“The Specialist” Sales and Management Training Blog

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Hello everybody,

I see that a lot of you are signing up for the FREE newsletter and that is great. Not only will you get special articles about sales and management, but I will also notify you when something big happens that I know you will want to know about. Remember the 1st 100 that sign up will get FREE recordings of “The Specialist” radio show. That’s something you don’t want to miss!

As you have grown accustomed to seeing, I had not only the opportunity to observe an experienced salesperson today but also the opportunity to demonstrate a VERY ADVANCED sales technique. 1st off the salesperson was so focused on doing good small talk that…

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Hi everybody,

It’s that time again.

Tonight I want to talk about “An Ounce Of Silence is worth A Pound of Explanation”! To often in sales you will see the young and experienced sales person talk themselves OUT OF THE SALE! The reason being is that when you are finished with your presentation you have to STOP talking and give the prospect time to digest what you have said. The sales persons that continue talking more times than not talk themselves out of the deal. When I am done with my presentation or just done with everything I had to say, it’s time to relax and see if what you said registered.

It is amazing to watch a true professional finish his presentation and just kick back and watch the prospect talk himself or herself into the sale. The worst that can happen if you button up is that the prospect may start to say something negative and you have plenty of time to counter with positive reinforcement. On the other hand if you don’t stop talking the prospect never gets to air his or her views and you might just miss the KEY to the sale. Sometimes I have sat for a full 2 to 3 minutes without saying a word. Is it unnerving? YOU BET! Is it effective? YOU BET!

Just remember, when you get to that critical part of the sale, “An Ounce Of Silence Is Worth A Pound Of Explanation”! Just a passing thought. I have run into several people that read this blog religiously and they continue to amaze me. When they are introduced to me they tell me almost with disbelief that the things in the blog that they have used actually WORK! Imagine that!

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

It’s me again! I have something very special for you tonight. “The Surprise Close”.

You see, most people are taught to do everything to close the person right on the spot. Never let them leave without closing them. I completely disagree with that philosophy. If you do statistical research on this you will find long term two things happen with this philosophy. First, the rate of cancellations are much much higher. Secondly, the amount of charge backs increase dramatically. I have never used a close in my entire career other than an assumptive close, or automatic close.

I have never had a problem letting the consumer digest everything and letting them think it over. In fact I have found that it is so unusual to approach the consumer that way that it has the same effect as reverse psychology. The customer is just not expecting that and consequently they appreciate you, your product, and your company that much more. I have legions of people that I have trained and they are amazed how it works.

Remember, opposites attract, and when you do the opposite what the consumer is expecting, they are attracted to you and your product much more. That is why I call it the “Surprise Close”. Not only is the consumer surprised, but the salesperson trying it for the 1st time is also surprised! Try it, ease up on the pressure and back off. Watch how fast they come back. Also remember, if the client cancels or doesn’t end up paying for the product, were they really CLOSED?

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

It seems like with all of your responses I’m kinda getting to feel like I know you. Now you have to promise that you keep me posted on your progress or lack of. Fair enough? Great!

Lets talk about a very simple advanced closing technique that really brings out the sincerity in you and transfers it into your prospect. Keep in mind that sincerity is one of the eight basics of success. The advanced closing technique is “Touch”.

I learned this incredible technique many years ago and boy did I see immediate results! When you are at a very sincere point in your presentation that is when you gently place your hand on the prospects shoulder while you deliver the key sentence. Try to remember the dramatic effect you felt when your coach, parent, minister or whomever put their hand on your shoulder and told you what a great job you had done. Remember that feeling? Well that is the same feeling except much greater when you include that technique with your prospect. WARNING, DO NOT do this if there is a married couple as your prospect. It takes years of practice to pull that off successfully. Also this is not a “touchy-feely” type thing.

AGAIN, you are gently putting your hand on the prospects shoulder only. You are not rubbing their shoulder. I started this posting clearly stating this was an advanced closing technique for sales and management. I hope you enjoy these postings as much as I do and it sure means a great deal for me to hear from you. Hope to hear from you soon.

“The Specialist”

I was privileged, as I so often I am, to get the opportunity to watch a very accomplished salesperson tonight, hence the topic of my posting changed just that quick.

This particular salesperson is light years ahead of his experience. Even though he made the sale, which netted him somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000, “The Specialist” couldn’t help but see a common error that so many new and ADVANCED salespeople make. While he had everything under control, the prospect asked him a question and he proceeded to explain his position and then finally answered their question. The problem with that is the order should have been reversed. Any time a prospect asks you a question always answer their question first, then go into your explanation.

Two things here…1st, sometimes if you just answer their question first, the reaction is such that you can see that no explanation is necessary. The prospect is happy and you don’t risk the chance of talking them out of the sale! 2nd, When a prospect asks you a question, they zone out until they hear the answer to THEIR QUESTION! All the explaining is for naught because they aren’t listening. They may “pretend” to be listening but their mind has left the building. Now they have lost interest in you, the subject, and consequently the sale. I always answer their question first while I am framing the answer to serve the ultimate goal of closing the prospect.

