Mistake #1: Center the conversation around yourself and what you have to offer

In the old approach, you introduce yourself, explain what you do, and suggest a benefit or feature of your product. And then you close your eyes and pray that the other person will be interested

Unfortunately, the moment you stop talking you usually hear, “Sorry, I’m busy,” or “Sorry, I’m not interested.”

You see, you’ve started your cold call by talking about your world and what you have to offer. But realistically, most people aren’t all that interested in you. When you talk about your company and your product, it’s just another advertisement to them. You haven’t engaged them, so they often just “turn the page.”

Prospects are much more interested in themselves and what’s important to them. So if you start the conversation by focusing on their world, they’re more likely to interact with you.

So instead, talk about an issue or problem they may need solving. Focus on them rather than on what you have to offer. And see where it takes you.

Mistake #2: Be confident they should buy your product or service

In the old cold calling mindset, you’re taught to focus on the sale and be completely confident that what you’re offering is something the other person should buy.

The problem with this approach is that you haven’t asked them to determine this along with you. So think about it – in the old mindset, you’re really deciding for someone else what’s good for them. I know this isn’t intended, but that’s exactly what comes across to your prospects.

So rather than being full of confidence and enthusiasm, stop for a minute and think about the other individual. Relax into a real conversation instead of moving into a persuasive strategy or sales pitch. Put yourself in their shoes and invite them to explore along with you whether what you have to offer is a match for them.

Others really can distinguish the difference. You’re inviting them to see if you might be able to help them solve a problem. This makes for a much better connection right at the beginning, and you’ll get that immediate rejection reaction much less.

Mistake #3: When someone brings up an objection, try to overcome it

You know, one of the reasons cold calling is so difficult is that sometimes you may not be very familiar with the other person and their business. When you make that first call, you don’t know very much about their issues, problems, budget, and time constraints.

Chances are, not everyone is going to benefit by your product or service.

So realistically, your company or product isn’t going to be a match for everyone. And yet, when someone brings up an objection (“we don’t have the budget for that,” etc.), the old cold calling mindset trains you to “overcome,” “bypass,” or “override.”

But when you do that, you put the other person on the defensive. Something they’ve said is being dismissed. And here’s where rejection can happen very suddenly.

So it’s much better to listen to their concerns and continue to explore whether what you’re offering makes sense for them. There are some wonderful phrases you can use that validate their viewpoint without closing the conversation.

So now you’ve discovered the 3 major cold calling mistakes people often make. See if you can shift away from those old self-sabotaging mindsets. When you do, you’ll notice that people will engage you much more, and the immediate rejection you’ve grown so accustomed to will happen much less.

by David Ford from Bill Bishop’s Sales Closing Power! – http://www.salesclosingpower.com

Get your free chapter from http://www.salesclosingpower.com

http://www.youtube.com/salesclosingpower

Questions are the only thing that can be answered. You can’t answer a statement. You can reply to it, or ignore it, or argue with it, but you can’t answer it.

Example: I just made a statement in the last paragraph. What’s the answer? There isn’t one. You can’t answer a statement. And along those lines:

You Can’t Answer An Objection!

It breaks my heart to hear someone giving sales training who tells his students to “answer an objection.” You can’t.

An objection is not a question. It’s a statement. That’s why everything you have been taught about overcoming objections — that is, answering them — is wrong.

The only thing that can be answered is a question. Think about that.

Earlier we agreed your job is to sell — which means to close, which means to get a favorable buying decision, which means to get a “yes” answer.

I told you that was a clue. We’re clued in now that to get a “yes” answer out of our customer we’re going to have to ask him a closing question — because he can only answer a question!
Since he cannot answer a statement, you cannot close with a statement!

This means anything you have been taught as a close that is not a question is not a close. Not a very good one, anyway.

The first rule of questions is questions demand answers; so if you want an answer, ask a question. Thus, the second rule of questions is:

Questions Set The Topic Of Discussion

They are the focus point of the discussion, which means they can determine the direction a conversation will take. And a sales presentation is a conversation, after all. You already know asking questions is one way customers gain control of the presentation.

