“Boost Your Sales” Summer Blog Series Starts Next Week

Monday kicks off the summer “Boost Your Sales” series at the Sales and Sales Management Blog.

Each week a new group of 4 of the world’s top sales and management experts and I will tackle a sales or sales management issue that is impacting sellers and sales teams in today’s market.

Next week’s topic is “Using the Phone to Generate Business” and we start the series with a strong line up:

Monday, June 1:  Wendy Weiss presents “A ‘Warm Calling’ VS. ‘Cold Calling’ Rant”

Tuesday:  It’s Jill Konrath discussing “Are You Losing at Hello?”

Wednesday:  Trish Bertuzzi presents “Prospecting Baseball”

Thursday: find Art Sobczek talking about “Why Your Vocie Mails Are Ignored”

Friday: I’ll tell you how to “Turn Your Cold Calls into Referred Introductions”

Then the following week you find more great content as Mark Hunter, Andrea Sittig-Rolf, Jonathan Farrington, and more giving their insights in how to network for success.

It All Starts MONDAY!!

Do you like FREE?

Do you like WORLD CLASS?

Do you like making more MONEY?

Do you want to improve YOURSELF and YOUR SALES TEAM?

Then get ready, mark your calendars, and save the Sales and Sales Management Blog in your RSS reader because 53 of the best sales and management authorities in the world are coming to you beginning Monday, June 1.

And it’s all FREE.

Beginning Monday, the Sales and Sales Management Blog will address a critical sales or sales management issue each week this summer. 

And you won’t just be getting my take on these issues.

Each week I’ll be bringing in 4 of the top experts on the week’s subject.  Monday through Thursday you’ll get the guidance and wisdom of 4 world class experts and each Friday I’ll give my perspective.

53 of the most respected trainers and consultants the world has to offer tackling some of the most important sales and management issues of our day.

Monday’s Topic:  Using the Phone to Generate Business.

The experts:
Monday, June 1:  Wendy Weiss
Tuesday, June 2:  Jill Konrath
Wednesday, June 3:  Trish Bertuzzi
Thursday, June 4:  Art Sobczak
Friday, June 5:  Paul McCord

Who are some of the other incredible experts you’ll read this summer: 

Andrea Sittig-Rolf
Dr. Greg Stebbins
Randy Pennington
Mike Schultz
Anne Miller
Jonathan Farrington
Mark Hunter
Jeb Blount
Dr. Drew Stevens
Kevin Eikenberry

And over 40 more.

Save Sales and Sales Management Blog to your favorites

Or better yet, save it in your RSS Reader

The Four Pillars of a Successful Referral, Part 4: How You Contact Your Referred Prospect

For most sellers, a referral is nothing more than a name and a phone number that they have been given by a client or prospect.  Although having nothing more than a name and phone number with which to contact the prospect, most salespeople are excited about their new referral.  The first thing they do when they get back to their office is grab the phone and excitedly call the prospect, just to get the brush off—assuming they even get through to the prospect.

No matter how qualified a prospect the referred person is, no matter how much they trust and respect your client who referred them, if all you get is a name and phone number, you don’t have a referral. 

A name and phone number by itself

is little better than taking out the phonebook

and pointing at a name at random.

To convert a name and phone number into a REFERRAL, it must be accompanied by a direct INTRODUCTION of you to the prospect from your client.  And the weaker the relationship between the client and the prospect, the STRONGER the introduction must be.

You have three basic introduction formats at your disposal:

• Letter to the prospect from your client.  Your most common form of introduction would be a letter from your client to the prospect introducing you.  Don’t ask your client to write the letter.  First, even if they do get around to writing it, they’ll do it on their time schedule, not yours.  Secondly, when a client writes a referral letter, seldom do they give the prospect a REASON to accept your call and to meet with you.

  Instead, write the letter for your client in the client’s voice, and then have your client sign it.  You’ll save your client from having to write the letter, you’ll get it done quickly, and you can write a more convincing letter anyway.  You know better than your client what you accomplished for the client, and if you’ve taken the time to find out what the relationship between your client and the prospect is and to learn as much as possible about the prospect’s potential needs, you’ll be able to relate more directly what you might be able to do for the prospect.  Your letter should give details about what you accomplished for your client and a solid reason why the prospect should consider meeting with you.  Give the letter ample time to reach the prospect, and then follow up with a phone call.

