17 Highly-Guarded Strategies to Close Every Sale – Strategy #8: Shotgun Versus Sniper (1 of 2)

No, I’m not talking about the military. Listen up…Everyone walks into sales presentations like a shotgun. They try to blow up their prospects with tons of information, details, statistics and other useless knowledge. The presentation is not structured and takes too much time. The tactic is to confuse them to close them. Unfortunately, there are many sales managers that teach this tactic and it’s completely unethical. I can guarantee you that anyone that teaches or uses that type of closing strategy does not have long-lasting, profitable relationships.

Instead, be a sniper during your presentation. Know exactly what you need to cover briefly in order to close the sale and open the relationship. Share with them just enough to pique
their interest and generate questions. If you expect to handle every objection and every concern during your presentation, you are wasting your time. You can handle the majority of them, but there’s simply no way that you will be able to tackle every question and concern during the initial presentation.

Unlike a shotgun, a sniper will focus in and take one shot at their target. No, I’m not saying to annihilate your customer, but you have to be as focused as a sniper on your ultimate goal. Your target is to close every sale and open up a long-term prosperous relationship. You don’t want to just confuse the daylights out of the person, close the sale and move on to the next victim. Once again, that’s unethical and no way to build a prosperous business.

Here’s a bonus for you. Most sales presentations should be limited to one hour. Yes, that’s only 60 minutes in which you will present your business/product for the first 30 minutes. The remaining 30 minutes will be completely devoted to any questions or concerns voiced by your customer. After you finish your presentation, ask them, “What did you like best about it?” This empowers the person to speak positively about our presentation. This is their time so just let them talk and ask questions. You basically shut-up and listen at this point.

THE POWER OF THE A-Z PRESENTATION

Over the last decade of being a professional home-based networker, when someone asks me, “John, what is the #1 reason why people fail in their own network marketing business?” I say with 110% confidence it is because they customize their presentations assuming what each individual prospect will find exciting. This mindset will definitely set you up for failure!

The key to success is the power of duplication — showing the same presentation over and over. You need to be presenting the entire business from A-Z to each and every one of your prospects because you have no idea what is going on inside them as you share the business. You must show your business exactly the same way each time you present your program for two primary reasons:

Reason #1 is you will be 100% full of confidence & conviction knowing what you are going to say because you have presented the entire plan from A-Z numerous times the SAME EXACT WAY. Repetition is the mother of skill. Your nervousness will also decrease, because you will become confident in your presentation.

Reason #2 is because I can almost guarantee you that when you begin to put this into practice you will have your prospects respond to aspects of your business that you would have assumed they would not have been interested in before. You will see your business explode within a short period of time. Just imagine everyone in your network internalizing this mindset and fully understanding the power of an A-Z presentation. The leadership abilities within them will skyrocket, which in turn will create momentum in your business.

Momentum is a force that you will not be able to control; it is also the key to unprecedented growth in your business. Leadership is earned by people who deserve it and you will project leadership when you present with the “Power of A-Z”. Always remember, it is just a matter of time before you hit your target when you keep aiming for it!

THE ABCs OF LIFE

This week’s article is targeted toward professional marketers in the industry of network marketing. During a workshop this week, I did a special presentation on the ABCs of achieving the top position in life and in business. The ABCs that I spoke of are as follows: A – Attitude/Action, B – Building/Belief, C – Commitment/Caring.

The foundational key to success in life is a positive attitude. We all hear about it, we all talk about it and we all read about, but do we all have positive attitudes? Your attitude can go in three different directions – forward, neutral and backward. Going forward produces a positive attitude, remaining neutral and/or sliding backward result in a negative attitude. You cannot have both a positive and negative attitude! A person with a positive attitude will have “down days,” which are characteristics of a leader. In order to be successful, you must experience frustrations in life that tend to make you a stronger leader with a drive to succeed. Another important component to developing a positive attitude is establishing daily action steps. There are three key ingredients in building a professional business in network marketing or life in general.

1. Reading your WHY card upon arising in the morning and retiring in the evening. The most important force in your life is your WHY, which I speak extensively in my training programs and during seminars. (WHY are you living the life that you live day in and day out) You need to internalize your WHY and develop it into your spirit.

