Part I
The trick in sales
Sales can be a tough business, even when you are doing everything just right. The trouble is dealing with all those darn human beings. They do what they want to do, and not what you want them to do. No news there. The real trick is to just work with the ones who are seriously inclined to go your direction, clear to the end. But how?
The secret of “how” requires that you…
So now for that elusive how: In my quest to bring you, my cherished reader, the best real information available to help you sell more while working less, I am going to share a major secret with you today. I’ll also give you an example of that secret in action. Read on.
90 percent close rate this year. Really!
I have been developing my sales approach over the last 30+ years. This year, I have closed 90 percent of the proposals that I have written, and I have wasted almost zero time with tire-kickers. So how did I get there?
Twenty years — or two hours? You choose.
About 10 years ago, I stumbled on the book, High Probability Selling, and Jacques (sounds exactly like Jack) Werth. As I read the book and listened to the cassette tape, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jacques had collected, refined and expanded upon, my emerging notion of how selling really worked. Reading his book, listening to the cassette, and taking his class rocketed my sales results. Jacques had given me more in just hours than 20 years in the school of hard knocks had given me.
I can do that
Even though I had been getting ready to absorb this material for 20 years, it made my jaw drop. At first, I heard myself say, “I can’t do that.” But then I did do it. Exactly what Jacques suggested. Wow, what a difference! I would never have guessed just how well all this would really work.
How can it be that simple?
Initially, most people will find this approach to be more than a little shocking, because it goes against most of the conventional selling wisdom. People tend to feel this way until they start to use the approach and find out just how well it works, and how powerful it makes the seller feel. Then they say to themselves, “Gee, I had no idea it could really be this simple.”
If you really have it nailed now, stop reading
If you are happy with the sales results you’re getting now, you can stop reading right here. But, if you want to take it up to the next level, in results and confidence, read on.
Why I have waited to share this
Jacques sends out a newsletter every so often and has done so for years. I like what he writes, but, until recently, I hadn’t seen an issue that would give you such a clear picture of how different his sales really process is.
I thought this issue captured the essence
Then, last week, I received the newsletter that I have included, below. I felt that it encapsulated the essence of Jacques' High Probability Selling process: More sales with less work and more self-respect. I’ll shut up and let you be the judge. This approach has made me a great deal of money, improved my closing ratio, and helped me never (well, almost never) sound like a salesperson.
Action step
If you are willing, read the newsletter below, and then link to the site. What I recommend is that you buy and listen to the book on CD, and then take the outstanding course. Jacques’ training course is life-changing. I don’t say that lightly. There is nothing like it under the sun, in my experience.
Here is the newsletter I speak so highly of:
Part II
By Jacques Werth
Word Count: 716
Minutes to Read: Approx. 5
We were in a large meeting room in a nice hotel, in a suburb of Seattle. Twelve successful Realtors were attending a Real Estate Sales Mastery workshop. They were an unusually well-dressed group for a two-day offsite workshop.
At our request, one of the participants had borrowed a sample front door and door frame from a builder. It was in the front of the meeting room and it was braced to stand on its own. The outside of the door was to the right, and to the left of the inside of the door we had a kitchen table and some chairs. Those were the props that we needed to begin the first exercise.
One of the workshop participants was asked to role-play how she approaches a visit to a homeowner who wants to sell his house. The instructor played the part of the home owner.
The first Realtor walked up to the outside of the door and knocked. The instructor opened the door and said "Hello."
The Realtor flashed a big smile, held out her hand and said, very cordially, "Mr. Smith, it is so good to meet you. I am Pam Jackson with XYZ Real Estate. How are you today?"
The instructor invited her in and offered her a chair in the "kitchen."
"Your home is very lovely. I really like what you did with the kitchen," said Pam with delight, while looking all around.