• A phone call from your client to the prospect.  A stronger method of introduction is to have your client call the prospect and introduce you over the phone.  Never ask your client to call a prospect when you’re not there to be introduced.

It is very difficult for a prospect

to say NO to an appointment when

your client is on the phone with you. 

         Never ask a client to place a phone call unless you are SURE of their response to any potential
        questionthe prospect may ask        

• A lunch meeting with the three of you.  Far stronger than either a letter or a phone call, having your client invite the prospect to a lunch meeting with the three of you creates a whole new dynamic.  Not only are you introduced to the prospect by your client, but

in many instances the client

actually ends up acting as your

SALESPERSON—

leaving you in the position of

the expert consultant.

           A lunch meeting puts you in the ultimate position of strength and virtually guarantees a private meeting with the
          prospect, and it demonstrates an extremely high degree of respect and trust of you on the part of your client.

The good news is you control three of the four pillars.  And even the one you don’t control, your client’s relationship to the referred prospect, can be handled by using a strong method of introduction for those particularly weak referrals.

If  you want to create a large number of high quality referrals from your new clients and even prospects you’ll have to learn a comprehensive, disciplined process.  We’ll talk about that process in the next post.

The Four Pillars of a Successful Referal, Part 3: Your Client’s Relationship to the Referred Prospect

Most salespeople and business owners assume that all referrals are equal.  Even a great many trainers act like they’re all equal.  They’re not.  The strength of a referral depends more on the relationship between the client and the person they refer than on any other factor. 

Clients don’t just refer you to people who know them, respect them, and trust them.  It would be great if that were the case, but it isn’t.  Clients will refer you to people who are just casual acquaintances—and even to people who don’t respect them or don’t trust their judgment.

You can successfully convert any of these relationships into a great client.  But in order to so,

you must know EXACTLY

what the relationship between

your client and the referred prospect is.

When you get a referral you’re hoping to be able to set an appointment with the referred prospect based on the recommendation and endorsement of your client.  That’s the theory.  The reality is often very, very different.  Unless you know what the relationship between your client and the person they referred you to is, you don’t where you’re starting your connection with the referred prospect.

Prospects will initially judge you based on what they think of the person who referred you.  That means that your referral won’t necessarily have a positive impact on the prospect.  In some cases the prospect will have no pre-conceived opinion about you, while in other cases their pre-conceived opinion will be decidedly negative.

If your referred prospect trusts and respects your client, some of that trust and respect will automatically be imbued to you because someone they trust and respect endorsed you.  Consequently, you begin your relationship with that person from a position of strength.

If your referred prospect is simply a casual acquaintance of your client, they may have not developed an opinion about your client—good or bad.  In that situation you begin your relationship from a neutral position.  Although relatively rare, these neutral relationships do exist, and you will encounter these types of referrals.

Likewise, if your referred prospect distrusts or does not respect your client, in particular your client’s judgment and opinion, you begin your relationship with that prospect with some of that distrust and doubt imbued to you.  You begin the relationship from a decidedly negative position.

Your referred prospect will view YOU

the same way they view your Client–

Good, Bad, or Indifferent 

If you are not aware of the relationship between your client and the prospect—and in particular how the prospect views your client–you run a very real risk of blowing your opportunity to connect with the prospect. 

If your prospect trusts and respects your client, you will want to emphasize your relationship with the client and bring their name up often to reinforce the good feelings the prospect has regarding your client. 

On the other hand, if the prospect distrusts your client or doesn’t respect their judgment, simply use your client’s name for the introduction, and then seek to build your relationship with the prospect based on who you are, not on your relationship with your client.  Your client’s name gave you the opportunity to speak to the prospect; the rest is up to you.  Be aware, however, that the prospect will have reservations about you based on their opinion of who referred you.  It’s an uphill climb with a significantly lower potential for success, but one that can be made successfully if you’re aware of the obstacles in your path prior to making contact.

In those few instances where the prospect has virtually no opinion of your client, your client’s name should open the door.  Certainly you can continue to mention your client—they are neither an asset nor liability, but again, you’re faced with the task of building trust and respect based completely on your own, without any help from your client.

