For about one year I had been selling education products, on the surface I was doing well, ranked in the top 10% of the sales reps in the company. The sales manager was happy
with me, I mean after one year to be in the top few was actually a really good
achievement. But I wasn’t satisfied; the reason was that there was another guy that
earned double what I earned! Yes, the top salesperson consistently sold about 50% more
than me, and his commission was nearly double mine.
In my previous sales role I was the top gun. I had to find out how this guy did it. Sure he had been there longer and had more prospects in his database, but his closure rate for
new leads was almost unbelievable. How could this person be so much better than
everyone else?
I was on a mission, I spoke to the sales manager and arranged to move desks; I was now
sitting next to the top gun.
My master class in sales had begun. Everyday, whenever he spoke I would try to write
every single word down that he said. I then arranged to get voice recordings of his
conversations; I studied them over and over, noting every pause, uptick and downtick in
his voice. After about 6 weeks of studying him, I had a series of eureka moments. I had
discovered what I believed was his secret ingredients. It was like I was in the Matrix,
looking at it all in slow motion.
I went about documenting how he did it. Within a few more months I was the no.2 sales
rep and climbing. It took me about 6 more months and I finally caught up to him.
I still wasn’t satisfied, my next step was to go about reading every sales training book I could find to see if somebody had already done all the hard work and documented all of
this. The conclusion I came to was that the vast majority of these books while giving some useful tips, were too conceptual, too general or gimmicky, only a small percentage of them actually showed specifically and methodically how to be get extraordinary results, but even then there were unexplained gaps in the sales cycle, specifically the art of closing the sale, the way that I had learnt myself.
That was about 12 years ago, since then I’ve worked as a Business Development Manager,
Sales Manager and Sales Trainer in a variety of industries. I’ve worked with some of the
best sales reps in the world, sales reps that I would consider to be in the top 1% of
performers of their industries.
Now I have a new mission, to document step-by-step how to get an extraordinarily high
sales closure rate. I want to empower sales people with the right technique and structures so that they too can see their sales climb. I want to provide a structure which can be
adopted and adapted to each person’s individual style, and to each industry.
This book is the result of that mission.
Every concept that I talk about in the following chapters I will also follow up with specific real world examples with sample dialogue. Again, the goal of this book is to provide a
step-by-step guide.
Where appropriate a conversation structure will be included. It’s not about memorizing
scripts or secret words; it’s about knowing the right conversation structure to use, at the right time.
This book is for those who already have some sales experience; it is not meant for
beginners or people who have no sales experience. If you have never worked in sales
before by all means read this book, but really you should first read a sales for beginner’s book, to get a proper understanding of the full sales cycle.
This guide has a laser focus on improving the sales closure rate for existing sales reps.
So are you ready to improve your sales closure rate by up to 50%? If yes, read on.
Some people have asked me, am I uncomfortable saying that I can
increase someone’s sales by up to 50%; that seems a lot.
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Let me tell you a story, before answering that question.
About 11 years ago I was playing tennis, I served the ball and I felt a sharp pain in my
shoulder. The next day, I couldn’t move my shoulder at all with out extreme pain. I went
though the medical system, and finally a shoulder specialist told me that I had a rotator
cuff tear and I could elect to have surgery to try and fix it, he said it had about a 50%
success rate, and that I would need time off work and that my shoulder would be in a cast.
He said the other option was to get physio and eventually the pain would subside. But in
either case, my shoulder would never be the same and to forget about ever playing tennis
again. I got physio and eventually the pain did go away. Apart from the pain it was hard to accept that I wouldn’t play tennis again, a game I had played all my life and loved.
Skip ahead 6 years. I’m working as a business development manager selling outsourcing
solutions to companies in Australia and the USA. A friend asks me to play Badminton; I
politely said that I have a busted shoulder and thanks but no thanks.
That night I was thinking about a book I had read the year before “The brain that changes
itself” by Norman Doidge M.D. Basically it’s a book about neuroplasticity. How the brain
faced with changes will adapt and form new neural connections, when they are forced to,
effectively forming new neural patterns and connections allowing you to do things you
couldn’t do before. There is one remarkable case study of a stroke patient who was
learning to speak again. To sum it up Neuroplasticity will permanently alter the way you
see your brain and human potential. There are several good books on the subject now you
should read up on.
The next day I said yes lets play, but I would play with my left hand (I’m naturally right handed). I wanted to test my brain and see how I could develop my coordination in the
hope that I could play competitive tennis again but left handed.
The idea was to first develop some coordination playing badminton (build the neural
connections in my brain that deals with coordination in my left hand), I also had to build muscle strength in my left wrist and hand.
The first match I felt ridicules, I just had no coordination with my left hand at all, I could barely hit the shuttlecock. I had to keep apologising to my friend, the result was no
surprise, I lost 3-0 without me winning one point.
But my friend had a lot of patience (and apparently no one else to play with). We played
once a week for 1 year. This is what happened. After about 6 weeks I could regularly get 1
or 2 points in a game.
After about 4 months I could get up to 5 or 6 in a game. At this stage I had still had never won a game. After about 9 months of play I finally cracked him. I beat him 3 games to 2.