Asking questions is the only way you’ll get it back, and that leads us to the third rule:

He Who Asks The Questions Will Control The Presentation

Now relate this rule back to the rule of closing that said:

He Who Controls The Presentation Shall Be The Seller

So if you ask the questions, you’re in control. And when you’re in control, you’re the seller. If you want to be the seller, you need to ask the questions.

Here’s the fourth rule of questions:

Answers To Questions Must Be Appropriate

You’ll understand this better as we proceed through some more examples.

There are many types of questions, but for our purposes we can effectively whittle them down to just two: informational questions and yes-or-no questions.

An informational question seeks information as the answer and gets information as the answer.
If you ask someone his name, he won’t say, “Yes,” he’ll give you his name. If you ask the lady next to you on the plane what time it is, she’ll give you information.

Informational questions are good for one thing (surprise): extracting or gathering information.
But they are DEATH to use when closing! You’ll see why.

Another thing you need to know about informational questions is, despite the above examples, the answers are seldom predictable. In contrast, a yes-or-no question only gets one of two answers.
If I ask a person if his name is George Washington, I’ll almost certainly get “no” as a response.
Yes-or-no questions are excellent for closing because they get either a yes or a no response, and we’re looking for a “yes” answer, remember?

Right now you’re thinking, Well great, if I close with a yes-or-no question, I stand a good chance of getting a “no.”

And you’re right. But I haven’t finished telling you the good news about yes-or-no questions: A yes-or-no question can be phrased in such a way that you can virtually eliminate the answer you don’t want!

And if you can eliminate the possibility of getting a “no” to your closing question, then you’ve got a MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM!

Let me tell you a story that illustrates this point. You’ll like it.

Once upon a time a young monk arrived at the monastery. He asked the abbot if it was okay for him to smoke his pipe during the evening prayers in the garden.
The abbot replied, “No, you can’t smoke while you pray.”
The new monk got settled in his room, and soon it was time for evening prayers. As he was walking through the garden with the other monks, silently saying his prayers, he saw an older monk walking towards him puffing away on a pipe.
The young monk stopped the older one and said, “Brother, I see you’re smoking your pipe.
But when I asked the abbot if I could smoke while I prayed, he said no.”
The older monk smiled and said, “Ah, you see, my son, it is all in how you phrase the question. You asked if you could smoke while you prayed. I asked if I could pray while I smoked.”

That older monk was a sales professional! He phrased his question in such a way that the possibility of a “no” answer was eliminated. You’ll learn how, too.

So … informational questions get unpredictable information as the answer; yes-or-no questions get only “yes” or “no” as an answer.

This is vital, because if you close with a yes-or-no question, you know you’ll only get one of two answers.

An informational question is guaranteed to get you information as an answer, and that information is likely to be “let me think about it.”

Well, I promised you the MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM cannot get that kind of answer, and now you know why.

The MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM is a yes-or-no question, so it can’t get information as the answer. And since it is phrased to eliminate the possibility of a no answer, that leaves only one possible response: “Yes!”

Now that we have a few more rules as building blocks, let’s apply them in the closing situation. The best way to illustrate them in action is by using examples of other closes — closes that have been killing your sales.

Please don’t get upset if some of what follows sounds disturbingly familiar. Many of these old techniques were ones I used myself for years before wondering if there was a better way.
It was annoying to be told by the dozens of sales professionals I interviewed just how bad these so-called closes really were.

And when I got annoyed, I got mad and tried to fight back by defending these techniques.
The professionals just laughed and pounced all over them. Finally I surrendered and opened my mind to new ideas. Now I’m not mad, I’m glad. I had a closing problem, and the pros showed me the solution to my problem.

So if I happen to come down hard on your favorite close, please don’t get mad — at least not at me.
If you want to get mad, get mad at the 417 professionals who contributed their expertise to this book — none of whom makes less than $150,000 per year in commissions. But you’ll find, as I did, it’s hard to argue with success.