Next, the fourth pillar of a successful referral—How You Contact the Referred Prospect

A Summer Full of FREE Training From 49 of the Best of the Best Trainers in the World

Everyday this summer you’ll have the opportunity to get the wisdom and guidance of some the best of the best sales experts in the world.

FREE

WITHOUT ANY EFFORT

JUST BY CLICKING YOUR MOUSE

I’m sure you’re aware that there are thousands upon thousands of blogs on the internet devoted to sales and sales management.  Some are really good, some are pure trash.  It is a very competitive market.  But like every market, the cream rises to the top.

I’m proud to say that my blog, Sales and Sales Management Blog, is ranked #5 out of the thousands of blogs devoted to sales. 

That ranking means I’m delivering real value.  That I’ve created a blog that people like and support.  That readers have found my blog to be one of top sources for real content and guidance.

But it is about to get much, much better.

Throughout this summer, from June 1 till the end of August, you’ll find a new aspect of sales or sales management addressed each week and each week the subject will be addressed by 5 different sales experts.

Each week will be dedicated to a particular segment of selling and everyday from Monday through Thursday a different sales expert will address the week’s subject, then on Friday I’ll give my take on the issue.

What are the subjects we’ll tackle?

June:
1 through 5:  Using the Phone to Generate Business
8 through 12:  Networking
15 through 19:  Referrals/Word of Mouth Marketing
22 through 26:  Prospecting and Social Media

July:
June 29 through July 3:  Building Client Relationships
6 through 10:  Building Trust
13 through 17:  Effective Sales Presentations
20 through 24:  Successful Sales Negotiation
27 through 31:  Hiring Top Talent

August:
3 through 7:  Managing In a Changing Sales Environment
10 through 14: Leading Effective Sales Team Meetings
17 through 21:  Coaching Salespeople to Success
24 through 28:  Special End of Summer Surprise Week

Who are some of the experts that you’ll learn from?

Charles Green on building trust

Colleen Francis on presentations

Jill Myrick on leading sales team meetings

Dr. Drew Stevens on hiring top talent

Jerry Acuff on building relationships

Bill Cates on referrals

Jill Konrath on using the phone to generate business

Keith Rosen on coaching

49 of the biggest and best in the business               

              Everyday

                                All Summer

                                                One great blog

The Four Pillars of a Successful Referral, Part 2: Your Client’s Purchasing Experience

Of equal importance to your relationship with your client is your client’s purchasing experience. Just because your client trusts you doesn’t mean he or she had the purchasing experience they wanted. On the other hand, just because your client had a good purchasing experience doesn’t necessarily mean they trust you.

To get the QUANTITY and QUALITY of referrals you want,

your client must trust you

AND

they must have the purchasing experience THEY want,

not the one YOU want to give them

Although we prefer to treat all of our clients the same, each is an individual. Each has their own idea of what they want to happen during the course of the sale. Certainly it is easier on us to treat them all the same, doing the same things the same way for each client; but that’s simply trying to make it easy on us rather than trying to give each client the experience they want. To generate a large number of high quality referrals, we have to change our perspective and rather than trying to make the purchase as easy as possible for ourselves, we have to concentrate on delivering the exact purchasing experience each individual client wants.

That’s a tall order. It means getting out of our comfort zone. It means taking on more work for ourselves. It means really getting to know our client’s wants and expectations rather than assuming we know what they are.

You earn referrals by

giving each client what they want,

not what you think they should want

To do this you have to talk to your client. You have to ask them to clarify exactly what they want to happen during the course of the sale. That is, you have to find out what their expectations are because meeting those expectations is how you earn their referrals.

This idea of asking clients to define their own purchasing experience is not only a foreign concept for many salespeople and business owners, it’s a foreign concept for most clients. More than likely, you’ll be asking a question that they have never been asked before. That alone begins to set their purchasing experience with you apart from any other they’ve had.

But more important than beginning to differentiate yourself from any other salesperson they’ve dealt with, by specifically asking them to design their own purchasing experience you:

1. Establish objective criteria for them to decide if you’ve earned the referrals

2. You have the opportunity to address any unrealistic expectations they may have right up front to insure those unrealistic expectations don’t become issues later

But how do you deal with existing clients that you didn’t have an opportunity to go through this process with during the sale? Naturally you can’t go back and recreate the purchase; but you can make sure that they are happy and satisfied with your performance and their decisions. If they are, you have a relationship that can be leveraged to help build your business.

