How To Make a Sale

How To Make a Sale:

Shout your affirmation.

Smile as you dial.

Compliment the prospect.

Say "honestly" a lot.

Be an open book.

Answer every question.

Be late for your next call.

This shows your sincerity

and desire to serve.

Agree when they object.

Allow them to stall.

Send them more information.

And more information.

And then some more.

When they ask for

a deep discount,

and extended terms,

and free delivery,

and for priority service,

in return for exposure,

and referrals,

and testimonials,

believe them.

That will win them over.

But it doesn't.

In late 1997 I left the Air Force to test my theory on how to succeed as a professional salesman.

By the middle of 1998, I was selling mobile homes in Mobile, AL, and I hit a lick, as we would say. (My January 1999 commission check was for $20,000, which would be $37,339.74 today, and I knew then that my approach worked.)

In 2000, I applied it to landing corporate clients for a placement service in Austin, TX, and hit another lick after just six months on the job. (I brought 11 clients to a conference when 2 was the goal, and 3 were considered outstanding.)

Then, I applied it to selling technology around the country through the Dot Com implosion and won trips and bonuses, was given raises, and expanded territories...

But I knew I could do even better.

So, I invested in myself, and I did even better.

Then I invested in a mentor, and I did even better.

Then I started my own thing at the end of 2006 and did even better...

But it was hectic at times...

But no more hectic than the ups and downs of the Dot Com implosion...

Just a different hectic...

But by really putting my money where my mouth was, I proved that my way of selling works.

It's counterintuitive.

It's not flashy.

It's fundamental.

It's boring.

It's not cute or creative.

It creates predictable outcomes.

It's learnable and transferrable.

It's scalable.

It's not based on a fad.

It's foundational.

It's ethical and moral.

It's not gimmicky or pushy.

It's not stressful or stress-inducing.

It's not some complicated scripting.

It's not NLP or hypnosis or Tarot cards

It's not based on astrology or sound bowls.

I've taught this to every client I've had since 2006.

My first paying client was an architect who was going out on his own and needed something simple, proven, effective, and quick to learn.

Since then, photographers have used it successfully, as have insurance agents and chiropractors and contractors and transcriptionists and marketers and laser eye surgeons and a family-owned daycare in Florida that absolutely blew up with this back in 2010.

I shared it in person at a marketing event in Vegas in 2011.

I shared it in a TedX Talk back in 2013.

I shared it in person at marketing events in Jacksonville and Scottsdale and San Diego and even Slovenia.

Over the coming weeks and months of this year, I'll be sharing these boring steps in detail.

Market like you mean it.

Now go sell something.