“If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”. Abraham Maslow, perhaps more widely recognized for his Hierarchy of Needs theory (remember the pyramid?), left us with this nugget expressing the importance of outside-the-box thinking. The proverbial golden hammer then, is any tool, technology, paradigm, snake oil, buzzword or similar whose proponents enthusiastically sing its praises. They predict that it will solve multiple problems, including some for which it is obviously not suitable. Likewise, a literal golden hammer looks highly impressive but is no better (and quite possibly worse) for hitting things than a hammer made of cheaper materials.
So what’s the golden hammer in the selling process? The close.
In the film Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin played the role of Blake, an overbearing and abusive sales manager who barked out some “golden hammer wisdom” to his subservient sales team, “A – always, B – be, C- closing, always be closing, always be closing”. Many sales organizations still embrace this dark side. It attaches the seller’s self-worth to their ability to manipulate seemingly unsuspecting buyers to submit to the seller’s will for the sake of a sale.
Geoffrey James lists some closes that are, sadly, still taught to this day. While entertaining to read, he accurately describes them as ineffective in his Sales Machine blog:
- The assumptive close. Ask the customer to make a meaningless decision that assumes a decision has been made. Example: “Do you want that in the hunter green or the hunter orange?”
- The flyfish close. Promise something valuable then take it away if a decision isn’t made now. Example: “We have a special offer – a 15 percent discount – but only if you decide to buy now.”
- The puppy-dog close. Let the customer try the product for free in the hopes the customer will fall in love with it. Example: “We’ll give you the product free for your evaluation and only charge you if you don’t return it.
- The reverse close. Ask a customer who’s saying “no” to a question intended to elicit a “no” that actually means “yes.” Example: “Is there any reason that you wouldn’t do business with our company?”
Buyers see it coming a mile away. Whatever deposits you’ve built up in the “trust bank account” get erased by withdrawals in the exact increments buyers view them as manipulative. Jeffrey Gitomer said, “People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy”. The misguided notion that successful sellers know how to close their buyers – is not only a myth, it’s a perfect example of why people don’t like to be sold to. Although it may work for a one-time transaction, closing tactics serve as a road block to a long-term
trusting relationship.
So how should sellers empower the buyer to a decision? Here are three places to start:
1. Trade the hammer for a stethoscope – Diagnose the patient before you treat. That means investing the time up front, in what I describe as the research and discovery stage of the selling process. It goes beyond understanding their needs, but to understanding their wants. Attempt to learn what the buyer believes to be important and/or emotional.
2. Create value - Value creation is a matter of perception. Whether you have the best, lowest, most, you-fill-in-the-blank – offering; the only thing that matters is lies in the buyer’s perception. Until they are convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs, they are not ready to move ahead with a commitment. Pushing them before they’re ready will only trigger a withdrawal in the trust bank account.
3. Think next step -View the decision to buy as a series of small decisions to move forward along the buying cycle. Asking their permission to go to the next step is perfectly appropriate, but do so only after you’ve “checked-in” with the buyer and they are ready to go there. In the spirit of empowering the buyer, you might ask them, “What would you recommend as the next step?”
From a 30,000 foot view, resist the pressure to attach your self-worth to the outcome of the sale. On the contrary, detach from the short-term result – make the relationship the sale.
By taking your foot off the gas pedal, rather than pressing down harder as you progress through the buyer’s decision-making process, you empower the buyer, increase trust and build enduring success. Leave the golden hammer in the toolbox.
Posted May 7, 2008
The Lens with the Best View
“You see it your way and I see it mine, but we both see it slippin’ away.” The now legendary lyrics performed by the Eagles from The Best of My Love soundtrack paints a sad picture of a union once bound by love now separating into two distinct entities.
At the core of its message, The Best of My Love relates the breakup of two people who can’t seem to see things the same way. Their inability to understand the other’s perspective has led to irreconcilable differences.
How does this melancholic classic impart a lesson on selling?
Both parties see things from their own lens due to their unique experiences and backgrounds. “You see it your way and I see it mine” transcends romantic relationships. In the business world, that could mean alienating a buyer. However, if we set down our own lens and walk around to the buyers side to see their view, we’ll understand their situation with more clarity and exponentially increase our ability to bring them value.
