation to a person or to a company, and they've looked at it, and you go back and see them, and they say they have to think about it a little bit more, and you go back and have to think about it a little bit more and you go back. About four or five times,

you find that you're spending too much time going back to this person who's not made a decision. So you use this close and it works in at least 50% of cases. You fill out the entire sales contract in all details except for the signature. Exactly the way you discussed it up to now. You take it back to the prospect and you say,

Mr. Prospect, we've discussed this quite a bit and I know this is taking up a lot of your time, his time, taking up a lot of your time. So either this is a good idea for you or it's not. And one way or another, let's make a decision right now. What do you say? And then take the contract and send it, put it across the desk, put the pen on top of it, and say, if you will authorize this now, we can get started right away. And then become perfectly silent. Remember, after every closing technique, the key is to shut up.

The key is to be perfectly silent and wait. Sometimes the silence can be stretched out interminably. Sometimes the silence can get longer and longer and longer. But the longer you wait perfectly quietly without speaking, the more likely it is that the person will make the buying decision. The longer the tension is. Now, a very good sales trainer once told me, and I like this, he said, the only pressure that you are allowed to use in a sales presentation is the pressure of the silence after you've asked the closing question. And the basic rule is this, is he who speaks first or she who speaks first after the closing

question loses. Remember, the best time to close a sale is at the end of your presentation, not the next day or come back next week or let the person think about it. At the end of the sales presentation, the person has more fresh information and is closer to making a decision than at any other time. The sharp angle close is where you take a, this is when the person wants the product and they're bringing up sort of what we call smoke screen objections. They're just coming up with objections. They say, well, I don't know if we can afford the monthly payments. You say, if we can spread the payments and get them down, will you take it? So you use the objection as a way of closing. You close on the objection if you like. Person says, well,

I don't think that your product will perform to my specifications. You say, if we can prove to you that it will, will you take it? You say, well, I don't think you can get it here on time we can get it to you on schedule will you take it so what you do is you take the objection and just turn it around into a reason for buying because this forces the person to say either well yes I'll take it or that's not the real reason why I'm not making a buying decision the instant reverse close is something that you can use all the time and it's something that takes a little bit of guts to get used to but it's very simple the person says I can't afford it you say that's something that you can use all the time, and it's something that takes a little bit of guts to get used to. But it's very simple.

The person says, I can't afford it. You say, that's exactly why you should take it. What? You say, that's exactly why you should take it, Mr. Prospect. I did some training for about 100 people who were selling cable television services. And they were going door to door trying to sign up people for cable and pay television. And they'd knock on the door. A person would knock on the door, and they'd say, I'm here to talk to you about cable and pay television. You they'd knock on the door, a person would knock on the door, and they'd say, I'm here

to talk to you about cable and pay television. They said, I can't afford it. They said, that's exactly why you should take it. I said, what? They're about to close the door. I said, sorry, we can't afford it. The reason they haven't taken it is because they can't afford it. They said, what do you mean?

I said, that's exactly why you should take it. Why? Now, sometimes you may not even know why. You have to think of the answer very quickly. The answer just has to be logical. It doesn't have to be great. It has to be logical. It doesn't have to be great. It has to be logical. You say, because, look, someday you're probably going to get pay and cable, aren't you? I mean, someday in the course of your life, you're going to want to get

the movies and the sports and arts and everything else. Isn't that right? The person says, well, yeah. And you want to get it at the very lowest price, don't you? Well, yeah. Well, Mr. Prospect, this is the time that you can get it at the lowest price ever in the history of pay is if you take it right now today. That's exactly why you should take it. You call up somebody for an appointment. They say, I'm not interested. Ever heard that before? You say, Mr. Prospect, that's exactly why I'm calling. What? You say, Mr. Prospect, most of our very best customers were initially not interested when we contacted them. So what we have found is that if a person is really not interested,

they can probably take maximum advantage of our product or our service, whatever happens to the person. What is it all about? And you say, it's exactly why I need 10 minutes to show it. And bang, you're going to close on the presentation. You see, when a person resists a sales approach, it is because of ingrained, instinctive buying resistance. It's not because of you. The product could be the very best product in the world.