After that we were about equal.
Next step tennis, with a much heavier racquet and much more pressure with ball on
racquet. I wanted to relearn how to play with my left hand. I started tennis lessons with a professional coach, with all the coordination I now had though badminton and with the
extra weight training I had done, I was now ready to hit my first tennis ball in about 7
years. The rest is history; I can now play with my left hand to a high enough standard to
win plenty of games. I think the moral of this story is obvious.
From my first game of badminton to now, I didn’t improve 50%; I improved about 500%
(or even 5000%).
In sales, the amount to which you can improve depends on the answer to the following
two questions.
What skill level do you currently have?
Will you focus on improvement by methodically analysing every aspect of your
sales method?
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If you are already at the top of your game, the top of your sales team, you are probably
doing many of the things in this book and as a consequence you may only see a small
improvement in your sales, but still a small increase in your sales closure rate may equate to thousands of dollars in sales commission.
If you read this book and you realise you can improve a lot, then 50% improvement in
sales could easily happen within a 6 month period, if you work methodically and
thoughtfully to improve.
The bottom line is that by continually trying to refine and improve your sales method, you will see extraordinarily results.
So are you ready to improve your sales closure rate by up to 50%? If yes, read on.
Part 1: Critical Components to setup a Master Close
Business Value Proposition (BVP)
When you first call any prospect, you have to know what your business value proposition is to get their attention. It has to be specific and it has to relate directly to the prospects situation.
The format of a BVP is:
“We specialise in” Plus the BVP as shown below
Direction + Business Priority + Amount
Examples:
Decreasing Customer churn by 8%
Increasing the average sale value by 24%
Saving the average household $780 a year on their energy bill
Decreasing the average delivery time by 3 days
Examples of the Direction element
Increase
Decrease
Strengthen
Cut
Reduce
Improve
Grow
Save
Eliminate
Minimize
Maximise
Examples of the Business Priority element
Delivery time
Completion time
Lead conversion rate
Average sale value
Market share
Customer retention
Customer satisfaction rate
Churn rate
The Amount Element should by a number or a percentage
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You should have a few different BVP’s depending on the industry and the specific issues
that a prospect faces.
For example, if you are selling Freight handling solutions to manufacturers. You might
know through a competitor’s press release that a company has lost a contract due to late
deliveries. You might say:
We specialise in reducing the average delivery time of freight by 2.6 days If you read company press releases and you know that a prospect is looking to expand
their distribution to other parts of the country. You might say:
We specialise in expanding the national delivery footprint of manufacturers within 3
weeks.
If you have researched the prospects business and you open with stating that your
specialisation is the very same issue that they are currently facing, well, that’s dynamite.
Probing Questions
Probing questions during the qualification stage are crucial; the answers you will receive will form the basis of the rest of your communications with the prospect.
Don’t just rattle off question after question, the prospect will start to get uncomfortable and close up; you have to make it like a normal conversation. You will be directing the
conversation in order to find out what the prospects ultimate goals are.
You are trying to uncover what the prospect really wants. What is the core of their need,
what are their hopes, dreams and fears? Many times your product is something they need
along the way in order to meet some other ultimate goal.
You should try to find the ultimate goal; you have to understand the full journey that the prospect is on.
The deeper your questions go, the better you will understand the prospect.
Have a look at the example below; it is a sales call with someone interested in buying a
project management certification course:
Sales Rep: So, why are you interested in doing a Project management certification
course?
Prospect: I’ve been working as a Project Manager with an Engineering company for
2 years, but I just want to get some official certification behind me.
Sales Rep: 2 years that’s along time, do you like it there?
Prospect: No, not really, there is no career progression, and my manager is not
interested in helping me with my career.
Sales Rep: Oh ok, I understand. So, what do you want with your next job.
Prospect: I want to work at a higher level with a more reputable company. Most of
the guys I went to university with are doing really well, and I think I am falling
behind.
Sales Rep: What are your old Uni friends doing now?
Prospect: Well, I just spoke to one he’s earning 180k and running a whole division
of the Acme Company.
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Sales Rep: How much do you want to earn for your next job?
Prospect: Well, I’m on 80K at the moment, and I’m looking to buy a place so I
need to earn over $100k for my next job.
Sales Rep: You’re buying a place, nice. So, you’re just renting now.
Prospect: Yeah renting with my girlfriend.
Sales Rep: So, she is sick of renting and wants to get a place?
Prospect: That’s the plan, yeah.
Sales Rep: Yeah, I rented for 5 years, twice the owner sold and we were kicked
out, it was so annoying.
Prospect: Yeah well, our landlord just put the rent up $30 and he won’t fix the
windows that leak when it rains.
Sales Rep: You should make a complaint about him.
Prospect: I was going to but I don’t want to have bad relations with him, I don’t
want to get kicked out again.
So what have we learnt from this series of questions.
He’s not happy with his job
His manager does not support him
He wants to work at a higher level, with a more reputable company.
He thinks he is falling behind
His old uni friends earn more money than him
One friend earns $180k; he earns $80K but needs to earn $100k
He wants to buy a home with his girlfriend.