The instructor stopped the role-play at that point and thanked Pam. He asked her to switch roles. She would now play the homeowner and the next participant would play the Realtor. He was even more effusive than Pam. Each successive Realtor tried to out-do those what went before them in their attempts to impress the "prospect" with their enthusiasm, charm and likeability.
During those role-plays, the other Realtors watched intently and remained very quiet. Several preened their clothing and hair before it was their turn.
For the second part of the role-play the instructor played the part of the Realtor, with Pam playing the homeowner. The instructor knocked on the door, and the Pam opened it. "Yes?' she said.
"I'm Joe Instructor with HPS Realty. Are you Pam Jackson?
"Yes, I am," she said, reaching to shake his hand. "Come in. I suppose you want to look over the house."
"Before we do that, we need to get to know each other and determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business."
Homeowner: "Okay, we can sit in the kitchen, here."
Realtor: "When we spoke on the phone we agreed this meeting would take about ninety minutes of uninterrupted time. Have you arranged for that?"
Homeowner: "Yes, I turned off my phone and put the dog out in the back yard."
Realtor: "We agreed that the purpose of our meeting is to determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for selling your home. Is that your intention?"
Homeowner: "Yes."
Realtor: "And, we agreed that if we can meet your conditions of satisfaction for the sale of your home, we will make a decision about that today. Is that still your intention?"
Homeowner: "Yes, it is."
The instructor thanked Pam and asked her to rejoin the rest of the group. Then, he asked the entire group "What did you notice about the way I just approached Pam, the prospect?"
They called out their answers:
"You were very straight-forward," "You were dignified," You were very relaxed," "You were authentic," "You were not acting," "You were in control," "You asked for and got commitments," Pam then capped it off with, "I felt privileged to be your prospect, I felt respected, and I felt respect for you."
Then, the instructor explained exactly what he did, why, and how he did it, and asked all of the participants to replay both roles - doing it that way.
At the end of that exercise, they were offered a choice; continue to sell by out-charming, out-smiling, out-dressing, out-dancing and out-impressing their competition, or learn how to sell on a basis of mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual commitments. They all chose the latter.
What if the choice was yours?
What do you want to do?
To find out more about this extraordinary selling approach, you can go to High Probability Selling, or cut and paste this url: http://tinyurl.com/5qpzjf
To your success,
Eric
Friday, June 27, 2008
Hawaii Vacation
Announcement
A book version of Opening Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech, by Eric Albertson, is now available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/3lynpb
I love my kids but a break from them was nice
I just got back from vacation on the island of Kauai, HI. This was the first without children in the 15 years since my oldest son was born. We were gone seven nights, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Caroline’s parents watched our boys, Alexander (15), and Zachary (9).
The girl of my dreams
Uninterrupted time with the love of your life is a wonderful thing. Caroline works hard to make it possible for me to work hard for all of you and my clients. The vast majority of the good things in my life are truly a team effort.
The good things in life
Everything I talk about in my newsletters is simply a way to help you get, and keep, the life you want. If you put those things into action, you can have practically anything you want. You just can’t have everything (last time I looked). Kauai is one of those really good things in my life.
A chance meeting in the Allerton Gardens
While visiting the Allerton Gardens (the highlight of our trip), we met a retired military officer who was having a spectacularly successful second career in real estate. He told us he was having his best year, ever, in 2008.
You could have pushed me over with a feather
I asked him what his secret was. He said that he had a great “elevator pitch.” With glee he told me that, since he had mastered the skill of creating elevator pitches (I call them elevator speeches), he could find qualified prospects and engage them as needed. It was clear from the look on his face that he felt like he was giving me a huge gift.
Is eighty the new fifty? This fellow was nearly 80 years old and had been retired since the end of the Vietnam war. He told me that he owned three different vacation homes, and he attributed his great health, wealth, and happiness to his ability to sell and make people happy.
People like this guy are my inspiration
To say the least, I was better off for meeting this remarkable man and his beautiful wife. He reminded me of why I write this newsletter, and why I wrote the 2nd edition of Opening Doors with A Brilliant Elevator Speech.