This could be a heart transplant for a person who's dying of a diseased heart. But they'll say no because they have instinctive buying resistance. You must be able to catch it on the know. The person says, we don't use that in our house. That's exactly why you should take it. Why? Because if you keep using the same product, Mr. Prospect, you'll never have any idea of the better products that are available on the market. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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offering advice on balancing exercise with life's demands and breaking free from societal norms. Don't miss out on this incredible deal of 50% off. Get your ebook now before it's too late. The Change Places close is very simple. You're into a presentation and the person will not tell you what we call the key issue, the number one reason why they won't buy. You see, in every sales presentation, in every product or service that a person will buy, there's a key benefit that they want and there's a key issue or a key objection that is stopping them from buying it.

And until you can find out what that key objection is and handle it, they will never buy from you. So many of your closing techniques are ways of getting the person to tell you what's stopping them from making a decision. The change places closes very simply. Say, Mr. Prospect, would you change places with me just for a second? Put yourself in my shoes,

which people can do because we are very empathetic. Imagine if you were talking to somebody that you really respected and you were showing them a product or service that was really good for them and they wouldn't tell you why it is they wouldn't make a decision one way or another. What would you do if you were in my position?

Almost invariably, the person will say, well, I'll tell you that. And they'll actually give you. They understand what it is. Or you can say, you can add to that. You say, Mr. Prospect, what would you do if you were in my position tell me is it the money and ask them is it the money because if it's not the money they'll say no it's not the money it's

something else or they say yes it's the money you say well and this is a good closing question mr prospect what would we have to do to do a deal just a good question what would we have to do to do a deal or another question is how far apart are we right now? Mr. Prospect, tell me, how far apart are we right now? These are two very powerful closing questions. For instance, I can't afford it. I can't afford it. I had a landscape architect came to my course, and he learned this technique. He had put in a bid to do a job of landscape architecture.

He'd put in a bid, and the contractor had told him that he wanted it done as cheap as possible within certain specifications. So he sharpened his pencil he wanted it done as cheap as possible within certain specifications, so he sharpened his pencil, he did it as cheap as it could be, he put in a bid for $7,025. That was the cheapest he could possibly get. The contractor called him up and said, absolutely not, it's too expensive, it's too much, it's way over my budget, there's no way I'm paying $7,025. He'd been to this course the day before, he said, well tell me, he said, how far apart

are we? He said, I've got it in my budget at $7, said, well, tell me, he said, how far apart are we? He said, I've got it in my budget at $7,000, not a penny more. And there's no, he said, as a matter of fact, we're having a special on junipers. It's $7,000. We'll put in two smaller trees. And he got the deal. But before he'd gotten really mad because he knew that he couldn't get any cheaper than that.

But he asked, how far apart are we? And sometimes you'll find that you're so close together and it's not the money, it's the issue. Sometimes people say, well, in their mind, they will not pay over X number of dollars because their brother-in-law got one just like it for X number of dollars, and you could find yourself just a few dollars apart. So ask them, how far apart are we? Or, Mr. Prospect, what do we have to do to do a deal today? You tell me, and I'll find out if it's possible.

And sometimes, and most people are honest, they'll say, this is what we'd have to do to do a deal today? You tell me and I'll find out if it's possible and sometimes they'll and most people are honest They'll say this is what we'd have to do to do a deal and you say, okay Let me see what I can do and at least you still you're still in the game It's like you're still in the ring The next close is what is called the secondary close and this is one of the most popular One of the most common of all closes this is where you close on a minor point It's also called the minor question close You're giving a sales presentation on a car and. It's also called the minor question close. You're giving a sales presentation on a car and you say, by the way, will you want the AM or the FM radio? It doesn't really matter to you. Whichever, if they answer AM or FM, they've made

the decision to buy the car. You're showing them a house. You say, by the way, would you want possession on the 1st or the 15th? They say the 15th. They've made the decision to buy the house. In other words, you ask and you close on a minor question. The reason you do this is it's much easier for a person to say, well, the 15th rather than yes or no to buying a house. And you can always come to find a minor close. You can say, well, will that be cash or charge? Even before the person's decided whether they want to buy.

You say, will that be cash or charge? Well, I'll pay cash. They've made the buying decision. How they pay for it is a minor issue. Another closing technique is called the alternative close. And the alternative close is simply based on this rule. Never offer a prospect the choice between something and something, always between or between something and nothing, always between something and something. Always offer them a choice between product A or product B. Which house do you like best? This one or this one?

