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E-ssential
Message # 029:
What my Sensei taught me about sales.
Blame it on the 1992 movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, for burning this line into the psyche of salespeople and entrepreneurs: Always Be Closing.
Maybe that's the right approach for people who sell worthless real estate to unwitting investors, but for the rest of us, this obession with closing can sneak up behind you and hit you in the back of the head.
In my dojo where I do my martial arts training, we spend a lot of time practicing the entry until it becomes second nature. As my Sensei (instructor Kyoshi Cezar Borkowski, 8th degree black belt) says, 'If your first move doesn't work, you probably won't get the opportunity to follow up with move two, three and four."
Here's the lesson for outside the dojo. In a sales situation, if you don't engage the other person's interest right away, you'll never have the opportunity to try that closing technique you might have learned at the last sales seminar you went to.
Remember that all relationships -- even sales relationships -- start with a conversation.
At a workshop on cold calling where I was presenting, the part that people told me was the most valuable was an exercise I did called, "'Hello' Throw-Away Lines." The exercise simply isolated the opening lines of a cold call to help participants explore (sometimes very) different ways to start a conversation. The more conversations you have and the better they are, the less you have to worry about closing.
Put another way, "closing the deal is really about opening the relationship." It's also the best way to avoid getting knocked out.
FYI
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If you're a consultant, advisor, independent professional or emerging company who is tired of pushing so hard to get sales – and you're ready to learn a better way to differentiate, position and brand yourself, we can help. As expert copywriters, we can help you get the clarity you need and the business you want. That's what the Essential Message is all about. For information about our workshops, coaching, copywriting and consulting services, or booking me to speak at your event, please call 416 534-4766 or link to www.EssentialMessage.com.
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