If, however, you discover they have issues with either you or your product/service, you have some work to do before you can expect to successfully leverage the relationship. Rather than seeking referrals or an additional sale, your job is to mend fences, to put your relationship and the purchase back in order. You must correct your client’s issues before trying to leverage your relationship by:

• Discovering what the client’s issues are

• Asking point blank how you can make it right

• Either doing exactly what the client wants or if that isn’t possible, finding a resolution satisfactory to the client

• Implementing the resolution making sure that you know what your client expects to happen and that you do exactly that

Once you are completely satisfied that you’ve built the trust with your client and their purchasing experience meets their expectations, the third pillar comes into play–Your Client’s Relationship With The Referred Prospect

The Four Pillars of a Successful Referral, Part 1: Your Relationship to Your Client

What’s so tough about getting a referral from a client? Once you’ve met your customer’s needs, all you have to do is ask them if they know of anyone who might be able to use your products or services. You then go back to your office and call the person you were referred to and set up a meeting. Couldn’t be easier, right?

That’s the core of traditional referral training.

Almost every seller knows it just doesn’t work very well. In fact, it works so poorly that vast numbers of have just quit trying to generate referrals.

The problem isn’t with the concept of generating referrals. The problem is that most trainers have simply accepted the traditional referral ‘training’ and simply regurgitate the pap they were taught about referrals.

For the 47 million-dollar-a-year-income sales superstars who generate the majority of their business from referrals, referral generation isn’t a weak question at the end of the sales process, but is rather a disciplined process that begins from the moment they meet a new prospect and continues throughout the relationship with their client.

Generating a large number of high quality referrals requires that we recognize the foundational aspects on which a quality referral is based and how we might be able to control these aspects. Over the next four posts we’ll take a close look at the four basic foundational pillars of generating a quality referral.

Pillar 1: Your Relationship to Your Client

Conventional wisdom from sales trainers is that clients “love to give referrals; they want to help; all you have to do is ask.”

What bull! Although there is a small contingent of clients
who love to give referrals, most clients HATE to give referrals.

Clients believe that whomever they refer you to will be more demanding and more critical than they have been and they fear they will be embarrassed because the prospect they refer you to will have a bad purchasing experience and will be unhappy with your performance or your product or service.

Clients will only give referrals–that is, real, quality referrals–once you have established a relationship with them that:

• Demonstrates you are honest and trustworthy

• Demonstrates you will do what you say you will do

• Gives them reason to BELIEVE that you will live up to the expectations and demands of those they refer you to

Your relationship with your client must be one built on their EXPERIENCE of your trustworthiness and honesty.

Not your claims.

Not your promises.

Not your intentions.

Referrals are EARNED, not given.

To overcome your client’s natural resistance to give referrals, they must KNOW you will not only not embarrass them in front of the people the refer you to, but that you will HONOR them by giving their friends, colleagues, and associates SUPERIOR service that is based in HONESTY and INTEGRITY.

Honesty extends to how you generate referrals. Many clients don’t appreciate being cornered at the end of the sale with an unexpected and uncomfortable request for referrals. Not only does that last second request annoy the client, even for those few clients who want to give referrals it makes it difficult for them to give a quality referral since it doesn’t give them time to think about whom to refer, not to mention it doesn’t define for them who a quality referral is. Letting your client know early in the relationship that your business is referral based and that once the sales process has been completed you’ll be working with the client to acquire high quality referrals.

Every salesperson promises honesty. All claim superior service. Most intend to be trustworthy. Every client has heard the promises and the claims. They may even believe the intent is there. But they have had few relationships with salespeople where the promises, claims and intent have come to fruition.

You only get quality referrals when your client trusts you with them and that trust is earned by your deeds, not your words. If you don’t back up what you say, don’t be surprised when your client is uncomfortable giving referrals. The good news is this pillar isn’t dictated by chance since you have total control over your honesty, truthfulness, and actions, almost guarantying your client’s trust.

Next Post: Part 2: Your Client’s Purchasing Experience

Guest Article: “Business Blogging, The Lessons of 100+ Posts,” by Niall Devitt

As I’m getting within a month of the 500^th post on the Sales and Sales Management Blog, I’ve been thinking about what, if anything, I’ve learned over the past almost three years.  Then Niall Devitt posted the article below on his Beyond the Boardroom blog.  Couldn’t agree with Niall more.