Worth $1,000+ in 1976 dollars
When I told this fellow I had a book out about this, and described it to him, he said that he would have killed for such a guide during his dark years of trying to figure it out on his own. When I told him that it was $49, he told me that I should charge $1,000 for it, and that it would be cheap at that.
Now available as a regular printed book
We now have a printed version of the book available at: http://www.createspace.com/3341942 or http://tinyurl.com/3lynpb. The price is still just $49, but the value, if you put it into action, is literally beyond words.You can also get the electronic version instantly here: http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/marketing-doors.html also just $49
Just a couple of hours away
This is, according to what we have been told, the best selling (over 15,000 copies of both versions have been sold) elevator speech book in the world, simply because anyone who can follow directions, can read the 42 pages, and can create a very good elevator speech within an hour or two. With a little more effort, say one or two more hours, you can have an elevator speech that can make you more money every month that you use it.
What is a single elevator speech worth in incremental sales?
I paid for this vacation with one use of an elevator speech. It took seven seconds to say, but it will yield enough to pay for a vacation every year for 10 years. A great elevator speech is really that powerful. You just have to be willing to buy the book, and invest some time in trial and error. Most people waste most of their time and money. Don’t let that be you.
One of my elevator speeches
When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that “I help people get others to say the three most magical words in the English language, for a sales person to hear: “Tell me more.”
Skin in the game of your life
I don’t need another $49. What I want is for you to have just a little skin in the game so that you will take the time to read the book’s 42 pages, and block off an hour or two to build and refine you first elevator speech. With each refinement, you will make more money, have more financial security and, hopefully, have more of the life you and yours want.
To your success and life,
Eric
Why they buy
Your customer’s aren’t buying the way they used to
In their current situation, they might not be seeing the benefits they need to see to keep buying — or to keep buying from you.
Your choice
You can take action, or you can wait and see what happens. I tend to ask about, and confirm, my value with my clients, early and often. They like it and it helps me keep my customers. (Remember: The two most important measures in business are: 1.) What does it cost to get a customer, and 2.) What is the lifetime value of that customer?)
A true story
Ron’s profit and volume kept sliding each year. He was over 60, and retirement kept looking further and further away. I suggested he ask long-time clients these questions:
What did they like about what he did?
What did they want more of?
What things did they want from him that he wasn’t offering now?
He asked, he listened, and he acted. His profits tripled the next year.
Long ago, but still true
Congressman Barrett Pettengill (1866-1974) said, “The successful producer of an article sells it for more than it costs him to make, and that’s his profit. But the customer buys it only because it’s worth more to her than she pays for it, and that’s her profit. No one can long make a profit producing anything unless the customer makes a profit using it.”
Have you checked lately?
Consider checking your value proposition with your clients at least quarterly. I often check and confirm monthly. Done correctly, and with a bit of grace, it is truly a benefit for both me and them.
The raw basics of what a person wants in a purchase
People seek a particular combination of price, quality and service from you. In my experience, all differentiation falls into one of these three categories.
Forces that influence
Schlomo Maital, in his book, Executive Economics, has suggested that there are 13 forces that influence what people buy. I’ll just share 9 of the 13, here:
Aptness; particularly well-suited to the purpose or occasion; appropriate
Bandwagons & bubbles (everyone else seems to be buying it, using it, wanting it)
Why me?
Sooner or later, I ask, “If I wasn’t around, where else, or who else, would you get this service from”?
Scary question. The answers are powerful, and are often the lights that guide you in keeping and expanding your business with a customer.
Do you build your foundation on sand or rock?
Valuable and long-term customer relationships, in my opinion, start on a foundation of rock. By rock, I mean a foundation on which the benefit is clear to both parties. That clarity starts with a powerful elevator speech.
Assumptions kill
If you don’t get clarity about the benefits from the start, you are at risk of creating disappointment for your customer every day. You are also at risk of having your customer not understand your real differentiation (your primary value).