Let’s be brutally honest–any close you’ve learned that is not a question is NOT A CLOSE!
Perhaps the most popular close in this category is the Assumptive Close. I was the world’s biggest assumptive closer until 417 pros proved to me it was basically worthless.

Some said the Assumptive Close is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on salespeople. Others said it was invented by prospects so they couldn’t be closed! Some said it was a daydream, and some just said it was wishful thinking.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the Assumptive Close, here’s how it’s supposed to work:
The salesperson adopts a positive attitude. Fine. Everything he says or does assumes the customer will buy. Fine again. The salesperson goes through the actions of writing an order or contract and simply waits to see if the customer stops him. If he’s not stopped, it’s assumed a sale has been made.

The theory is great, but it doesn’t work too well in reality.

There’s obviously nothing wrong with a positive attitude, and I agree you should assume your customer will buy. And sometimes the Assumptive Close works. But most of the time it doesn’t.
What I (and the pros) disagree with is the assumption the prospect will close himself.
You just cross your fingers, adopt a positive attitude and hope that the prospect will say, “Hey, is that a sales contract? Great! Where do I sign?”

Well, that is a daydream, and while some dreams come true, many won’t. Your customer is not going to close himself; that’s your job.

It’s why you’re called a salesperson and are paid a commission.

Another point about the Assumptive Close is you’re just supposed to begin by writing the order and hope the customer doesn’t stop you. Because if he doesn’t, then we assume he’s bought. But one has to wonder how this takes place. Where’s the transition between presentation and close? I don’t see any. What I do see is scared time, big time. I see the prospect thinking, “Uh oh, is that a contract?” Decision time! Pain time! Fight or flight!

Remember we agreed earlier asking the prospect to part with his money is going to be scary. It’s true a weak prospect will sometimes go along with it. He’ll sign the contract and might even give you a deposit. But just wait until tomorrow when you’re not around to intimidate him with your assumptions.

Buyer’s remorse kicks in, and he calls to cancel the deal. The sale you thought you’d closed wasn’t closed after all. It’s easy to understand why: He never made a commitment; he never said yes. And the reason is because you never gave him the chance to say yes.

As I said, the Assumptive Close works sometimes. Dumb luck does work sometimes. But sales professionals don’t depend on luck. They replace luck with smart selling skills.

Let’s look at a couple of other popular closes and see why they’re keeping you from making sales.
One is the Minor Point Close. At least this one is on the right track, because it involves a question.
When you use the Minor Point Close, you are supposed to ask some trivial question — for example, “Ms. Customer, which color do you prefer?” And if the customer selects a color you have, you may have a sale.

So far, so good. The bad news is maybe she won’t select a color you have. And, worst of all, the Minor Point Close involves an informational question, to which the easy answer from a customer who senses decision time is, “Well, I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

Again, the Minor Point Close works sometimes, but only if you’re lucky. It’s not a professional sales tool. Using an informational question to close is asking for trouble.

Sometimes the Minor Point Close is actually tweaked into a yes-or-no type
question — another step in the right direction.

The bad news is, it can’t be phrased in such a way as to eliminate the possibility of a no answer. So at best you’ve got a fifty-fifty chance. Once again, luck is the deciding factor.

Here’s another example of how the Minor Point Close fails, even when phrased as a yes-or-no question. Picture an insurance salesman trying a yes-or-no minor point question. “Mr. Customer, don’t you agree the investment qualities of this policy are generous?” And the prospect answers, “Well, not really. I’ve seen better.” Or “Well, I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

Now … if you’re paying attention, you just realized something. The salesman asked a yes-or-no question but got an informational response. Doesn’t that violate our rule that says answers to questions must be appropriate?

Not really — because there’s actually a third type of question called the opinionated question. It’s really an informational question disguised as a yes-or-no question.

When the salesman asked the prospect if the investment qualities of the policy were generous, he wasn’t asking a yes-or-no question, he was asking for an opinion — an informational question.
Fortunately we don’t ask too many opinionated questions. But if you’re ever in doubt as to the true nature of a yes-or-no question, try this test.