 

Business Blogging, The lessons of 100+ Posts
by Niall Devitt

I recently passed the 100 post mark on this blog.

To say that I have learnt a lot in between would be an understatement. To say that I have lots more to learn, would require an even bigger understatement.

It has been an enjoyable, frustrating and fascinating experience. I have gained readers; I have gained new customers and best of all I have gained many great new friends.

My posts have resulted in praise, in controversy, and in scorn. Readers have agreed with me strongly and readers have disagreed, with equal amounts of passion.

Perhaps, now is a good time to step back, and evaluate what has a 100+ posts taught me, about blogging and blogging for business.

Lesson Number 1 – Quality always Beats Quantity

With the amount of available information that is out there, you need to stand out from the crowd. To this end, it is always better to focus your efforts on the quality of your posts, rather than the quantity

People now have a much shorter attention span, so to get them to actually read what you have written – requires that you offer something of real value. Spend enough time constructing each post, giving extra special attention to your headline (eye-catching) and your first paragraph.

Lesson Number 2 – Never Ever Sell

So many business blogs are merely a series or reworded advertisements for the particular business. It’s awful, awful, and awful and gives nothing of real value to the reader. Instead think Give! – give advice, give insight and give resource. Make your blog valuable, in the eyes of your readers.

So instead pose questions, stimulate debate, provide commentary, and invite other experts to write interesting posts. Remember, the more value your blog brings to your readers – the more lightly that these same readers will become your customers.

Lesson Number 3 – Popular won’t always mean Popular.

There can sometimes be a tendency to jump on a particular bandwagon, and post about what everyone else is posting about. While this can be sound strategy for more established bloggers – it is rarely sensible for new bloggers to follow suit. Where possible, try instead to come up with new ideas and new topics – or at least differing angles for your posts.

It’s perfectly OK to be controversial, so long as your opinions are considered, and that you truly believe in what you are saying. Be careful, because once you have committed a point of view to the public domain – you will need to be able to back it up.

Lesson Number 4 – Engage with Your Readers

The very best thing about blogs is that, they allow for you to engage and debate with your readers. If someone takes the time to comment and give their point of view, make sure to respond and thank them.

Don’t just engage with people through your own blog, instead follow them home to their blog and leave a comment. Reading and engaging with others bloggers, not only increases readership of your blog – but is a super super way of generating ideas for new posts. Be sure to credit the other person and invite them to continue to partake in the ongoing discussion.

Lesson Number 5 – Don’t Be Afraid to be Yourself

A big mistake many new business bloggers make is to try and write in a so called “professional manner” It’s much more important to try to be yourself and to let your uniqueness out itself in your writing. If you like a joke, well then – have a joke.

Don’t burden yourself with having to sound, or come across – all professional like. The most important thing is your message, and that you communicate it with language your readers will understand.

So it’s 100+ posts down, and hopefully many more to go.  I could say more, but I will save for it 200+.

Can I take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you, to the readers, to those of you who left such great comments, to those that republished my posts and to anyone from anywhere who ever stopped by.

Warning: By the way, blogging is bloody addictive and I still cant spell LOL.

 

Niall Devitt is the founder of Beyond the Boardroom, having previously recruited and managed high performance sales teams in the IT and Financial Services industries, Niall understood that there was a need for a results driven sales training solution in Ireland.  To date, Niall experience spans both B2B and B2C, where he has delivered training programmes for the IT, Construction, Medical, Utilities, FMCG and Financial sectors. Niall brings success to companies and individuals by assisting them to maximise potential through identifying, resolving and overcoming performance issues. Niall’s approach to business training is non-traditional, He specialises in creating one off bespoke training solutions, delivered using workshops and one to one coaching. Also a trained actor, he has used his performing arts background to create a unique coaching solution to overcome presentation fear.

Guest Article: “Value Creation–the New Core Competency for Growth-Minded Companies,” by Jeff Thull

Value Creation – the New Core Competency for Growth-Minded Companies
by Jeff Thull

If you’re competing on price, you’ll never achieve maximum profitability. It is critical to make value creation everyone’s job.