The tar pit
If your initial message to prospects is vague (“I’m a doctor,” “I sell copiers,” “I sell computers,” “I’m a printer,” I’m a manufacturers rep,” “I sell life insurance,” I’m a financial planner,” and so on) you won’t start with a clear benefit. Instead, you’ll be perceived however that person decides to perceive you, based on his initial “take” on your description. (On the other hand, if you are specific, in your elevator speech, about what your value is, prospects will often ask if you could help them with a problem that is a little different, but related to, what you described.)
Where else can you get ten times your money back?
Most people report to me that getting their elevator speech right with our book, How to Open Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech, has earned them at least 10 times what they paid for it, within 30 days. Some have said it was closer to 100.
Action step
No matter how you do it, get your value proposition clear, and build your next customer relationship on a foundation of rock, instead of on sand. Start writing and testing your elevator speech today, so you can prosper tomorrow.
Cheers,
In their current situation, they might not be seeing the benefits they need to see to keep buying — or to keep buying from you.
Your choice
You can take action, or you can wait and see what happens. I tend to ask about, and confirm, my value with my clients, early and often. They like it and it helps me keep my customers. (Remember: The two most important measures in business are: 1.) What does it cost to get a customer, and 2.) What is the lifetime value of that customer?)
A true story
Ron’s profit and volume kept sliding each year. He was over 60, and retirement kept looking further and further away. I suggested he ask long-time clients these questions:
What did they like about what he did?
What did they want more of?
What things did they want from him that he wasn’t offering now?
He asked, he listened, and he acted. His profits tripled the next year.
Long ago, but still true
Congressman Barrett Pettengill (1866-1974) said, “The successful producer of an article sells it for more than it costs him to make, and that’s his profit. But the customer buys it only because it’s worth more to her than she pays for it, and that’s her profit. No one can long make a profit producing anything unless the customer makes a profit using it.”
Have you checked lately?
Consider checking your value proposition with your clients at least quarterly. I often check and confirm monthly. Done correctly, and with a bit of grace, it is truly a benefit for both me and them.
The raw basics of what a person wants in a purchase
People seek a particular combination of price, quality and service from you. In my experience, all differentiation falls into one of these three categories.
Forces that influence
Schlomo Maital, in his book, Executive Economics, has suggested that there are 13 forces that influence what people buy. I’ll just share 9 of the 13, here:
Aptness; particularly well-suited to the purpose or occasion; appropriate
Bandwagons & bubbles (everyone else seems to be buying it, using it, wanting it)
- Cost or price is right
- Greed
- Habit
- Income
- Jazz, excitement
- Advances desired knowledge
- Loyalty
What does that make possible?
This is the million-dollar question. We don’t necessarily care about the product or service, but what the product or service makes possible.Why me?
Sooner or later, I ask, “If I wasn’t around, where else, or who else, would you get this service from”?
Scary question. The answers are powerful, and are often the lights that guide you in keeping and expanding your business with a customer.
Do you build your foundation on sand or rock?
Valuable and long-term customer relationships, in my opinion, start on a foundation of rock. By rock, I mean a foundation on which the benefit is clear to both parties. That clarity starts with a powerful elevator speech.
Assumptions kill
If you don’t get clarity about the benefits from the start, you are at risk of creating disappointment for your customer every day. You are also at risk of having your customer not understand your real differentiation (your primary value).
The tar pit
If your initial message to prospects is vague (“I’m a doctor,” “I sell copiers,” “I sell computers,” “I’m a printer,” I’m a manufacturers rep,” “I sell life insurance,” I’m a financial planner,” and so on) you won’t start with a clear benefit. Instead, you’ll be perceived however that person decides to perceive you, based on his initial “take” on your description. (On the other hand, if you are specific, in your elevator speech, about what your value is, prospects will often ask if you could help them with a problem that is a little different, but related to, what you described.)