Which car do you prefer? The two-door or the four-door? Which type of tires do you want, the radial or the regular? And always give them the choice between the two. And what happens is the prospect will answer you and say, well, I like product A better, or I like product B better, or I don't like either product. And you can ask why. And it gives you an opportunity to continue selling. But don't ever say, do you want this or not? Always, which do you prefer? It's also called the preference close. Which do you prefer? It's also called the preference close. Which do you prefer? Asking people which they prefer is a very good way of finding out where you are in the sales presentation.

Another close is what is called the assumption close. And the assumption close is called talking past the sale, where you assume that the person has bought. You treat them as though they have just said, yes, I'll take it. And you walk right past and you say, well, how would you like to make payment? You've just finished your presentation, you say, well, who's going to handle the mortgage arrangements for this? Even before they said, yes, we'll take it or not, you say, who's going to handle the mortgage arrangements? You assume that they've taken it, you talk past the sale, and you go to wrap up the details. It's called

the assumption close. It's one of the most powerful that I've ever seen. The takeaway close is a neat one. Now, ladies are always suckers for the takeaway powerful that I've ever seen. The takeaway close is a neat one. Now ladies are always suckers for the takeaway close. I'll give you two examples. The example of the takeaway close is you finish the presentation and the person hasn't said yes or no and you don't want to say, well, what do you think? And you've answered all their objections and they're saying, well, it seems kind of expensive and I don't know if it's in the budget.

You say, geez, we were talking about the blue one, weren't we? And you say, well, yeah. I said, we really had a run on the blue ones. Let me call the office or let me call the warehouse and make sure we still have them in stock. Now, use your telephone. Person says, yes, you can use my telephone. They made the decision to buy. You see, many people don't realize how badly they want something until you suggest to them that they can't have it. And when we're growing up as teenagers, we call this playing hard to get. And you can use this in, hey, hey.

They use this in shopping all the time. You go in and you're looking and say, well, let me make sure we have it in your size. Oh, yeah, okay. Make sure we've got it in my size. They go back and they say, yes, we do. Just one. Just one left, right?

Another thing, this is another closing technique they use in ladies' boutiques. I don't know who taught them this, but they all use it. Ladies in there, just trying on something that's expensive. Never done with anything cheap. It's something that's expensive. Trying on something that's expensive, and they have a signal. The sales clerks have a signal. They sort of go like this, or they ring a bell or something, and it causes all the other sales clerks to come running over. When you've got this ridiculously expensive thing on, and they say, oh, that looks good on you, doesn't it? And all the girls sit

around like hens and they cluck. They say, yes, that looks good on you. Oh, that looks good on you. Oh, that looks good on you. And you say, really? You really think so? Oh, yes, yes, yes. And as soon as you're saying, well, okay, then they go bang like that and they all shoot back to their customers. Isn't that right? My wife has come home with the funniest looking outfits. She comes home and she says, I want to try on this outfit. And she comes in, and you know, you want to live there, you want to go on having regular meals. She comes in, she says, be perfectly honest with me.

And I say, I don't really think it suits you. But she said, well, everybody in the store said it looked great on me. And there's only one left in my size. Right? Be very alert to that. Another clothes that you can use is what is called the puppy dog clothes. Now, the puppy dog clothes is one of the most powerful and best clothes of all. And it's based on the old story of the kids get the parents and say,

we want a puppy dog, we want a puppy dog, we want a puppy dog. And the parents say, no, damn, you're getting a puppy dog. Well, finally they say, please, please, please take us to the pet store. So they go to the pet store. Parents are very circumspect, they say, all right. And the pet store owner, these guys are smart. They know what's going on. They say, well, look, you don't want to have to make a decision like this.

Why don't you take this little puppy home and just play with it for the weekend? And if you don't like it, bring it back on Monday. And the kids say, yeah, yeah, yeah, just for the weekend, just for the weekend. And the parents say, well, all right, just for the weekend, just for Sunday. Well, now, by Sunday night, the kids are indifferent to the dog, and the parents have fallen in love with it. And this works. Now, any time you can give your prospect an opportunity to touch, taste, feel, smell,

use the product, this is a puppy dog clothes. One of the most successful photocopy distribution companies I've ever seen has just simply one rule, place machines. And they have about 10 trucks and they have about 30 salespeople. And all they do is they go in and they beg people to take the machine in their office for a week. That's all they do. And they sell millions of photocopying machines because once it's been in there for a week, people get used to using it. Originally, they say, hey, no way. I'm not interested. Can't afford it. They use it for a week. They find the convenience of it and they keep it. I used to have a friend who sold motorhomes, these big expensive motorhomes, $30,000, $40,000. Now, let me tell

