Sales Success. Mark Bowser
we were friends, so we would frequently get together just to chat.
I was over at his house. I was really excited and there was Bill singing the blues. We were in his kitchen having a little chat. I mean things were tough, and as I got talking to him, I said, “Well, Bill, I know what your problem is”
He said, “What’s my problem, man; tell me quick.”
I said, “You’re trying to sell something you don’t believe in.”
Well, he about exploded. He said, “What do you mean I don’t believe in it? We have the greatest set of cookware on the American market.”
I said, “I know that, Bill, but it’s obvious you don’t know it.”
In a testy voice, Bill said, “What do you mean I don’t believe in it? I left the company I was with for four years. I was a manager there, and I came aboard here as a salesperson because I believe in this product.”
I made a little eye contact with the set of pots he had hanging over his stove… and they weren’t our company’s pots.
“Oh, that,” said Bill. “But Zig, you know what my situation is. Man, I wrecked my car, and for about a month there, I had to depend on the bus and cabs in order to go make calls. You can’t operate like that. And, you know my wife has been in the hospital. She was in there for ten days, and we didn’t have any insurance. The hospital bill was horrendous. Now, it looks like we’re going to have to put the boys in the hospital to get their tonsils out. But Zig, I am going to get a set of the cookware.”
I then asked him how long he had been with our company. He said it had been five years. I then asked him what his excuse was last year for not having a set of the cookware. And the year before that and the year before that. I then looked right into his eyes and said, “Bill, let me tell you the thought process that takes place when you’re in the closing situation and the prospect says to you, ‘Bill I’d love to buy this set of cookware. It is really neat, but you see, I can’t. I wrecked my car a month ago and my wife’s been in the hospital for ten days and I don’t have any insurance, and man, that just stripped us bare. Now it looks like we ’re going to have to put the boys in the hospital and get their tonsils out.’ I said, “Now Bill, you and I both know nobody is going to come up with exactly the same excuses that you came up with, but when they give you any excuse at all, you’re sitting there saying to yourself quietly, ‘Now think positive, Bill. Think positive ’, but deep down, what you’re thinking is ‘Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. That’s the reason I don’t have a set of the stuff myself.”
I let that sink in for a moment and then I told Bill that he needed to buy a set of the cookware from himself that day before he went out to make his first sales call. He asked me if I really thought it was that important. I told him I didn’t think it would make a difference. I knew it would make a difference. I told Bill that if he did this, he would sell enough extra cookware that week to pay for his own set of cookware. Well, I made a sale that day. I persuaded Bill to buy a set of cookware off himself.
Later, he told me he earned more than enough to pay for his own set of cookware and acknowledged as he went on in his career that the best investment that he ever made was the investment in his own product. Owners are closers. Owners sell; that is the point I’m trying to get across. Believe in what you’re selling enough that you would sell it to your mother or your daughter or your son or your dad. Believe it enough that you’re using it yourself. Now, don’t misunderstand. I don’t think if you sell 747 airplanes that you have to buy a 747. But, if you’re selling Fords and you’re driving a Chevrolet, then there’s something that’s a little inconsistent about what you’re talking about. Selling is a transference of feeling. Well, what I’m really getting at is character is the base on which you are believing. You see, the heart of the sale really does start with the honest factor, and that is what character is all about. You see, values determine behavior. Behavior determines reputation. Reputation determines advantages. It is so important.
A lot of people think that their lives are completely out of focus. That their lives are all filled up but they are not all filled up. They are just a little bit out of focus. As salespeople, we first need to focus on getting prospects. Then, we need to focus on getting appointments. Then, we need to focus on making the presentation. Then, we need to focus on getting them to take a positive action.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been on a sales call with a new salesperson who will be talking and talking and talking, and you know what? They still never asks for the order. I have, on occasion, heard the prospect say, “Now, you’re not trying to sell me something, are you? “And believe it or not, the salesperson will say, “Oh, no, no, no.” Well, what are you, a professional listener? I mean, as I understand it, the purpose of the call is to make the sale. That’s why honesty and integrity are so important. The belief you have in your product or service will come out, and the depth of your sincerity is infinitely more persuasive than the height of your knowledge and all of these other things.
We are in the people business. This is where honesty comes in. You see, when you talk about integrity, there are some people who will say that everything is relative. I have never met the owner of a business who said he or she would hire an accountant or a treasurer who was only relatively honest. It just doesn’t happen. When I go out of town and come back, my wife has never yet asked me if I have been relatively faithful while I was gone. There are some things that are right and there are some things that are wrong. You see, with integrity, you do the right thing and since you do the right thing then there is no guilt involved. With integrity, you have nothing to fear because you have nothing to hide. You can talk to your customers who you sold to yesterday and you can talk to them tomorrow, next week, or next year, because you know that in your heart that they are the big winners and that’s where the integrity comes in. With integrity, you have no fear because you have nothing to hide. And since you have nothing to hide, you have no guilt. Get those two burdens, fear and guilt, off your shoulders and you will sell far more and you will sell it more freely.
Let me also point out that this has been validated by the Forum Corporation out of Boston, Massachusetts. They did a study on 341 sales people. One hundred and seventy-three of them were really super successful, and the other one hundred and sixty-eight were also good. They analyzed what makes the difference between the super successful and those who are good, and what they discovered was two major factors. Number one: those who had absolute integrity and believed that their word was their bond were much more likely to get the sale. My mama used to say to me, “If your word is no good, eventually you’re no good either.” Our words do determine so many things.
The second thing these super successful salespeople had was an understanding that the sale was not complete until the order had been signed, the merchandise, goods, or services had been delivered, and the customer was happy with the transaction. Only then can you truly say you have made the sale.
These are the customers that will send you to their friends and relatives in order to buy. These are the ones that give you the recommendations. Otherwise, you’ll always have to be prospecting. And that’s okay, but it’s so much easier if you don’t have to do that all the time because your happy customers have filled your pipeline with referrals.
Let me put it this way. We need to be so excited and so enthusiastic and so motivated about what we sell and what it will do for the prospect that everything else is completely out of focus. Instead, our focus needs to be on satisfying and meeting the customer’s needs so that they will benefit as a result of it.
Why am I so excited about the profession of selling? Not only do we have so much control over the economy, but let me tell you something. I’ve seen people experience such incredible growth as they became successful in the world of selling. You have what it takes. You were created by God to be a winner.
I’m not talking about building a super inflated ego. You know, conceit is a weird disease that makes everyone sick except the one who has it. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about building a healthy self-image. It was Muhammad Ali who said, “Just remember, that if man can take moldy bread and can make penicillin out of it, just consider what a loving