Are you sure that you’re providing the value your customers bought into? Even if your answer is an emphatic yes, you might want to take a closer look into your customer’s world. In my experience, 50-plus percent of all companies feel that they aren’t getting true value from their suppliers. That number almost certainly includes some of your customers. The danger is you may be assuming that the fault lies with them-maybe it’s an implementation issue or maybe they’re blind to the value that you believe exists but they just don’t see. It doesn’t matter.

If your customers can’t perceive the value you provide, it simply doesn’t exist. That’s the value gap and it’s one of the biggest roadblocks to sustained growth and maximized profitability.

The value gap can often be traced back to cross-functional dysfunction, a term that basically means that individuals or departments are not working together, or even worse, they may be in conflict with each other. Consider these examples: Are new products created that have little connection with your customer’s real problems? Is marketing generating leads but not held accountable for their quality? Are salespeople rushing to “present” solutions instead of seeking out relevant information on the customer’s real requirements? With confusion and disorder, customers default to what they do understand – price – and there goes the downward spiral to commoditization.

The issue is when various departments or individuals are operating with cross-purposes, a company’s value strategy is likely diluted by the time it reaches the customer. The customer perceives, rightly or wrongly, that either the value being offered simply isn’t there, it isn’t unique compared to alternative solutions, or there are doubts that the value being promised will be delivered -all of which leads to hedging, forcing price comparisons and driving profits down. Sellers ultimately watch their margins erode as price becomes the driving force of the decision.

In order to close the value gap, companies must create “Prime Solutions” – solutions that:

– deliver optimal results, capable of leveraging value to the highest level of the customer’s business,

– ensure that customers have identified and purchased the best solutions to their problems, and\

– provide implementation and value creation strategies that enable customers to achieve the ROI that they anticipated.

To achieve this goal, a company must end cross-functional dysfunction. It must replace “cost cutting” with “value creation” as a core competency. In other words, creating and selling value must become everyone’s responsibility.

So how can you build a culture in which value creation becomes the mantra and your customers see you as an incomparable source of value? Here are some guidelines to start transforming your organization:

Begin with a tangible and compelling customer problem.

All too often, we can develop products and services based on faulty assumptions about value. Chances are these assumptions could be inconsistent with the customer’s perspective. By the time we discover the disconnects, time, money and market position have been lost. Not only must we look through the eyes of our customer and develop products and services that address our customer’s financial well-being, but we must constantly validate our assumptions about value. We must ensure we can convert what we believe is value into value our customers can fully achieve and measure.

Commit to Diagnostic Marketing®.

You define your solution, which has been designed to solve a problem that your customer is currently facing, or will likely experience. You then create your market message based on a thorough diagnosis and understanding of that problem and its solution. Your messages however, must be written in the “negative present,” a place customers don’t want to be. They ask a customer to examine their current situation and suggest…These are the symptoms of the problem you may have, and if you are noticing this evidence, we may have the solution.

Additionally, marketing must prepare the tools and support materials that will be used to diagnose the customers’ business problems and design the solutions. These materials must guide salespeople through the same diagnostic process that is used in solution development and marketing. They must assist salespeople in identifying the indicators and consequences of the customers’ problems that their solutions address.

Learn the art of diagnostic conversations.

Traditionally, a salesperson’s goal has been to close the sale, get the signed order, hit the numbers, bring in the business… win. In Prime Solution companies, the desired outcome of the sale is the same, but the focus and the process are dramatically different. The diagnostic sales professionals work more like physicians. They provide high-quality diagnostic services, prescribe and treat responsibly, and attempt to ensure optimal health for their “patients” (the customers).

Keep an eagle eye on impending issues.

The rewards of keeping close to the customer are well known. We must ensure that customers attain the valuable results they expected when they purchased our solutions. That means not just solving problems that crop up, but actually watching for and diagnosing problems that customers don’t realize they have. We are closest to our customers when we are serving them, and therefore we are well-positioned to diagnose additional issues and opportunities before the customer may recognize them and ask for help.

To capitalize on these valuable, and for the most part untapped, resources, you must create conduits for continuous feedback. These feedback mechanisms connect the end of the value chain back to its beginning. The information that’s captured by customer service employees actually flows back into the cycle and serves as the basis for the development of new Prime Solutions. Thus, the conclusion of one revolution around the cycle becomes the impetus for another.