I hope you enjoyed the special bonus tip today and, as always, look forward to all your questions and comments.

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

I hope you are enjoying these blogs as much as I am. Today it is about “the picture show”. People only retain about 10% of what you say, so it is most important to bring them to the show! Yesterday those of you that read the blog will note that I stated the presentation was just a formality. The reason that that is true only for those of you that are most advanced is that when “The Specialist” gives a presentation or puts on the “show” everything is as near to perfect as possible. Now what I am going to share with you is way advanced stuff and for you beginner’s and intermediate salesperson’s this will give you a partial idea of how much room you have to grow. Isn’t it exciting!

When I am talking about “the show” I am speaking about the presentation, of course. Realizing that the client is only going to retain 10% of what I have to say, I must provide them with visual aids. Not product visual aids. For every word that comes out of my mouth, my facial expressions match that sentence. If it is funny, I laugh. If I am being sincere, my facial and body language will show sincerity. If I am disappointed, my facial expression will show just that. My face and shoulders and posture is an exact replica of what I am saying. In fact, for training purposes I have given complete presentations without speaking and the trainees could clearly see the picture like a silent movie.

My prospects get to SEE and HEAR the presentation at the same time. They will obviously retain more. By the way, that is the object! This takes hundreds of hours of work and practice. I even take it to another level and my voice inflection, which is by the way another one of the 8 basics of success, and incorporate my voice to match my facial expressions as well. Like I said earlier, this is heavy stuff only for the most advanced sales persons. Beginner’s and intermediate salesperson’s have way too much to learn before attacking this phase of becoming a professional salesperson.

Because I have basically closed the prospect in the small talk, and I am confident that my presentation is flawless, my presentation is simply a formality. The way I knew I was growing as a salesperson was I likened each presentation to a movie premier. At the end of the show my critics would give me their review. If I did not close the sale…well the reviews were not very good. On the other hand If I made the sale the reviews obviously were pretty good. The more consistently I could close the prospect, the better the reviews were. I think the most consecutive presentations I sold in a row was 37…not bad, but I still had room for improvement.

Once you learn how to do this naturally you will become a dynamic person to communicate with. Your friends and family will enjoy listening to you and all those great ideas you have will all of a sudden not go overlooked! I truly believe those faithful readers of this blog are starting to see the depth and training that goes into being a REAL sales professional!

I get excited talking about it!

“The Specialist”

I want to thank everybody for the tremendous participation you have given my blog. Despite what you may think, your replies and comments are an intricate part of what I do. As some people have shared with me, that they cannot wait for my blog each day. I want you to know I wait just as eagerly for your comments and responses. Not only do they give me material for future blogs but I find some to be very inspiring. Thanks again. Since my life has been dedicated to sales and management it is not far-fetched to believe that I talk to quite a few sales persons a day. One subject that keeps coming up is “closes”. It seems that sales persons are fascinated with all the different types of closes. Closes like the 3 point close, the automatic close, the Ben Franklin close, the assumptive close, even to the absurd, the hard of hearing close.

I hear you laughing.

Most sales people think that the close is a certain part of the presentation, normally at the end when they go for the final commitment. “The Specialist” does not agree! The close is not a part of your presentation. It is not an interchangeable part that you plug in and out with different customers. If, and I mean IF, you are a professional salesperson you already know that closing a prospect is a PROCESS! Now this is where the ultimate closing technique varies from level to level. Even the most professional salesperson believes that closing the prospect starts the minute you meet the person until they leave. That’s fine and dandy, however if you are ever to reach the ultimate level you will see that, unlike my peers in the industry, “The Specialist” starts closing the minute I leave the house to work and I don’t stop closing until my car enters my garage at night. You say why? It’s simple even though the lessons weren’t.

I hope we have all come to agree on the fact that a large part of sales is making people like you and making people feel good about themselves. Many times in my career someone I came into contact with during the day whether in a restaurant, gas station, convenient store etc. became my sale later that day, week, or month.

Last month I was in a restaurant and the young waitress really botched my breakfast order. Not once but three times! She just couldn’t get it right. I told her it was fine and left her a nice tip and told her just to keep on and she’d get it. On my way out I told her manager what a wonderful waitress she was and how great the service was. Later that week I was in a business helping a young man make a sale and just as we were at the end of the presentation a young girl came from a room in the back and excitedly shouted to her father who happened to own the business, Daddy, that’s the man I was telling you about that was so nice to me and probably saved my job! Needless to say the sale WAS MADE! Need I say more? What I enjoy the most about being a real closer is that the more I practiced being nice to people and making them feel good about themselves the better I felt, and it became a way of life! That’s why a lot of my friends call me “The Closer”. I leave you with this thought…”So a man thinketh, he becometh.”

“The Specialist”