2. Consult with your Mastermind Team. Your Mastermind Team is the first three people that you consult with each and everyday that will ultimately help you achieve your WHY in life.

3. Speak to three new people a day about your business. Those three new people are three new prospects/three new seeds. “Seed time and harvest will not cease.” Those are two principles that will parallel your success in business and mainly in life. Basically what ever you plant you will harvest – positive or negative.

A forward-moving attitude will help you to build a huge business for yourself and have an incredibly successful life. I challenge you this week to read your WHY card, consult your Mastermind Team daily and speak to three new people a day about your business.

THAT LITTLE BIT EXTRA

The “little bit extra” is a very powerful concept to put into practice today in every aspect of your life. The difference between being ordinary and being extraordinary is that little bit EXTRA. The little bit extra is what separates average performers from CHAMPIONS!

In a sales process, the little bit extra is that one extra follow-up call, that extra sincere thank-you or the extra little bit of energy that you put into the presentation of your business. This will separate you from your competition. You can either go through the motions of your business or you can give that little bit extra in order to cement yourself in the mind of your potential customer. We all can relate to purchasing a product/service from someone who just gave you a little bit extra attention than their competitor did and THAT is the reason we bought from THEM!

When I personally coach someone, one of my key strategies is to move them to become champions in their field. One of the easiest ways is to show them the value of what a little extra eye contact with their prospects or customers brings. You need to look your prospect or customer directly in their eyes when you are presenting your business! This drives into them your confidence and conviction about what you and your product/service have to offer them. When I coach people, I tell them that the eye contact strategy alone will take them two steps ahead of their competition.

Remember, people will feed off your confidence from the look in your eyes. As you progress in your journey towards fulfilling your WHY, you need to constantly give that little extra! The true sign of a champion-to-be is just when it seems impossible for him/her to give that extra push; they dig deep down and give that little bit extra to fulfill their WHY! When I speak to groups, I train them to have the mindset of always giving a little bit more than their competitor. Over the long run, it will pay off big! A small improvement over a long period of time will produce outstanding results.

Now that you know the benefit of giving that little bit of extra effort, you need to ask yourself a question…”What can I do today and every day with a little more effort to move me to the champion level in my field?” You need to realize someone will be the champion in your chosen endeavor. Let me ask you a question, “Why not you?”

PREJUDGING WILL COST YOU YOUR BUSINESS

You know when you want to turn your car on, you have to put the key in the ignition, put the car in drive, press the gas and go. Nothing changes…You press the gas, You hit the brake, You stop at red lights, You forge forward…nothing changes!

You stay consistent, because you can’t change your car based upon the road your on.
You can’t prejudge and say “I’m not going to bring my shocks today, because I don’t
need them on this particular road, or I don’t need my blinker, because I’m only going to
go straight.”

I live in Florida, where everything is straight and flat, but I still can’t say
“I don’t need my blinkers, shocks or brakes.” I can’t do that…I can’t pre-judge my
path…it’s an impossible feat!

What does this have to do with becoming a successful business builder? Simply,
STOP Prejudging! Again, STOP Prejudging. 95% of people in direct sales and marketing fail, and here’s the reason why. They “Prejudge” their Prospects and change their presentations to better fit that particular prospect. Here’s an example:

“Oh, he’s just a 24 year old stuttering kid that will never make it in the
industry so I’ll just change the presentation and make it a little shorter. No
need to waste my time.”

On the flip side of that, most people will say this to themselves:

“I’m sitting down with a CEO of a company today so I’ve got to take out the part on money, because he has plenty.”

It doesn’t matter who your prospect is…You cannot prejudge him/her and change your presentation! As you know that 24 year old stutterer was me, and I would have earned you seven figures if you wouldn’t have prejudged me.

The challenge for most business builders is prejudging their prospects based
on his/her credentials, looks, past, etc. I believe each and every person is a Miracle…
I believe every single business builder should be a seven figure earner if they choose to be. DO NOT PREJUDGE!

Show your plan and your business to each prospect the very same way.
Don’t change it for anyone! It’s the same way you drive your car. You always bring your blinker, you shocks, your brakes…every time you drive your car! You can’t prejudge conditions no matter the circumstance. Never, ever prejudge, and I guarantee you that you will become a seven figure earner and build a powerhouse business.