Chapter Two
Highlights of the Perfect Sales Process
By Tom Hopkins
Jack and Digger walked into the beautifully expansive lobby of the Hilton in downtown Cincinnati. Jack looked up at the historic paintings that covered the cathedral ceilings.
“Well, you are in for a treat today,” said Digger. “Many people have heard of a Mastermind Group, but very few take the time to be a part of one. These nine individuals you are about to meet have become for me my success cabinet. Any time I am stumped on a project or considering a new entrepreneur enterprise, I toss the idea first by these nine wise professionals.”
“You see Jack, my nine friends and I form ten brains. Ten brains are better than one. We put our brains together and help create success for each other.”
“I have read about the Mastermind Group in Napoleon Hill’s book, but I have never experienced it,” said Jack.
“Well, my young friend, I think you will be sold on the concept after today. Our group meets for two hours every other week. The first hour and fifteen minutes is spent brainstorming on two of the members’ projects or challenges. The last forty-five minutes is dedicated to a presentation given by one of our members so that we can all improve our skills and knowledge. You see, my group consists of professionals in multiple different expertise. We have three Corporate CEOs, three Sales Professionals who are at the top of the profession, the CFO of a Fortune 50 company, two retired professionals including me, and even a Grammy-winning musician. This eclectic group of professionals forms, in my opinion, the best of the best Mastermind Group."
After all the introductions were given, it was time to start the meeting. It was fantastic. The thought energy in that room was like nothing Jack had ever experienced. He felt as though these ten people could solve all the world's problems if given the chance... well, at least some of the world's challenges.
Digger, of course, served as the chairperson of the meeting. At promptly one hour and 15 minutes into the meeting, Digger stood up and introduced the presenter for the day. "Alright friends, we have the privilege of learning today from one of the top sales producers of all time. His background comes from the real estate world. He holds the record for more houses sold in history. For the last couple of decades, or is it three, Tom?" Digger said with a twinkle in his eye. "Tom Hopkins is the Sales Champions Champion. He is the master of fundamentals. And as we know, fundamentals win championships. I give you...Tom Hopkins."
Tom walked up to the lectern as his colleagues gave him a warm welcome of applause. Tom began to speak:
Welcome to the Highlights of the Perfect Sales Process. As you know, the profession of selling consists of two components - finding the people to sell to and then of course selling the people you find. Awhile back, I came home from a tour, and I walked in on my wife working on a jigsaw puzzle. This took me by surprise because I hadn't seen her do this before. Now, I eat, breathe, and sleep selling, so everywhere I can find an analogy, find something that I can teach to better impact the student with the message, then I am all for it. I began thinking about puzzles. Let me ask you a question. When you begin to put a jigsaw puzzle together, where do you start? That's right, on the outside on a flat line, and you begin from the outside and work towards the middle. Well, the selling process is the same way. There are eight pieces you put together, and the end result is the perfect sales process.
Keeping with our puzzle analogy, the first piece on the outside in a corner is called prospecting. Now, nothing will ever replace eyeball-to-eyeball or belly-to-belly contact, that will always be the best, but today I decided to talk about Activity in Different Areas. That is the first key to success in selling. Govern your entire life, not by productivity, which are sales, but by activities on a daily basis. Every day the number of quality activities you do, which are the contacts you make, will determine at the end of the month your success in the profession of selling. And so, I would like to talk about some types of prospecting that we really haven’t discussed before, and that is first of all what we call working the warm market. A warm market is your friends, relatives, associates, and people you have worked with on an existing job. For example, when you leave a job and go into selling, I recommend that you develop a letter that introduces your new career to them. It lets them know you have chosen selling as a profession and that you would like them to help you build your business.
