Ron White's Ezine
March 19, 2008
Issue 64
Welcome!
Well... I lost... I made it to the semi finals and finished 4th out of 43... And anything but first place in my book is a loss...
Lose what you may ask? Good question. Last week I competed in the USA Memory Championships in New York City. It was an incredible experience with competitors flying in from all over the country and even Amsterdam! I made it to the semi-final round and then made a stumble. It was very disheartening - I felt like I could have won and still do, but I stumbled and my final 3 challengers didn't. Chester Santos a software engineer took home the crown. I did set a personal best record of memorizing 120 digits in five minutes and I am very proud of that. I was also proud to just be competing against the best memories in the nation!
On the other hand, losing was hard - for all of us other 42. It was months, if not 12 months, of practice preparing for this yearly one day event; it was flying across the country, taking days off work and renting hotel rooms and then just coming up short. After I walked off the stage a woman came over to me and said, 'You were such a leader when you lost. It was so good for the young kids to see you lose the way you did. Thank you for that.' When I lost I made a point to smile, tell the television reporter on stage how much respect I had for my competitors and I shook the hands of the competitors when I exited and wished them luck. At the time, I wasn't comprehending that I was being watched by the audience - but I was. Losing was very disappointing but there are right and wrong ways to handle things, and that is a lesson I have taken with me ever since my days in Little League.
In sales, you are not going to get every sale. However, there is a right way and wrong way to end your call when you don't get the sale. Be gracious, be courteous, be polite, make yourself useful to the client and don't forget to smile. You see just because you didn't make the sale today doesn't mean your prospect won't switch to your services in the future - relationships end all the time, and you want to be the first thought in the prospect's mind when they do! I used to work with a salesman who would say, 'Have a nice life!' when he didn't make the sale...this is an extreme case but anything short of gracious won't put you in a good position for when they need your product or service. Your prospects are watching how you react when you don't make the sale even if you don't realize it.
So when you don't make the sale 'lose' with style, grace and class and you just might get the sale next year! By the way, Chester congrats once again! You are a true memory champion and should be very proud of your crown! Great job!
Go for More this Week!
Ron White
PS - Today's issue is going out to more than 81,564 weekly subscribers. If you enjoy this week's edition and find it to be valuable, then if you would do me the favor of forwarding it to your friends, family and associates, it would be very much appreciated. If they would like to subscribe, have them send an email to: ronwhite@yoursuccessstore.com
In This Issue.....
1. Killing the Giant when He Is 3 Feet Tall by Ron White
2. Quotes of the Week
3. Expose Yourself to No and Not Now to Get to Yes by Jeffrey Gitomer
4. If you are in sales or want to improve your overall results, please
review...
5. More Information
1. Killing the Giant when He Is 3 Feet Tall by Ron White
The salesperson who makes excuses might say:
'They said our price was too high'
'It was too far for them to drive.'
'They wanted it in blue.'
'They said the competition had a better product.'
Every salesperson has an excuse for why they don't make the sale. It is only the professional sales person who will, after the call, evaluate what took place and decide what he could have done better to have made the sale.
So the next time you get one of the objections above or another realize that often times it is your fault that it came up in the first place.
Let me ask you this – If you had to fight a nine foot tall 230 pound giant with 15% body fat would you rather do it when he was three feet tall and growing or when he was nine feet tall and indestructible?
When you allow a prospect to verbalize an objection such as, 'Your price is too high' all of the sudden the giant (or objection) has gone from being three feet tall and a thought in the prospects mind to being verbalized and a real nine foot tall giant!
When a prospect verbalizes an objection it becomes real to them and much harder to overcome. Therefore, the best way to handle the objections is before they are verbalized or put another way – when they are three feet tall.
Sit down and list all of your common objections and then weave the answers to these objections into your sales presentations before the customer has a chance to say them out loud.
For example, I often promote my seminars by speaking around Dallas at sales meetings for different companies. When I first got started at this – years ago – I would often hear the objection at the end, 'Let me know when you have one a little closer to me. This is too far to drive.' Wham! Just like that the door was closed. Nothing I could say at that point would make the sale because they were allowed to say the objection and make it real.
So since I knew this was an objection that I was going to get at offices far away from my event - I would weave into my presentation before they could bring it up, 'You know you are fortunate to be as close to this seminar as you are – we have people driving as far as 100 miles just to be here!' Bam! Just like that you have eliminated the distance objection. You killed the giant when he was three feet tall. It will be much harder for the prospect to verbalize this objection now that you have already addressed it.
What are your common objections? Price? Distance? Color?
Figure out which objections that you seem to be getting over and over and figure out a way to weave the answer into your presentation before they can become real to the prospect.
If it is price you might say, 'The quality of this product is actually going to save you money. Because of the high quality it will last you years longer than a cheaper model and will actually save you money.' If you have the life expectancy of your product you might figure it out down to the penny how much this product will save you over its lifetime because it lasts so long.
Regardless of what your common objections are – it is your responsibility to kill the giant when he is three feet tall. When he has been verbalized and grown to a nine foot tall giant you life is going to be much harder.
Get a pen and paper and start listing the objections you heard this week and let's get about killing some three feet tall giants!