you about a puppy dog clothes. Beautiful. Good times and bad. This guy is one of the top motorhome salespeople in America. Somebody comes to buy a motorhome. Now, he knows that people who buy motorhomes shop motorhomes. They go to every single vendor of motorhomes in the whole world. Anybody here ever bought a motorhome? How much time did you spend looking for motorhomes? Well, motorhome people are fanatics, and they know everything there is to know about motorhomes. So he meets them. He talks to them, he shows them through the motorhomes. He doesn't try to close them. He gets it, establishes a rapport with them. He gives them their name or he gives them his name, gives them a card. He gets their name and address and phone number. He says, we have a newsletter that we send out on motorhomes and we'll put you on the mailing list and so on. Well, next Saturday,

he calls them up about 10, 11 o'clock Saturday morning. Where is everybody? 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock Saturday morning. They're at home o'clock, 11 o'clock Saturday morning? They're at home. He said, I'd like to take you out for lunch. I'd like to show you something absolutely fantastic. I'll pick you up at your home at 12 o'clock. And they say, well, okay. See you at your home, 12 o'clock noon for lunch.

And he drives up in his big $50,000 motor home, drives up in front. He says, jump in. They get in, and they're a little bit curious. He says, I've got to show you something neat. And he takes them just outside the city that he lives in. There's a beautiful park, and the park is long, sloping hills, and then there's a lake, and there's geese that swim on the lake, and there's trees on the other side, and there's the mountains in the distance. And he pulls up in this big motorhome, and he swings a loop, and he stops so that you can sit at the table in chairs, looking out the window, this beautiful view.

And they sit down. He says, sit down over here, please. here please and they sit down he opens up the microwave eats up the food takes wine out of the refrigerator wine in a bucket pours the glasses lays out the food china he sits them down and he says as they're eating he says isn't this what you want isn't this nice wouldn't it be nice to be able to do this every single weekend and he says we have a special on a unit just like this. We can have you in this by tomorrow afternoon. You are set for the summer. He sells more motor homes than you can imagine. Because it gives people a chance to experience the product.

The Ben Franklin Close is one of the most powerful for a very simple reason. The Ben Franklin Close closely parallels how you and I think. Now you and I think when we make a decision, we weigh the pros and cons. We look at what the reasons are for making the decision and against making the decision. And the Ben Franklin quote goes back to Ben Franklin, who was America's first millionaire, by the way, first self-made millionaire, Benjamin Franklin. Started off penniless. And he used to make his decisions by taking a piece of paper and drawing a line down the center,

and he'd write all the reasons in favor of making the decision on one side of the paper and all the reasons opposed to it down the other side, and then he'd sit and he'd study the reasons and make his decision. Now, whenever you're selling anything complex, this is a very fine method. The person who's having difficulty making up their mind

because of a variety of different factors, you say, Mr. Prospect, let's use the Ben Franklin decision-making method. It's a very simple method. Ben Franklin used to use this, and he became one of the richest men in America making decisions on this basis. And this is what we'll do. You take a piece of paper, draw a line down the center, and I say, and let's write down all the reasons in favor of making this purchase decision, all the reasons in favor of buying this. Okay? And so you sit down, and you start listing the reason. Remember we talked about this? Yes. And remember we talked about that, yes. And we talked about this and it does this and it does

that and you have this and it includes this and so on. You write down every single thing that you can possibly think of that was in the presentation or wasn't in the presentation. You restate all the good reasons for buying the product. And then you say, is that everything, Mr. Prospect? Can you think of anything else? Prospect says, no, I think it's everything. He says, Okay, now you fill out the other side. And give him the pad of paper and the pen and sit quietly. Now the best prospect, the sharpest prospect I've ever seen couldn't get past item three. They write one, two, and they think, well, three, and they write it. And then you look at it and you say, Well, Mr. Prospect, it looks like you've made your decision.

And the prospect will almost invariably say, well, yes, I guess I have. I taught this to a gentleman who was in commercial real estate, and he said he'd heard about this clothes all his life. Everybody's heard about this clothes, right? He said he'd never used it until he was in a transaction with a large financial institution, which was a trade and purchase and sale of a series of properties between two institutions, merging properties, selling properties, turning some into cash, and so on. And he'd been going back and forth with these people for three weeks.

