Do you create friction when you’re selling?
I cannot tell you how many times over the years I’ve observed salespeople make it difficult for a potential customer to buy their product or service. It actually blows my mind and there is no good reason for it.
If you want to sell you must get out of the way, get to the point and close – the quicker the better.
If you already don’t know it, here is an age old rule for you: ABC – Always Be Closing! Remind you of Alec Baldwin? Don’t know it? Not familiar with Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)? This is probably one of the most famous movie sequences of all time about the basic reality of selling.
Back when I was selling Radio Advertising we used to sell promos for special times of the year like Back to School, Valentines Day, Easter or anything we could easily create a public service message around. We’d have a sample recording of the “PROMO” and two or three advertisers in the “Brought to You By” ending. We’d also have each of the prospective promos on a tape player, connected to our phones, for each advertiser ready to play to the buyer over the phone so they could hear what they were getting.
I would have a list of a few hundred advertisers and start dialing the phone numbers. When the prospect answered I’d say, “Hi [Name], this is Jim calling from the radio station, listen to this.” I’d play the message into the phone with their already produced “Brought to You By” spot. Without any wasted words from me they could hear their commercial over the phone – just like it would sound on the radio.
When the spot ended I pitched the campaign, clearly explained the details and immediately asked for the deal. I did not wait for them to ask any questions, like what is the cost – when and how long does it run? I gave it all to them in a clear and understandable sequence.
Basic stuff right? NOT. The other 3 salespeople tasked with this asked me why I did it that way, they believed it was extremely rude.
I said to them: by providing an already produced commercial we were projecting strength and confidence in the marketplace and our place in it. AND demonstrating the product left no room for them having to produce copy for us although, if they asked we’d accommodate their request no problem. And probably most important was the fact I wasn’t wasting their time.
These three salespeople often never even got to play the promo because they’d try to explain it first – before the sample.
Over the four years I was there I sold hundreds of these because I was always closing.
That was more than thirty years ago. The same principle applies when you’re sending automated cold emails today—don’t waste people’s time. Always be asking them to do something, anything. That is closing. Your job is to get them to engage and reply, even if it’s ‘no thanks’!
Don’t complicate things. It’s a simple process, but remember: always be closing.