Ever notice Wal Mart has brick and mortar stores as well as a website? Both of these outlets sell the same items but they serve two very different audiences. There’s a lesson to be learned from this so stick with me.
These days, when I’m on sales calls, I hear guys say “I’m good on the phones” or “I’m a Closer once I get face to face with someone.” It pains me to even hear them say it.
When you are in the prospecting process, you are actually making several sales. Let’s break it down real quickly here:
Sale #1: Get them to look at your shit
Sale #2: Get them interested in your shit
Sale #3: Get them to contact you to buy your shit
Sale #4: Sell them your shit
Now that you have the steps, let me give you an example.
First thing you have to do is advertise somewhere. So let’s say you make a video. The first sale is to get them to look at that video. The second sale is to get them to actually watch the video and hear it’s message. The third sale is the call to action in the video. The fourth sale is when you close them on the phone, in person, on chat or whatever.
Now that you understand, selling is not one gigantic sale, but a series of smaller sales adding up the final close, let me share a mistake 99% of sales guys are making in today’s market.
Most of you guys are fucking up sale #3 and don’t even realize it. You’re too busy trying to get online prospects to meet you in person, or too busy trying to get people who email you to get on the phone. If you blow sale #3, there is no possible way to close on sale #4.
For the same reason Wal Mart has stores and a website, you should sell where people want to buy from.
If your prospects send you texts, chats or emails, you better learn to sell with your fingers. There’s way too many salesmen that come from the old school, who are forcing prospects onto communication platforms that they are not the most comfortable on. We ALL know we need to make prospects comfortable with us in order for them to buy from us.
Wal Mart knows some people prefer to shop online. When these people buy online, Wal MArt does not call them or show up at their house, they email them. They understand the prospect is comfortable online, so they keep the sale there. There’s no denying what Wal Mart does works.
According to AT&T in 2012, 86% of all phone calls in 2011 went unanswered. The #1 preferred way to communicate is text. If you are trying to sell people by phone, just know 86% of your time will be wasted.
If someone emails you, don’t set a time for a call. Learn to let your fingers sell for you. If you’re going to be in sales for long, you better learn to write. It’s the future of sales.
Matter of fact, once you become an effective salesman through writing, you can dominate in person or on the phone.
The best part about selling through text, email or chat is that you don’t have to instant reply to fill the silence. When you are on the phone or face to face, you job is to have a quick response and keep the conversation going.
Selling through writing slows the conversation down, and allows you to think more about your responses. It allows you to control the pace and double check to make sure what you are saying is going to affect the prospect.
The bottom line: Learn to write!
I’d be willing to bet you lose a lot of closes due to fucking up sale #3.
The people you should be prospecting are most likely busy. The phone and especially meeting face to face, take up a lot of their time. Respect them, their time and the platform, and you will find yourself making more closes by default.
If you’d like my help on becoming more effective with your fingers, fill out the form below. [see what I did there?] If you want to get on the phone cool, if you want to text cool, if you want to chat cool, I got all platforms covered and I can help you do the same!