I recently found myself in the middle of a perplexing dialogue between my web designer and my printer. The printer ran some business card proofs using a graphic file he received from the web designer. The colors on the designer’s image only vaguely resembled the proof samples. The printer claimed it was a “design error” and as you might expect the web designer claimed the miscue resulted from an improperly calibrated printing press. This situation had all the potential of spiraling out of control.
I decided to take a trip to the print shop to see if I could help close the gap. Sure enough, the monitor in the print shop displayed entirely different colors than the same file viewed on my laptop. That surprised me – yet that’s precisely the point. We need to abandon preconceptions of our own views and be willing to see things through our customer’s lens before we can view the complete picture. Simple, right? Not really.
Most sellers are not trained to see things through the buyers lens. Cold calling techniques, negotiating tactics, and assumptive closes are all examples of sales methods steeped in seller-focused activities, often packaged as customer-focused. These are all things sellers do to buyers; they are all designed to push buyers through the sales funnel.
Seeing things from the other person’s lens doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, it just means you understand their view. If we were to re-write the lyrics to produce a happier outcome, Don Henley would sing, “you see it your way and I see why you see it your way too.”
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Posted May 2, 2008
Trust-Based Selling Seminar
Sarasota, FL
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Webinar Course
Trust Roadmap Selling™ Program
High profits through trusting relationship
Have you had it with talk about recessions, depressions, foreclosures, financial meltdowns, frozen credit markets, and bailouts?
Granted, selling can get more challenging when people are scared and credit is tight. But, make no mistake…people still buy!
In 2007 the size of the United States economy (as measured in terms of gross domestic product, or GDP) was in excess of $13.8 trillion! Even if the size of the economy declines by two percent (which was the average total contraction “from peak to trough” during the ten downturns since World War II), we’re still talking about an economy in excess of $13.5 trillion!
If $13+ trillion in products and services are being purchased, the same amount of products and services are being sold. Are YOU getting your (un)fair share of these sales?
What’s holding you back?
If you only started selling during the past five or six years, you have only sold during an “up” market. Perhaps there are some gaps in your selling skills and disciplines.
Selling in a “down” market presents its challenges…and opportunities. Now, more than even, relationships are critical to retaining and acquiring new business, in particular, those relationships based on trust.
This 6-week course is the perfect way to jumpstart your sales in 2009. The Trust Roadmap Selling™ Program is a fresh approach to selling that emphasizes trust as the key ingredient to a recipe for success.
1 What’s the financial impact of trust?
- Understand how developing relationships based on trust directly impact revenues and profit. How can we accelerate the trust process?
2 How to create customer value
- What’s the value equation? What are the “intangible components of value”? What are the 2 factors to screen all information by to create value?
3 How to listen to build trust, not make the sale
- What are the 4 factors of trust and how can we apply them to increase sales? How does listening to build trust differ than traditional listening?
4 Learn the 5 stages of the trust selling cycle
- How do buyers make decisions and where do most sellers go wrong? What should we say on the initial contact? How do we open the first appointment? How can we build trust and create value throughout the selling process?
5 Why are activities more important than ratios?
- Most selling methodologies put their emphasis on phases to predict close ratios…we review the activities that help sellers track and measure “real” sales results. It’s not the distance you’ve traveled but the quality of the trip.
6 Sales Simulation: Live and Personal
- Participants bring their real world situations in for a lively discussion to save accounts or close new business while reinforcing the skills and principles.
When: Thursdays @ 4 pm/3 pm central
November 7 – December 19 (except Thanksgiving week)
Where: Anywhere you have web access
Investment: $180 (Regularly $295 or 33% savings)
Registration also includes:
- Unlimited access to the webinar recording
- A PDF of the presentation slides
- The Trust Roadmap Sales Funnel Analysis Excel Tool
- A 20-minute audience Q&A with Mark Slatin during each session
Need one more reason to choose this True Colors seminar? Our guarantee. It’s simple. If you’re not happy with the value and benefits you gain from this webinar course, we’ll refund your tuition in full or arrange for you to attend another True Colors course without paying another penny.
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