Where else can you get ten times your money back?
Most people report to me that getting their elevator speech right with our book, How to Open Doors with a Brilliant Elevator Speech, has earned them at least 10 times what they paid for it, within 30 days. Some have said it was closer to 100.
Action step
No matter how you do it, get your value proposition clear, and build your next customer relationship on a foundation of rock, instead of on sand. Start writing and testing your elevator speech today, so you can prosper tomorrow.
Cheers,
A major key to success
Here’s a quick challenge for you
Name this personal attribute: You’ll find it at the core of many a success story, modern or otherwise.
Everybody’s figuring it out
In interviews this year, people as diverse as Sean “Puffy” Combs and Robert Kiyosaki, have named this attribute as the main reason for their long-term success.
It’s a big void when things begin falling apart
When people stop being successful, not doing this is really at the heart of the problem, in many cases.
Nobody is perfect in this way, but that’s ok
In the quest for this attribute, perfection is not required, but the intent to improve is.
What’s the answer?
I’m talking about keeping your word. Nothing, in my opinion, is more powerful than keeping your word, if success in life is what you desire.
So why is it important
Thirty years of research shows that others (that includes people who might buy what you are selling) don’t buy at all, or for long, if they think you don’t or won’t keep your word.
That’s a big deal.
Keeping your word can be tough
If you don’t know the mechanics, keeping your word (which I define as doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it), in my experience, is very hard to do. Given the frequency with which things change, and the speed with which priorities adjust, it’s sometimes impossible. You can make a promise most sincerely today, but tomorrow, circumstances might prevent you from keeping it. You have to be very careful about making promises. You have to know the mechanics.
Life often won’t let you keep your word
When another person makes a request of you, you have a choice of how
Decline
Accept
Counter
Promise to promise at a later date
Really being able to keep your word requires deliberation
The mechanics of keeping your word include deliberate thought. Don’t assume you have to say yes to everything, right now. Take the time to consider it, to reach clarity. To know what you’re promising. Consider making another kind of commitment, instead.
Make a promise to promise
Making a promise to promise is just a way of saying, “When I get more information, I’ll make a decision about making a commitment.” You make keeping your word almost impossible when you commit to things without enough information and consideration.
I can’t do it on Wednesday, but I can on Thursday
The king of tactics for keeping your word is the counter: I can’t do what you requested, but I can give you this alternative.
Sometimes going the extra mile doesn’t work, either
It’s a huge surprise to some that doing more than they were asked is not the same as keeping your word. In fact, it’s often perceived to be just as bad as not going the full distance. When the recipe calls for a cup of sugar, tossing in a cup-and-a-half is wasteful — and it doesn’t make for very good cookies, either.
I can’t promise that, but I will commit to this
You can go above and beyond by simply saying, in advance, that you promise to call with an answer by, say, Tuesday, or earlier.
The money shot
The important thing is to come to an agreement on what and when. I call it butt-on-line. Putting your own butt on the line by making a what-by-when commitment is truly the key to your performance. This is what makes the world of business, and other human relationships, go around.
It won’t happen overnight
Getting better at keeping your word probably will happen slowly. Most of us shine a blind eye on the full cost of not keeping our word. That includes the cost to our lives, to our happiness, and to our financial well-being. Because we have those blinders on, we’re sometimes not motivated to make a change. But, it’s time to take those blinders off and do something.
Just start trying to do it
Start looking at when, where, and how you fail to keep your word. Then begin to notice, or at least to speculate, the cost involved. Ask yourself how you feel when others keep — and don’t keep — their word to you.
A future that’s better than the past
If you truly want a future that’s different from the past, keeping your word an ever-growing percentage of the time is likely the most direct route.
It’s one of the few points of control in our lives
It can be very, very scary. We really don’t have much control in this life. The tools I have given you today should help you gain control of one of those things: keeping your word.
It’s one that could matter most to your future.