He said, finally, he said, why don't we use the Benjamin Franklin decision-making method? He had nothing to lose. With a vice president of this financial institution, they sat down and they went through it. At the end of it, he turned it over. He said he did word for word from the course. He said, turn it over to him. He said, are you right? The reason's opposed. He came up with two or three reasons. and he says, well, it looks like you made your decision.

And he said, you're right, I have. Let's go with it. And he said he made about $15,000 commission on that deal. He said, just amazed. I met him the day after he'd used it. He said he'd heard about that closing technique all his life and he'd never used it because it seems so simple. But it's very, very powerful.

Just try it. Try it once and see what happens the summary close is where you sit down and you say to the prospect all right after the end of the presentation you say well now let's just briefly go over what we've talked about and you say remember we talked about this and you summarize everything that you've discussed you summarize the feature and the benefit the feature in the benefit the feature in the benefit you go through the whole list right down to the end you say can you think of anything else? Prospect says, no. You say then, well, why don't you give it a try? Or should we get started on this right away?

Or is this what you had in mind? Or why don't you take it? And just simply close. You see, when you summarize all the reasons for buying the product or service and you summarize it in the order that you want, at the end of that summary, the individual will be at their highest buying temperature. They'll be the most likely to buy. You're selling a home, for instance. You say, well, now, before you make a decision on this home, let's look at all the things that you're looking for in a home. Let's look at all the things that this home has.

Well, remember, it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this. You can probably get to 40 with a little bit of creativity. The person says, geez, that's right. It's got all and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this and it's got this you can probably get to 40 with a little bit of creativity person sees geez that's right it's got all those things in it they didn't realize how good the home was until it's perfectly described a car is another way how do they sell cars today well what you do is you have your stripped down basic model which i don't even think comes with seats or steering wheel uh and then on the window you have all the extras have you seen that it's extra extra extra extra extra extra it's it's something like 10 15 20 different things that you get extra. And you say,

geez, look at all that you're getting for the money. And it's another form of a summary quote. The order sheet close is when the presentation begins. The person comes in to see you. The first thing you do is pull out an order sheet, write the date on it. And then ever after, whenever the person says anything about what they're looking at, write it on the order sheet. And even if the person says, hey wait, don't write anything down, I'm not buying anything today, I'm just looking. You say, I understand, but I've got a terrible memory for detail, so I'd like to write everything down. If you don't buy anything today, we'll just throw it away. Okay, fine. And you keep

writing on the order sheet. So the person gets used to seeing their information written on your sales contract. Now another way that you can use the order sheet close is at the end of the presentation, just pull out the order sheet and start filling it out. And this is what I used to do. I take out the order sheet, and especially with investments, this seems to be good, and life insurance, and I guess encyclopedias and a lot of other things. I take out the order sheet, and I'd say, I write the date on it, and if they don't stop you from filling out the order sheet, they made the decision to buy, you see.

And then I say, could you give me the exact spelling of your last name for mailing purposes if they give you the exact SMITH Smith they give you the exact smelling of the spelling of their last name they made the decision to buy and you say and your first name middle initial what is your exact mailing address and you're going to fill it up it's a it's a very fine close it's kind of like a secondary code it makes it easy for the person to make the buying decision. So just say, what is the exact spelling of your last name, please? Start writing it in.

Unless they stop you, they made the decision to buy. They say, well, I haven't decided to buy. You say, why not? Sometimes they don't know. You say, well, why not? Or a beautiful way of overcoming objections that I learned from a friend of mine is this. When the person says, well, I don't like it because of this, you say, why do you feel that way? Why do you feel that way?

You see, nobody knows why they feel anything. If you say, why do you think that way, people will have an answer. But if you say, why do you feel that way? The person will say, well, I don't know. Why do I feel that way, Gloria? I don't know. Why don't you take it? Yeah.

Okay. And they can't even remember why it is that they were objecting. 20-second close on our list is called the relevant story close. This is a powerful close because we make all of our decisions with the right brain. And the right brain is stimulated by stories and pictures. And whenever you can create a picture like the power of suggestion close, when you can use visual sales aids, or whenever you can tell a story about your product or service. People will remember a story about a product or service for years, and they'll forget all the technical detail in 10 minutes.