His rent is going up $30 per week and his windows leak when it rains.
He is scared of getting kicked out of his rental place
The above points will be used over and over again, in all conversations with this prospect from now on. It will also form the central part of the conversation when you go to close
the sale (this will be discussed in depth in Part 3: The Master Close Step-by-Step)
These points should be saved in your CRM for future reference. Before you talk to this
prospect again, you should read your notes.
Questioning Depth
The questioning depth to which the sales person goes should be determined by the
complexity of the product, for example:
Selling Cable Internet may need 5 levels
Selling a round the world package holiday for a family of 8 may need 20 levels
Selling a new HR management system to a multinational company may need 50
levels
With our previous example; I think 5 levels of detail are sufficient, as shown below:
20% of sales reps go this deep
Level 1
He’s not happy with his job
His manager does not support him
30% of sales reps go this deep
Level 2
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He wants to work at a higher level, with a more reputable company.
He thinks he is falling behind
40% of Sales Reps go this deep
Level 3
His old uni friends earn more money than him
One friend earns $180k; he earns $80K but needs to earn $100k
9% of Sales Reps go this deep
Level 4
He wants to buy a home with his girlfriend.
His rent is going up $30 per week and his windows leak when it rains.
1% of Sales Reps go this deep
Level 5
He is scared of getting kicked out of his rental place
Let’s take a step-by-step look at exactly how the sales person drills down with their
questions, and directs the conversation.
Sales Rep: So, why are you interested in doing a Project management certification
course?
Is a top level question; why are they interested in the product?
Prospect: I’ve been working as a Project Manager with an Engineering company for
2 years, but I just want to get some official certification behind me.
Sales Rep: 2 years that’s along time, do you like it there?
The sales rep knows that he has to find out something that the prospect is
not happy with, so knowing that he is working, it’s common to ask if they
like it.
Prospect: No, not really, there is no career progression, and my manager is not
interested in helping me with my career.
Sales Rep: Oh ok, I understand. So, what do you want with your next job.
Prospect is not happy, so logically they are looking for something else.
Prospect: I want to work at a higher level with a more reputable company. Most of
the guys I went to university with are doing really well, and I think I am falling
behind.
Now we are getting some good information. He is comparing himself to his
university friends. The rep knows that when people start comparing
themselves, they are showing what they value in themselves and others.
Sales Rep: What are your old University friends doing now?
Prospect: Well, I just spoke to one he’s earning 180k and running a whole division
of the Acme Company.
It’s generally not polite to ask how much someone earns, but it is
completely fine to ask how much they want to earn. The Sales Rep is also
going to use the amount to establish need later on.
Sales Rep: How much do you want to earn for your next job?
Prospect: Well, I’m on 80K at the moment, and I’m looking to buy a place so I
need to earn over $100k for my next job.
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Bingo, you now have some really good personal information about the
prospect. The conversation is then led into renting, it’s generally
understood that it is better to own than to rent a place. So the rep is trying
to establish more needs.
Sales Rep: You’re buying a place, nice. So, you’re just renting now.
Prospect: Yeah renting with my girlfriend.
The sales rep is really leading the conversation to where he wants it to go;
also making use of a popular narrative in the media - renting horror
stories.
Sales Rep: So, she is sick of renting and wants to get a place?
Prospect: That’s the plan, yeah.
The sales rep now uses a personal anecdote to elicit more details from the
prospect.
Sales Rep: Yeah, I rented for 5 years, twice the owner sold and we were kicked
out, it was so annoying.
Prospect: Yeah well, our landlord just put the rent up $30 and he won’t fix the
windows that leak when it rains.
Established good rapport, and really getting to rock bottom.
Sales Rep: You should make a complaint about him.
Prospect: I was going to but I don’t want to have bad relations with him, I don’t
want to get kicked out again.
You notice how this sounds like a normal conversation. The reason it does is because it is.
The more you can make a sales conversation sound like a normal conversation the better.
It should be a normal conversation between two people who have just met or who have
only spoken a few times. The only difference is that you are directing it the way you want, not leaving the conversation direction to chance.
Here is another example of different focus points in the conversation.
Sales Rep: So, why are you interested in doing a Project management certification
course?
Prospect: I’ve been working as a Project Manager with an Engineering company for
2 years, but I just want to get some official certification behind me.
Sales Rep: Engineering, so you studied Engineering at University?
Prospect: No, I was a Business Major. I just fell into this job, because well, it’s all I
could get at the time.
Sales Rep: Oh ok, I understand. So, what would your ideal job be?
Prospect: I want to work at a higher level with a more reputable company. Most of
the guys I went to university with are doing really well, and I think I am falling
behind.
Sales Rep: You are falling behind, what do you mean?
Prospect: Well, I just spoke to one he’s earning 180k and running a whole division
of the Acme Company.
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Sales Rep: How much do you want to earn for your next job?
Prospect: Well, I’m on 80K at the moment, and I’m looking to buy a place so I
need to earn over $100k for my next job.
Sales Rep: You’re buying a place, nice. So, you’re just renting now.
Prospect: Yeah re