It’s your choice
It’s a simple decision to make. You just have to start looking at the cost of not doing it. Maybe the cost is ok by you. Maybe it isn’t. But, once you get a glimpse of the true cost, though, I suspect you will be on your way. The world holds many good things for you if you improve just a little.
To you,
Eric
Name this personal attribute: You’ll find it at the core of many a success story, modern or otherwise.
Everybody’s figuring it out
In interviews this year, people as diverse as Sean “Puffy” Combs and Robert Kiyosaki, have named this attribute as the main reason for their long-term success.
It’s a big void when things begin falling apart
When people stop being successful, not doing this is really at the heart of the problem, in many cases.
Nobody is perfect in this way, but that’s ok
In the quest for this attribute, perfection is not required, but the intent to improve is.
What’s the answer?
I’m talking about keeping your word. Nothing, in my opinion, is more powerful than keeping your word, if success in life is what you desire.
So why is it important
Thirty years of research shows that others (that includes people who might buy what you are selling) don’t buy at all, or for long, if they think you don’t or won’t keep your word.
That’s a big deal.
Keeping your word can be tough
If you don’t know the mechanics, keeping your word (which I define as doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it), in my experience, is very hard to do. Given the frequency with which things change, and the speed with which priorities adjust, it’s sometimes impossible. You can make a promise most sincerely today, but tomorrow, circumstances might prevent you from keeping it. You have to be very careful about making promises. You have to know the mechanics.
Life often won’t let you keep your word
When another person makes a request of you, you have a choice of how
Decline
Accept
Counter
Promise to promise at a later date
Really being able to keep your word requires deliberation
The mechanics of keeping your word include deliberate thought. Don’t assume you have to say yes to everything, right now. Take the time to consider it, to reach clarity. To know what you’re promising. Consider making another kind of commitment, instead.
Make a promise to promise
Making a promise to promise is just a way of saying, “When I get more information, I’ll make a decision about making a commitment.” You make keeping your word almost impossible when you commit to things without enough information and consideration.
I can’t do it on Wednesday, but I can on Thursday
The king of tactics for keeping your word is the counter: I can’t do what you requested, but I can give you this alternative.
Sometimes going the extra mile doesn’t work, either
It’s a huge surprise to some that doing more than they were asked is not the same as keeping your word. In fact, it’s often perceived to be just as bad as not going the full distance. When the recipe calls for a cup of sugar, tossing in a cup-and-a-half is wasteful — and it doesn’t make for very good cookies, either.
I can’t promise that, but I will commit to this
You can go above and beyond by simply saying, in advance, that you promise to call with an answer by, say, Tuesday, or earlier.
The money shot
The important thing is to come to an agreement on what and when. I call it butt-on-line. Putting your own butt on the line by making a what-by-when commitment is truly the key to your performance. This is what makes the world of business, and other human relationships, go around.
It won’t happen overnight
Getting better at keeping your word probably will happen slowly. Most of us shine a blind eye on the full cost of not keeping our word. That includes the cost to our lives, to our happiness, and to our financial well-being. Because we have those blinders on, we’re sometimes not motivated to make a change. But, it’s time to take those blinders off and do something.
Just start trying to do it
Start looking at when, where, and how you fail to keep your word. Then begin to notice, or at least to speculate, the cost involved. Ask yourself how you feel when others keep — and don’t keep — their word to you.
A future that’s better than the past
If you truly want a future that’s different from the past, keeping your word an ever-growing percentage of the time is likely the most direct route.
It’s one of the few points of control in our lives
It can be very, very scary. We really don’t have much control in this life. The tools I have given you today should help you gain control of one of those things: keeping your word.
It’s one that could matter most to your future.
It’s your choice
It’s a simple decision to make. You just have to start looking at the cost of not doing it. Maybe the cost is ok by you. Maybe it isn’t. But, once you get a glimpse of the true cost, though, I suspect you will be on your way. The world holds many good things for you if you improve just a little.
To you,
Eric
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