So the relevant story closes when the person is having difficulty, or even in the middle of a presentation, tell a relevant story about somebody who was hesitating about buying this product or service, and they finally decided to do it, and look at how happy they were. They married Miss America, they won the lottery, they traveled around the world. In other words, wonderful things happened to them and they sure were happy that they made this decision. If you're selling homes in a particular neighborhood, you can say, look, a friend of mine or a client

of mine or a relative of mine moved into this neighborhood a couple of years ago and you couldn't get them out now with a bulldozer. That he thinks this is the finest neighborhood in the whole city. It may not be the richest and it may not be the poorest, but with regard to transportation and shopping and schools and everything else, it's a great neighborhood. Sometimes people say, hey, that makes a lot of sense. Those are the kind of stories that cause people to make buying decisions,

not the statistics and the facts and the square footage and the cost and the interest rates and so on. The doorknob close is the close that you use, and this is not necessarily relevant in real estate but it's relevant in many other industries. You've made your presentation. You've given it your best shot. The prospect has resisted. The prospect's got that one major issue, that one major objection they're not telling you

because they know if they tell you, you're going to get them. So they're sitting there like this and you're doing everything possible and is it the money that you're and how far apart are we and what do we have to do to make a deal and no well I don't think so and I got to talk it over and I don't think so right now and I'm not in the market I don't think we can afford it you know they won't tell you what it is that's stopping and you know they've got the money and so on. So finally say Mr. Prospect I know you're busy and I thank you very much for your time I won't take up any more of your time I'll get going now. You close your briefcase you get up and you go to the door.

And as you get to the door, you put your hand on the door. Now the prospect psychologically begins immediately to think about what they're going to do as soon as you leave. They begin to let their sales resistance drop. And as their sales resistance comes down, as you put your hand on the door, you start to open the door. Their sales resistance dwindles like the air going out of a balloon. And then you turn around and say, oh, by the way, Mr. Prospect, just before I go, I was

wondering, I know that you're not going to buy anything today, but I wonder if you could help me in my presentation. Could you tell me what was the reason that you didn't buy today? And the prospect will say, well, I'll tell you. The reason was this. And you take your hand off the doorknob. And you come back in, you sit down your briefcase you say Mr. Prospect I'm so glad you told me that that's my fault obviously I didn't explain that

part of our offering to you may I go over it just one more time and sit down and now you've got the key reason and if you can answer it effectively sometimes you can close at 50 percent and more of these closes now the final close is the referral close. And the basic rule is this, that you should never leave a prospect or a purchaser without at least two referrals. And when you have made a sales presentation of any kind, let me give you an example with regard to referrals in real estate. I passed this on to you from a friend of mine who makes in excess of $500,000 a year in commissions in real estate. It's one of the top three people

in his area of the country. When he's closed the sale, and he usually has as many as 200 listings of his own, all of which come to him through referrals. When he's closed the sale, what he does is he drops by on moving day and he brings them a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken. And he says, look, I know you won't have time to cook.

He said, I just thought I'd drop by. $10, $12 for Kentucky Fried Chicken, drop it off. And they say, well, thank you very much. We sure appreciate it, Larry. That's awfully good of you. He said, fine. He said, look, I want you to do me just one favor. Promise me that before you sell this house,

you'll get in touch with me and give me a chance to do the same thing, same job for you that I've done already. And they say, well, sure, sure, please do? He says, one more thing. Promise me if you'd hear of anybody else who wants to buy or sell a house, you give me a chance to talk to them first. Would you do that for me? And they say, well, sure. That's why not. And they shake hands on it. And they don't realize that when a person makes a promise, when you and I make a promise, it locks into the subconscious. And we have a conscience that will not allow us to break promises. So one year, two years, three years later, somebody says, I'm thinking of buying or selling

a house. Bang, comes up to the floor. Well, I promise I'd give the person's name to Larry. This guy has 200 listings and he doesn't do any prospecting at all. It's very, very small things. He's getting referrals. So when you've spoken to a prospect or a client, there's a variety of ways that you can do it.

