Conrey is for Closers

“Whatever is easiest for you” That should be your answer 99% of the time when your client offers a couple of choices that have no real impact on you. Let them be the one to decide if it is easiest to meet with you in the morning or the afternoon. Let them decide if it is best to reach back to you via email or phone. Give them the choice to pick the easiest answer for them.

This is one of those things you can trap yourself with very quickly if you’re not careful. You want to give them the options, let them pick the easier one for them, and then go back to guiding them towards the close. Here’s the part that lets this remain a win for you – you can still change your mind. If they say it is easiest to reach them via email but you don’t get a response after a few emails – give them a call. If they say it is easiest to meet in the morning but you’re booked up the days they want to meet – you can push for an afternoon meeting. The whole thing comes back to showing them that you are working for them and their interests. When they believe that you’re working with their interests in heart then the close will come much easier.

At the end of the day who decides if you were successful that day? Did you close a deal (or two)? Did you make the cold call you dreaded? Did you get some more leads? Did you do all of those things?

More importantly – If you didn’t, can you still be successful?

I would argue yes. As a salesman your success is your own responsibility, and you certainly will have outside forces who have goals for your production – but those should not be your standards for success. When I was selling cars there was a minimum expectation from higher ups for me to sell 15 cars a month. I was never happy unless I was selling 20. But even on the times when I wasn’t selling, if I was making my phone calls, making appointments, and doing the steps right – even if I wasn’t closing the deal – I felt as though I was being successful. Those two success parameters may seem as though they are at odds with each other, but I am a firm believer in the fact that the process will pay off if you follow it.

When you start to feel unsuccessful you can allow yourself to get into bad habits that will keep you from what has brought success in the past. You’re going to look for short cuts and quick ways to make the deal – even at a long term loss.

Define your own success in everything – and don’t be happy to just have the minimums. I am thrilled with 25-30 views per post on this blog – but that doesn’t qualify as a success for me – I want more. I was happy to sell 15 cars a month but I wanted 20 (and I got it). I’m happy to keep Integrum busy with work, but I want to be so busy we have to hire more people or turn work away.

What can you define your own success in today?

A phrase that I heard repeatedly when I was selling cars was “Conrey, you need to slow down to speed up.” In my excitement to close a deal I would often make small mistakes – sometimes several of them – which would cause me untold problems down the road. I ended up spending more time solving these issues than if I had just slowed down a little bit and done it right the first time (yes – echos of my dad telling me to do it right the first time as well).

It is easy to let your excitement run a little bit when you’re in the closing stage of any deal. Hell if you’re not excited about closing, you probably should rethink your sales position. But even when you’re not closing you need to be aware of your pace.

• Slow down when you leave voicemail messages – especially when leaving your phone number. There is nothing worse than a voicemail message I have to listen to twice to get a call back number.
• Slow down when prospecting, make sure you’re not missing easy referrals from past clients, or from leads that have emailed or called you. Return every phone call and email – no matter how busy you may be. The next one you return may be the one that makes a deal for you.
• Slow down when the client is telling you about their problem – don’t be preparing your pitch while they are speaking, you need to be sure that you are listening so that you can accurately diagnose and solve their pain.
• Slow down when giving your pitch – watch for the body language cues to see if they are buying in to how you are selling to them or if you need to change tactics. Don’t rush through it, make sure they don’t miss any of the parts that will be important to them.
• Slow down when closing – get a firm commitment from the client and make sure that they know that you are the right one to sell them whatever it is they are buying. Don’t take maybes and assumptions as a real close.
• Slow down when doing the paperwork or contracts to finalize the deal – a missed zero or address error can make a difference in their perception of your quality, professionalism and sets a bad expectation for their future contact with you in post-sale life. Don’t let them think that you are so eager to finish with them and move on to the next sale.

Speed kils your momentum if you can’t react to the right stimuli as they arise. Take a deep breath and slow down before you hurt yourself.