The Ultimate Sales Machine - Chet Holmes [105]
Whether you are a dentist who needs to persuade people to spend $2,000 on a new bridge, a purchasing agent who needs to persuade your vendor to give you a better price, a customer ser vice person who needs to calm down an irate customer, or a salesperson in the trenches or on the telephone who needs that prospect to buy that product or ser vice, this chapter outlines the seven steps to any sale that will turbocharge your bottom line.
Levels of Learning
If you’ve ever been part of a highly trained team, you know the sense of confidence that comes with that. The secret to building an excellent sales force (or team of any kind) is in repeating core training on basic sales skills again and again.
The lowest level of learning is memorization. It is easy to memorize the seven steps to every sale, but that does not mean that you can apply them. However, it is an excellent starting point. The highest level of learning is known as “synthesis” or “subconscious competence.” This means that you have learned the material so well that you can synthesize it into your own style and method of doing things. Synthesis requires a lot of repetition and practice.
To achieve synthesis in your sales team, begin by having them commit the seven steps to memory, then set procedures, and polish each skill area until your people are masters of each.
Sales Step 1: Establish Rapport
When I ran a magazine for Charlie Munger, we took it from number 15 in the market to number one in a single year. The biggest player in the market was four times our size. When it saw our success in our market niche, it started a magazine to compete directly with us.
When this magazine launched, the publisher made offers to my clients that they knew I would never match—offers like “Buy two advertising pages and get two pages for free.” Since my clients trusted me entirely, many of them even asked me what I thought of this new publication. If I had immediately attacked the new magazine, I would’ve lost credibility. Instead, I would casually say: “You know what? My philosophy is this: let them get successful, and once they’ve proven themselves, then put your money in there. I would not let them build their success by experimenting with your money.”
The magazine struggled for six months, unable to land many advertisers. And when I’d see an advertiser in there, I’d get on a plane and go take that client out for lunch. Somewhere along the line, we’d get around to talking about the competitor and I’d make my little speech. Here’s the key: All my clients were also my friends. To advertise in a directly competitive magazine was almost a violation of our relationship—especially if my clients discussed this with me (and I made sure they did) and we (the client and I) mutually decided to wait and see if the magazine became successful. With every one waiting, no one advertised in the magazine and it closed its doors in six months flat. Gone.
If you are friends with your clients, it is very hard for another salesperson to take them away from you. That needs to be part of your sales process. Most companies leave this up to the individual salespeople. In my companies, we built in opportunities—parties, events, boat trips, you name it—to become friends with our clients. This might not be practical for every company, but the more you create a sense of community and friendship with your clients, the stronger the grip you will have on your market.
Practically every client I’ve had has become a friend. Most have dined at my home or I at theirs. Some have even stayed at my house, been on my boat, talked into the wee hours. Those bonds aren’t easily breakable. In my case, I have to say that this is part of my nature anyway. I’d rather be a friend, and I’m a devoted friend, so I work at these relationships and seek out occasions to connect. But not every salesperson is built this way, so set up procedures or opportunities to build relationships