Ron White
If you are in sales or want to improve your overall results, please review this special letter today -
http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/sales
2. Quotes of The Week
WINNING
"All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else." -- Vince Lombardi
"Winners are people with a definite purpose in life." -- Denis Waitley
"Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." -- General George S. Patton
"You can't be a winner if you're a whiner... wiener." -- Jeffrey Gitomer
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle -- victorious." -- Vince Lombardi
"Winning in life is more than just money... it's about winning on the inside...and knowing that you have played the game of life with all you had... and then some." -- Doug Firebaugh
"It seems to me that it's actually harder to invent excuses than it is to be successful." -- Jeffrey Gitomer
"Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt
"When building a team, I always search first for people who love to win. If I can't find any of those, I look for people who hate to lose." -- H. Ross Perot
"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" -- Vince Lombardi
"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out." -- Ronald Reagan
"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." -- Vince Lombardi
"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." -- Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower
"Don't be content with doing only you duty. Do more than you duty. Its the horse that finishes a neck ahead that wins the race." -- Andrew Carnegie
"The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." -- Vince Lombardi
"No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves." -- Dwight Eisenhower
"Victory belongs to the most persevering." -- Napoleon Bonaparte
3. Expose Yourself to No and Not Now to Get to Yes by Jeffrey Gitomer
97% of all sales are not made on the first call. It takes five to ten exposures (follow-ups) to a prospect to make the first sale. The prospect may not actually say "no" each time, but each time you follow-up and the prospect doesn't buy, he's saying: "not now, buddy; do something else for me; I'm still shopping around; I haven't met with my partner; try again later; in short, you haven't sold me yet".
As a professional salesperson you better have what it takes to persevere through the follow-up process and not quit. Be willing to put forth the effort to get to the last "no," or consider taking a job in a warehouse with a salary.
Here are some follow-up guidelines to ensure early closing success...
• Know the real reasons your prospect wants your product.
• Know the real reasons your prospect does not want your product.
• Know your prospects hot buttons (things you think will make the prospect buy), and work with them in constructing your follow-up plan.
• Present new information relative to the sale each time you call or visit.
• Be creative in your style and presentation manner.
• Be sincere about your desire to help the customer first, and earn the commission second.
• Be direct in your communication. Beating around the bush will only frustrate the prospect (and probably cause him to buy elsewhere). Answer all questions. Don't patronize the prospect.
• Be friendly. People like to buy from friends.
• Use humor...Be funny. People love to laugh. Making your prospect laugh is a great way to establish common ground and rapport.
• When in doubt, sell the prospect for her reasons, not yours.
• Don't be afraid to ask for the sale each time.
(IF YOU ARE CREATIVE, HELPFUL, AND SINCERE IN YOUR FOLLOW-UPS, THE PROSPECT WILL NOT PERCEIVE YOU AS A SALES HOUND).
If there were a formula for following up it would be... their reasons + new information + creative + sincere + direct + friendly + humor = SALE... but there isn't an exact formula. Every follow-up is different, and elements from the above guidelines must be chosen as called for.
Here are a few lead-in lines you might try so that you don't feel uneasy about how to start the conversation...
• I discovered something that I believe to be an important factor in your decision...
• I'm just faxed you a letter from a customer who had an experience like yours...
• Something new has occurred that I thought you would like to know about...
• There has been a change in status...
• I was thinking about you, and called to see if you found about...
Don't say "I called to see if you got my letter, proposal, info or sample...", it sounds dumb... and it gives the prospect a way out. If he doesn't want to talk to you he'll say, "No, I never got it." Where does that leave you? Nowhere. Why not try: "I sent you some (name the stuff) the other day and I wanted to go over a couple of things with you personally, because they weren't self-explanatory..."
Some salespeople fear that they're "bugging" the prospect if they call too often. If you feel that way it's for two reasons:
1. You haven't established enough rapport and have limited access.
2. Your follow-ups are about selling and not about helping.
It's likely you won't bug the prospect if... He's a salesperson himself; you have something new, creative, or funny to say; you're short and to the point; he's genuinely interested in your product or service; he returns your calls right away; or, he likes you.
It's likely you will bug the prospect if... You call more than three times without a returned call; you ask dumb or pushy questions (probably because you didn't listen well in the first place); you are perceived as insincere; you exert pressure too soon or too often; or, you are in any way rude to the prospect or anyone on his staff.
Follow-up is another word for sale. Your ability to follow-up will determine your success in sales. Ask any professional salesperson the secret for success, he or she will answer... persistence.
Jeffrey Gitomer
If you are in sales or want to improve your overall results, please review this special letter today -
http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/sales
4. If you are in sales or want to improve your overall results, please review...
If you're in sales, and you're interested in supercharging your earning power, then we've got GREAT news for you!
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Learn:
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- How to ask for referrals and get so many quality leads you'll find yourself closing sale after sale in record time.
- How to develop nerves of steel and never get rattled during a sales presentation.
- How to make more sales in less time through time management.
- How to get your customers to sell for you.
And more!
To learn more, go to http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/sales or call 877-929-0439.
5. More Information
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