Strategy #2: Always Be Opening
I want you to lose the mindset of “Always Be Closing.” That’s ridiculous! I know that you are saying, “John, what are you talking about? You're losing your mind.” Yes, I lost my mind over 18 years ago and gained the mind of a champion. The sad fact is that the average mind, which includes the average mind of the average salesperson, never succeeds. You must lose your mind and gain the mind of someone that has achieved what you want to achieve in order to succeed. On a serious side note - Don’t take direction from anyone who hasn’t done what you want to do in life.
Over a seven-year period, I built a direct sales organization to over 25,000 reps in 10 countries. I know how to close by opening long-term relationships. I know how to make people take action. I know how to transfer property that I have to them for them to own and become a long-term customer. That’s why I have earned the right to teach you closing strategies. Once again, don’t take direction from someone who hasn’t done what you want to do in life. Okay, back to this teaching…
Lose that mindset of “Always Be Closing” and never find it again. What I want you to gain is this mindset of “Always Be Opening.” I prefer to call a sales presentation the sales arena, because it's a sport - the sport of sales and marketing. You are preparing to win the sport so why would you use the negative terms like “always be closing?” Think about the last time you went to a football game or watched any type of sports on television. Weren’t the athletes fired up and focused to win? They didn’t go into the game with a negative mindset. It’s the same in the sales arena. You have to look forward to the presentation and enter the arena with a positive mindset and outlook on the situation.
How extraordinary will it feel when you walk into your next sales presentation and shake the potential customer’s hand with the mindset that you will know this person long-term? You believe that you will close the sale, but more importantly, you will open up a life-changing relationship. Even if the product that you're marketing (e.g., insurance, real estate, products, services) is not for this specific individual right now, you have opened up a long-term relationship. You're creating a new contact and increasing your mastermind team. Right now, I want you to think about these three words: Your Best Friend.
Who is your best friend? Can you see his or her face in your mind? Now just think, at one time your best friend was a stranger. You had no idea who they were or that they would eventually be your best friend. At one point in time, you opened up a relationship with them built upon trust. You acknowledge and respect their opinion. That's exactly what you're looking to do every time you sit down with someone in a sales arena. You want to open a relationship. I’m not going to promise that every single person that you meet during a sales presentation will be your best friend or even someone that you want on your mastermind team, but it’s important that you enter that room with the “Always Be Opening” mindset no matter the person.
It’s just like when you open a window in your home and the fresh air comes in. I'm blessed to live in the Palm Beaches of south Florida. I open my living room door and the beautifully fresh air of south Florida blows in off the golf course. Any cobwebs, dust or dirt gets blown right out the door due to the cross ventilation from the front to the back of the house. It’s the same with your sales presentation. You open that door to greet your potential client with an “Always Be Opening” mindset and all of the prejudgment and misconceptions go right out the window. Just imagine that the person could be your next best friend so treat them with that courtesy and kindness.
I have hundreds of thousands of students all over the world, and I always try to treat every one of them like a friend of mine. I will do whatever it takes to maintain our relationship and over-deliver. My mindset is extremely focused to under-promise and over-deliver. With an always be opening mindset, I will give you whatever I can to empower you to achieve greatness and go to the next level.
Why is the “Always Be Opening” mindset so important? Let me ask you that question. Do you want to be closed? Do you enjoy the feeling that you get from a pushy sales person that is just trying to close you? Of course, you don’t like that kind of treatment. If you don’t like it, then why would you think that your potential business clients would like it? Instead, create a comfortable atmosphere and keep the “Always Be Opening” mindset. You will notice that your demeanor as well as the demeanor of your potential business client will radically change.
For example, let’s say that you’re a realtor. You show someone a home, but the home is not for that person. Two years later, they're back in the market for a home or have a friend looking for a home. They call you. Why? Because they remembered how you treated them. You had an open mindset and were looking to build a long-term relationship. Although you didn’t sell the house the first time, you created a lasting bond with that person.
Your level of confidence stuck out to that person and they want to work with you again. Just think about having hundreds of people that ultimately come back to you or refer others to you, because of your very first sales presentation with them. It’s realistic and completely possible for that to happen if you have the “Always Be Opening” mindset.
Strategy #2 Champion Tip: It’s not “Always Be Closing.” Lose that mindset and gain the champion mindset of “Always Be Opening.”