This may sound like a daunting amount of work, but the result – transformation into a Prime Solution provider and the resulting impact on your bottom line – is its own reward. Think of how you would respond to a solution provider who brought these capabilities to your door…a resource who would help you achieve a successful implementation, quantify and maximize the return on your investment, and ensure the sustainability of your optimized business performance. This sounds like a highly valued business partner, a source of continual competitive advantage…a position we all want to occupy in our customer’s minds.

 

Jeff Thull is the President and CEO of Prime Resource Group, a strategy and performance consulting firm based in Minneapolis.  Jeff’s book, “Mastering the Complex Sale” was released in 2003 and is rated one of the top 30 best business books by Soundview Executive Book Summaries and #1 best selling book on Amazon.com. Jeff’s newest book “The Prime Solution” was released in January 2005. 

Book Review: The One Minute Closer: Time-Tested, No-Fail Strategies for Clinching Every Sale

If you love old school manipulative selling techniques (you know the ones, those that have given salespeople a reputation on par with thieves, ambulance chasers, and snakes), you’ll love The One Minute Closer: Time-Tested, No-Fail Strategies for Clinching Every Sale (Business Plus:  2008), by James W Pickens and Joseph L Matheny.

Seldom do I post a review of a book that I don’t find to be at least somewhat helpful, but The One Minute Closer is so bad, so destructive to the selling profession, and such a waste of money, that I believe I would be doing a disservice not letting readers know why they should avoid wasting their money and their time on this dreadful piece of trash.

According to the authors, The One Minute Closer is designed to relate the wisdom of over 50 ‘master closers’ from around the world that will teach salespeople the closing techniques that will turn them into master closers also. 

In fact, what Pickens and Matheny have done is write a small book on how to be as unethical in sales as possible.  This is a master course in deception, manipulation, lying, and impersonating sincerity.  Despite the author’s claims, it is doubtful that many of the supposed ‘master closes’ presented would do anything more than alienate prospects at best and get you thrown out on your ear at worse. 

The One Minute Closer is chock-full of wisdom such as

• “when the master closer asks his customer to purchase, he will intentionally lower his head slightly and get a few degrees below the eye level of his customer.  Then as the customer considers his response, the closer will slowly bring his head up, almost unnoticeably, so his eyes are on the same level as the customer’s.  Then, right at the exact second  when the customer starts to make a sound, the closer will move his eye level up a few degrees above the customer’s eye level.  At that point, he will keep his head and eyes steady.  This very slight head and eye movement is magic.  What it does to the customer is surprising.  The customer, completely unaware of what the closer is doing, will automatically raise his head and eyes to meet the closer’s.  This upward physical movement actually encourages the customer to give a positive response.  This secret closing technique works, but the master closer has to be very subtle and deliberate in his movement.  There can’t be any sudden movement that might alert the customer.”
• The “one dollar vs. one-hundred dollar close.  In this close when your customer says they can’t make a decision, take out a one dollar bill and a one-hundred dollar bill and ask which one the customer would like to have.  Of course, they’ll say the one-hundred dollar bill.  You then say to your customer, “Mr Customer, don’t ever tell me again that you can’t make a decision, because you just did.”
• The “what would Jesus do” close.  You use this close when your customer “is a Sunday go to meeting” type (throughout the book this level of respect for customers is demonstrated).  You acknowledge that you know he is a fine Christian and state that you understand that he wants to be like Jesus, just as every good Christian does.  You then tell the customer that you’ll give him your product or service free if he can show you anywhere in the Bible where Jesus said, “let me first ask my friend,” or “let me first ask my accountant,” or “I have to think about it.”  You point out that Jesus never had to hesitate to make a decision on his own.  According to the authors, after delivering this close, “The customer is stunned.  The master closer has made such a strong and truthful point, the customer doesn’t know what to say.”

The above is just a small taste of the book’s BS.  Sometimes when reading the book it is difficult to tell whether the authors are serious or are having a good laugh at how gullible some salespeople might be.  If it weren’t so serious, this book would be hilarious. 

This isn’t to say, however, that the book doesn’t have a small bit of useful information.  It does.  It’s just that the majority of the useful information is so basic and so intuitively obvious that it would be classified as common knowledge, such as ‘treat evey customer like a millionaire’ and ‘it’s difficult to dislike people who like you.’

Whatever you do, save your money, don’t buy this one.