But here is one way. You finish speaking to the prospect and you say to the prospect, well, say the person does not buy. You say, Mr. Prospect, I know you're not in a position to make a decision today, but could you give me the names of two or three people who you think may be able to take advantage of this offer? Now, this is called the alternative close, two or three people. Prospect will always pick two because it's easy. They'll say, well, yes, I can give you a couple of names. And they'll give you the name. You say, Mr. Prospect, would you happen to have their phone numbers? Now, the prospect will always give you the names that come off the top of the mind, what is called top of mind awareness, people that they know the best, people that they're very

familiar with, people that they work with. They give you two names. You say, would you happen to have their phone numbers? Yes, they do happen to have their phone numbers. So get the phone numbers. Now you've closed on the phone numbers. Then you say, which of these prospects should I call first? Again, another alternative close. They'll say, we'll call Bill first. And finally, the person who said yes, yes, yes, he's answered affirmatively to four questions in a row. You say, Mr. Prospect, would you call Bill right now and tell him that I'm coming over? By this time, the prospect will say, well, sure. And they they pick up the phone and they'll dial and send you over to see Bill or whoever it happens to be. Now, the reason why a referral is so much more powerful than a cold call is that with

a referral, you have all the credibility of the person who is referring you. A cold call, you go in with no credibility at all. And remember, credibility, the amount that the prospect believes you is the critical factor. Now, if you have to get to 100% credibility before the prospect will buy, if you get a referral, you come in with 90% credibility. If somebody that you know and respect sends somebody to see you, they say, look, your good friend sent me to see you.

You say, well, good, come on in. What is it? And you'll give them the same treatment, the same courtesy that you would give the other person. So always ask for referrals and never leave a presentation, if you possibly can, without at least two referrals. Now, here's something else that you can do with regard to referrals. Go back to all of your previous customers that you can remember and call them up and ask them how they're doing. Are they happy with what they bought?

Do they have any problems or questions? Is there anything that you can do for them? And if possible, go and call them. I have a friend who's an excellent salesperson. Every January, right after the holidays, he goes and calls on every single customer he's got. He spends two or three weeks calling on every single customer in the city and making sure they don't have any problems, making sure they're happy and getting two or three referrals

from each. And it takes him six months to work through those referrals. Any person who's been in selling for more than 90 days should be working off of referrals almost 100% of the time. Referrals that people give you or referrals that come to you as a result of good things that you've done in the marketplace. So those are the key closing techniques. And if you will use those closing techniques,

remember, closing techniques are sales tools, and they have to be mastered through study and practice. But the more sales tools you have, it's like a craftsman. The more tools you have within your sales toolbox, if you like, the more likely you are to make a sale. For some fields of selling, you will only need two or three closing techniques, and you'll use those all the time. But the more you know, the more opportunities you have to close.

Now, here's a piece of advice which helped me dramatically when I started my career. And it's simply this. Use throwaway presentations. Whenever you get into a presentation with a person who you know is not going to buy, this person is one of those people who's not going to buy anything, and you're in that presentation, and you know you have nothing to lose, throw the whole book at them. Throw every closing technique and every qualifying technique and every objection technique that you can have, you can find. Because remember, you only really learn sales techniques by being in the arena with a live prospect. And if you find a person who's not going to buy, use them. Because I have found, and it's worth a fortune to you. I have found that if you will use these throwaway presentations and just sit in there and slug

until you literally get thrown out, you will learn more faster about how to close good prospects than you can possibly imagine. Act boldly in selling. Remember, the key to sales success is to act boldly and to close boldly. A sales close where you say, why don't you take it, is certainly far more powerful than, well, why don't you take it? In other words, say it boldly. Say it like you confidently expect the other person to buy.

Act as though it were impossible to fail. Ask the closing question like it is inconceivable to you that the person could say anything but yes. And practice that. Practice the tone. Remember, in communication, 7% of our communications with other people is the words we use. 38% is the tone of voice. 55% is the body language.

So make sure that your body language is erect. Make sure that you look like a million dollars. Make sure that your voice is strong and bold and clear and ask. We find that the person who speaks louder and faster always seems to dominate the person who speaks more quietly and slower. Now, I'm not saying to be obnoxious, and I'm not saying to be pushy or aggressive or overbearing. I'm saying speak confidently, speak strongly, ask as though you expect the person to say yes.

And the final point, going right back to what we started, the key to selling effectively, the person to say yes. And the final point, going right back to what we started, the key to selling effectively, the key to closing sales, is psychological more than anything else. That you must have enthusiasm, you must love your product, you must believe in your product, you must have confident expectations, and you must persist. And this is the final underlying quality.

What is it that it says that persistence is to the character of man and woman as carbon is to steel. Thanks for listening. Kindly support the movement of this podcast by supporting us or subscribing to our premium content for more exclusive stuff. When you do so, you also get a shout out in our next episode. Thank you.