A true yes-or-no question can only get “yes” or “no” as the appropriate answer. If it can get an answer such as “I don’t know” or even “maybe,” then it is not a yes-or-no question; it’s an opinionated question.

As I said, it doesn’t happen too often so don’t worry about it.

Furthermore, it doesn’t affect the MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM, which is a true yes-or-no question — phrased, of course, to eliminate the possibility of a no answer.

So, while you can improve on the Minor Point Close by turning it into a yes-or-no question, you can’t eliminate the possibility of a no answer. “Mr. Customer, do you like the generous investment qualities of this policy?” Mr. Customer: “NO!” Bad luck strikes again.

Let’s take a quick look at another popular close, sometimes called the Ben Franklin Close. It’s more accurately known as the Weighing Close or the Balance Sheet Close, because Mr. Franklin didn’t call it a close. He was wise enough to know it’s not a question and therefore can’t get an answer. He simply used it as a logical process to weigh the pros and cons of certain choices.

And logic, as we know, has very little to do with buying.

This close works like this: You take a sheet of paper and draw a vertical line down the center, giving you two columns. Above the first column you write REASONS FOR, and above the second, REASONS AGAINST.

Then you begin summarizing the benefits of your product, the REASONS FOR, in the first column, perhaps listing a dozen or even more.

Finally you ask your customer to fill in REASONS AGAINST in the other column. Presumably he only comes up with a couple and immediately shouts, “Wow! I gotta have this product! Write the order!”

Only it rarely works like that. The truth is, logic doesn’t sell. Emotion sells.

You’d be amazed at how many customers look at the two columns, with 20 REASONS FOR and two REASONS AGAINST, and say, “Well, this is interesting. Let me think about it.”

While there is nothing wrong with using this technique to weigh factors when you’re making a decision, there are two problems with using it as a close. One, it relies on logic. Two, it doesn’t employ any questions, let alone a yes-or-no question. It really still depends on luck, and on the prospect closing himself, which he is unlikely to do.

Now, some salespeople augment this technique with a question: “Mr. Customer, the facts are self-evident, aren’t they?”

Unfortunately, that’s an opinionated question, to which the answer can be, “Well, maybe. Let me think about it.” Still, adding a question is a step in the right direction.

Now let’s look at the Alternative Choice Close. This close is about a hundred years old. It’s so old that prospects see it coming a mile away.

No doubt in its day it was effective and a good early step on the way to professional salesmanship, but today’s customers are more sophisticated. Not only will they see this close coming, they’ll quite likely think you’re insulting their intelligence if you try it on them.
And that will make them mad. Oops.

I’m sure you know this close, but let’s review it to see why it not only doesn’t work, but probably kills four out of five opportunities to make the sale.

What you do is offer the customer his choice between two alternatives — either one he selects is fine with you. An example:

“Mr. Customer, would you prefer the red truck or the blue one?”

Obviously, either choice indicates that he has bought. Or: “Mr. Customer, would you prefer delivery on Monday or Tuesday?”

Again, either day is fine with you. Sale completed.

This close at least uses a question, so it’s on the right track, but it falls down helplessly after that. It uses the unpredictable informational question to which information — often bad information for you — is the appropriate answer. You cannot get a yes or no answer to this type of question. In fact, the Alternative Choice Close uses a pair of informational questions. Bad news.

I’m sure you’ve already deduced what’s wrong with this close, but let me explain anyway. The prospect is NOT limited to selection of one or the other of the alternatives you’ve suggested. He can answer ,“Well, neither one, actually.” Or, of course, the infamous: “I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

Let me tell you a little story about the Alternative Choice Close, one you might find amusing.

Imagine a guy in a singles bar who asks the woman next to him “Your place or mine?” Her answer? You guessed it: “Neither one, creep. Buzz off.”

As you can see, most traditional closes really rely on luck, and luck happens just often enough to keep these dinosaurs around.

But I assume you’re not a dinosaur, since you’re reading this. Time to move to the future, and the MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM — a simple question to which there is only one answer: “Yes!”
AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK!

