How a student of Persuasion took over thier market share at a higher price and on one call!

I should have thought of that!” “How did he come up with that approach!”

That was my reaction when Gary May gave a brief overview of how he took a small sales force and created sales growth that  makes a fighter jet with the afterburners on seem slow.

So they take a $20,000 to $100,000 purchase and sell far more than their competitors, do it in one sales call with higher margins while closing in the 80% range!

Now this is a fairly mundane yet expensive and required product such as your company phone and switch gear. Add in a competitive market with multiple suppliers and conservative buyers in the UK.

Two years ago Gary takes the book The Psychology of Persuasion, and applies the concepts to his sales force and product. The numbers tell the rest of the story!

The numbers, taking over 70% of their market, closing 80% of the sales on the first call, closing 70% of their customer’s customers and their top people earning in the $600,000 range! These are all US currency, not UK pounds!

Interested? …..More….

Ok let’s give you some specific ideas and the perspective that created them.

The first step is to apply Outcome Based Thinking to get the broader and different view.

• What does my product really do and why does my customer actually buy it?
• How can I view my product in these terms and how does it change how I see it?
• How can this address potential objections and resistance up front?

In Gary’s case it made several significant shifts in how they viewed their equipment, here are a few that allowed them to reduce the buyer’s resistance.

1. The equipment has replaced the phone operator from a gone by era, yet people view people very differently from equipment. What if we humanized our equipment in several ways? How could this create a different picture in the buyers mind and drop their resistance? (Remember, most people visualize the purchase in some way and this includes their prejudices and negative views.)

So how do you humanize a machine, you give it a persons name and talk in terms of it as a real person. Every system now has a woman’s name instead of a model number.

“Let’s suppose we bring Sally in to address all your phone needs and she can handle all your challenges for only $15,000 a year. How would you feel about hiring Sally full time?”

Does humanizing the machine give you a different feel and image about the purchase? Has some of the resistance changed? Does it change how you view the investment?

Gary indicated that the top producers have mastered the ability to humanize the product and yes it has made a significant shift in how the customer sees the purchase.

Now when customers call in with problems, “This damn equipment is junk!” is not heard, rather “Sally is not feeling very good today.” REALLY! The customer prospective is completely reframed! (These are male and female corporate executives and owners!)

2. So what about taking objections and resistance out of the picture so one can “close” that day?

One of the major issues is the perceived need of the buyer to “think it over” or “get other bids”. Ever hear these?

Gary has trained his sales force to deal with this up front. “We realize that many people may want to think it over or spend time getting many bids when making an equipment purchase As we look at what Sally can do for you and she is able to handle all your needs, what reasons might there be to delay hiring her?”

The answers are duly noted and the sales process continues, of course the issues are addressed during the balance of the process.

“As you can see, Sally will fill all your needs and provide the image and services your customers’ desire. As to thinking it over or gaining other bids, would there be any reason to delay hiring Sally today so she could be working for you by Thursday?”

Obviously over 80% of them agree to hire her today! Getting the resistance and objection out right up front will reduce their effect and framing these against the humanized Sally drops it even more. 

There are two quick ideas from the many that Gary adapted from The Psychology of Persuasion material. We’ll share a few more over the next weeks, yet be sure this material works.

Dr. Robert Jonas from Seattle, WA is having a very similar result in his 80 person sales force selling windows to home owners. In our phone conversation last week he indicated a 20% increase in closing ratios in one week!

For those of you who are curious how Gary gets to close 70% of his customer’s customers, email me and I’ll give you the steps he takes. Harlan@BusArc.com

Till next week, keep asking, keep thinking and keep your ears and eyes open!

Harlan Goerger

© Harlan Goerger 2007