A couple of months ago, I was charged with the task of selling a few Chick-Fil-A calendars for my daughter’s band. Not an unusual parent assignment or a seemingly difficult one, especially for such a keen marketer as myself.
I knocked on the doors of the other companies in my office building – extolling the benefits of the calendars, including their clever illustrations and money-saving coupons. The reception to my sales pitch was rather tepid, however, and one guy even spent five minutes looking through all 12 months and laughing at the pictures only to say, “Naw, I don’t think so.”Why couldn’t I close the deal? You can get most of your money back after using just one coupon, for crying out loud. I gave the unsold calendars back to my wife in disgrace and hadn’t really thought about them until this week. One afternoon, one of the guys in my building knocked on my door. He came in with his tween daughter carrying a box of those $1 candy bars, and for extra good measure, his wife came too.
Are you kidding? The family? How do you say no to Hannah Montana? I bought three candy bars that day and was reminded of an important sales truth.
To make the sale, you have to make it really hard to say no. And just in case it is inconvenient to drag your children on sales calls, use something equally as powerful. A clear benefit. A strong value. An advantage over the competition. A promise of over-the-top customer service.
In today’s economy, there is no time to be subtle. You just need to be direct and powerful – like a child with a box of candy bars.
P.S. I still have a few calendars left if you want one. Seriously.
5 comments:
bring a puppy and sell even more!
When I got into outside sales in the mid-80's, my first (sales) manager told me the most important thing to close the sale is to directly - 'ask for an order'. He was actually an Operations Manager/VP, but he closed more sales than all the salespeople combined! After giving his 'pitch', he closed the sale with a direct, friendly - but firm command - something like - 'Hey, give me the order! What's the problem?' He was relaxed and jolly about it and got the customer feeling too good to say NO. All too frequently, sales pitches are basically statements extolling the benefits of the product containing few questions. If there are questions, they commonly fall into the closed-ended inquiries which are just (yawn) - 'yes or no' answers. Most people don't answer statements. They answer questions. Ask a direct open-ended question and track your results. At least, if you don't get the order, you'll know why.
Why did the buissness person cross the road?
To sell a chick-fil-a calender!
-Lydia and Savana
These are what I believe to be the essential ingredients of a sales attempt; you must convey these things:
1) You have something to offer that you truly believe is worth their time
2) You know what you're talking about
3) You are trustworthy
4) You care about your customers, which means you have the ability to shut up and listen!
Anything else is going to make them start fidgeting.
Great post, Dave, as always!
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