Yours in sales,

See http://www.salesclosingpower.com for your FREE chapter on how to close sales

You may have learned how emotions are involved in the buying process — indeed, how emotions control the buying process —and how they can make or break your chances for making a sale.

Now we’re going to learn about closing and the MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM!
We’re also going to learn a vital skill for getting to the point where the MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM will work. To get to that point, you have to be able to:

Control The Presentation

After all, all sales must have a presentation. You can’t just walk up and greet a potential customer and immediately try to close him!

Getting to a closing point is a problem faced by ALL salespeople, because the customer so often winds up controlling the presentation with objections.

If the customer controls the presentation, you’ll never have a chance at getting to a closing point. No close: no sale. Not even a MILLION DOLLAR CLOSE TM will work if you don’t get a chance to use it.

A salesperson’s job is to sell. Period.

Oh, you might have a lot of other duties like prospecting and product training seminars and cold calling, but your job is to sell, because that’s the only thing you get paid for. Go into your boss’s office on payday and say “Boss, I made 27 powerful presentations and 30 cold calls this week. Pay me,” and I’ll wager you won’t get a dime.

So a salesperson’s job is to sell, and selling is closing, we know that, too. But what is a close?

The complicated answer might be:

A Close Is A Favorable Buying Decision

But what does that boil down to? It means you ask your customer to buy and he says, “Yes.” Not “let me think about it,” but simply “yes.”

So, a closing point means getting to that “yes” point. But you won’t get there if the customer is in control of the presentation.

What does “control” mean? Control means the presentation is headed in a certain direction. You want it to head towards a closing point, but the customer — consciously or subconsciously — wants it to head away from that painful decision-making point.

What’s that? You thought prospective customers just wanted to avoid buying what you were selling?

Not so, and if you don’t believe me, the next time you’re having trouble with objections, just say, “Okay Mr. Customer, I’ll tell you what — you can have this product for free.” Want to bet all his objections disappear?

Rest assured your customer does want what you’re selling; he’s simply trying to avoid the emotional pain of making what could turn out to be the wrong decision. So he tries to head the presentation away from that decision-making point. This brings up an important rule:

He Who Controls The Presentation Shall Be The Seller

If your customer has control, he’ll avoid pain and will steer the presentation away from a decision. He’ll sell you a feeble excuse for not buying.

Excuse? Yes. The excuse is really an objection. Soon you’ll learn that, with one exception, all objections are only excuses used to postpone a decision.

When I say he’ll block the sale with a feeble excuse, I mean he’ll block the sale with what you’ve been calling an objection. Objections are defensive weapons, remember? They are what the customer hits you with when he’s mad or scared and is fighting you. Objections are one of the two ways a customer has to steal control away from you.

That’s right: Customers have two ways of stealing control, and one of them is by raising an objection. Let me give you an example. Suppose you’re giving a presentation. Your customer is in a neutral state and is just sitting there listening.

But inadvertently you say something that scares him. When he’s scared he has only two options: fight or flight. So he fights you by offering an objection.
The presentation is now headed away from a closing point. You were headed in one direction, but the customer objected. This heads the presentation in another direction.
You’re forced to address his objection before you can get back on track. So objections are one way customers have of stealing control. Unless you can take back control, he’ll become the seller.

I’m going to show you in a moment how to take back control, but for right now I want you to understand he who is in control shall be the seller.

The second way customers gain control is by asking questions.

Let’s say you’re selling real estate, and you’re showing a home to a customer, walking from room to room. Suddenly he asks you about the size of the yard. You had control as long as he was neutral and was listening to you. Now, by raising a new topic, one he picked, he has gained control.

And if he stays in control, he’ll soon be talking about money long before you’re ready to — before you’ve had a chance to establish any value. And then he’ll tell you he needs to “think about it” and he’ll leave.

He became the seller and sold you a NO SALE.

Customers only gain control in two ways: by raising objections and asking questions.

Objections are a defense tactic used when the customer is mad or scared.

Questions, on the other hand, usually indicate interest and a neutral emotional state.

Questions are welcome as long as you understand the customer gets control with them.

Later on you’ll see how to regain control when your customer asks a question — and you’d better get it back, or he’s going to be the seller.

In my example about objections, I said the customer was in a neutral state while he was listening to you, but then got scared by something you told him and reacted by fighting — objecting. So what did you say that scared him?

Here’s a concept that’s axiomatic in selling:

If You Say It, It’s A Lie. If The Customer Says It, It’s True

Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but by and large customers suspect anything we salespeople tell them.

And salespeople certainly like to talk a lot at times, right? Most salespeople think if they have the first word, the last word, and every word in between, they’ll remain in control.

Okay, that will give you control, in a way, but only for as long as your customer stays neutral.
Sooner or later you’re going to say something you think is a buyer benefit, but which he doubts. Doubt equals suspicion, and suspicion equals fear. Your customer gets scared and fights back — and believe me, you won’t be able to talk fast enough to prevent it!

Let me give you a practical example of this concept. Imagine a photocopier salesman giving a demonstration. He thinks he must do a lot of telling, so his mouth is moving a mile a minute telling the customer how wonderful his copier is.

“It’s well-built, strong, made to last forever. Why, the frame alone weighs 150 pounds. Add the moving parts and cabinet and we have a sturdy 300-pound copier. Not in the same league as those flimsy, unreliable, lightweight machines you see. This machine will last and last.”
He punctuates his points by pounding on the copier, which doesn’t even budge.

Then the prospect turns to him and says, “I’m sorry, but this copier won’t work for me. I need a copier in my accounting office from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., then we will have to push it down the hall to the advertising department until 3:00, after which the drafting department needs it. We can’t push this monster all around the place.”

Of course the salesman thinks, Dang! He has mouthed off about all the wrong benefits, features that do absolutely nothing for his customer.

However, well-trained salesman that he is, he knows the next step is to overcome the objection!

Here he goes: “Oh, Mr. Customer, why didn’t you say so? I have a lightweight tabletop copier in my van that will suit your needs perfectly. It only weighs 55 pounds!”

To which the customer replies — you guessed it — “Well, I don’t want that one either! You just told me lightweight copiers are unreliable. I don’t want your bottom-of-the-line model.”

And there we are: The customer used the salesman’s own words against him. What the salesman said contradicted himself, so it was obviously a lie. The customer now has complete control of the presentation, and the salesman is in deep water indeed.

You might think, Well gosh, I’ve got to tell the customer about the benefits of my product. If he doesn’t know what I can do for him, how can I solve his problem?

And you’re correct that the customer must see you have a solution to his problem. But telling him so doesn’t make it so! Remember:

Telling Doesn’t Equal Selling

Telling does not gain you control. Telling often scares the prospect because he is naturally inclined to distrust what you say.

The more you tell, the less he trusts! And the more you tell, the more ammunition you give him to turn the presentation around and take control. It can be one tiny flawed detail in an otherwise brilliant presentation, but it’s enough!

This example was classic. The customer turned the salesman’s own words into an objection: “If heavy copiers are good, as you just told me, then light ones must be bad. So don’t try to sell me that lightweight copier, even though I told you that’s what I need!”
The more you tell, the more ammunition you give your customer to take control and move the presentation away from a close.

Fortunately, you can stop that process short and regain control. You’re going to learn how to tell less and sell more. In fact, you’ll learn how to get your customer to do the telling.
Remember, if he says it, it’s the truth. So how do you regain control once it is slipping away from you? Well, what is one of the ways the customer gains it?
That’s right: by asking questions.

You’ll see how true this is as we explore some facts about questions you were never taught in school.

We’ve even developed rules about questions to help you get control and keep it. These rules will be additional building blocks for you. As we progress you’ll start to see those blocks come together and form an unshakeable foundation that will make you nothing but money!
Ready? Okay: You know how certain things just naturally go together? Peanut butter and jelly; a horse and saddle; movies and popcorn; love and marriage.

Well, here are two more things that go together: questions and answers – more on this in my next article…

For your sales success,

Visit http://www.salesclosingpower.com for your FREE chapter on how to close sales.