Now, here is an excellent example of an introductory letter that you might try sending to all of the people you know in your warm market. You might start like this:
Good morning Bob,
It is with great excitement that I inform you about a career change that I have recently made. I have just joined ABC Company as a Sales Executive, and it is my pleasure to introduce our company and its products and services to people in the community. Because of our relationship, Bob, I look forward to serving you and anyone you know in the area with the benefits this outstanding company provides. I will be in touch in the next few weeks to set a time to drop by and visit to see how I may serve you in the future.
Sincerely,
Your Name
If you send that letter to everyone you know, they will be ready when you call and arrange time to come by and visit with them. This is a wonderful way to start the process of activity and talking to more people about your product or service.
Many of you also will be assigned a territory where you are to go out into the community, meet businesses, and meet people working in the area, and you may want to establish a game plan for handling or sending an introductory letter to them. In fact, you might say something like this:
Good Morning Mr. Smith,
My name is Tom Hopkins, a representative of ABC Company. Upper management of my firm has given me an assignment....
Now I want you to notice the words I chose closely. By saying the words, “upper management has given me an assignment,” you are almost blaming the company for the fact that you have to make this contact, thus the person you are contacting will have empathy for you and be more open when you call to set the time to visit. Then, you continue with the letter:
They have asked that I contact companies in this area to conduct a quick, two-question survey to enhance our ability to give better service to the clients we intend to serve. Thank you in advance for your help. I will be calling you in the next few weeks to set a time when we can visit.
By sending that letter, you will be amazed at how much warmer they are when you call and introduce yourself and mention to them that you have to come by to ask those two quick survey questions.
Another challenge we have is getting past the receptionists and secretaries, or otherwise known as the gatekeepers. In to4day’s economy, gatekeepers are told with no uncertain terms to keep sales professionals like you and me away from the decision maker. The next time you run across a gatekeeper, I would love you to try this phraseology when you are attempting to get in to meet the decision maker. “Hello, my name is Tom Hopkins. I am in business in the community.” Now, do not give the name of your company when you are making this type of call. You would then say, “I am calling regarding your (and you would state what your product or service does for the company. I am calling regarding your business machines, your copiers, your insurance programs, your employee benefits, what ever). Who in your company is responsible for that?” But, and this is very important, do not wait for their answer. I would like you then to insert the words, “by the way, who am I speaking with please?” When the receptionist gives his or her name, use this name and say “thank you for your help.” You might even, if they do a very nice job on the phone, tell them what a nice job they do. Many receptionists and secretaries do not get a lot of recognition. I always tried to make anyone in any company that I was working with an ally by giving them recognition.
The second piece in the puzzle is called Original Contact. This is a process of meeting a person in such a way that something happens. It is the foundation of great selling, and remember, when you meet a person, you must radiate the goal of helping him/her want to like you, trust you, and want to listen to you. If you make that happen, you are on your way to great selling. Now, when you meet a person, there is a process called establishing rapport, which is fundamentally a way to get him/her to feel that you have something in common. Now, there are ways to do this. There are fundamentals. First of all, always use their name the way that they give it to you. Don’t change their name; that can offend some people. Work on good eye contact, look them in the eyes, and yes, when people first see you, they should see you as a happy person. Give them a nice smile. I have also found it successful if you can find a way to give a sincere compliment, such as complementing the loveliness of their home or their offices. You can also compliment the job they do with their services, which creates value for the community.
Some of you may have a challenge remembering names; I know I did, so I started a habit and I would like to share it with you. When people give you their name, make a conscious effort to repeat their name in your mind four times. If their name is Bob Brown, as soon as they give it to you, repeat, Bob Brown, Bob Brown, Bob Brown, Bob Brown.
Another element to remember is the handshake. If you meet someone for the first time, then in my opinion, reaching out to shake his/her hand is too aggressive. I have a rule of thumb on the handshake – don’t reach out unless it is a pre-planned visit, meaning they know who you are and why you are there; then there is nothing wrong with reaching out. Please, the business handshake for both men and women today is a deep firm handshake. People judge you often times by the way you come across in the very beginning with the handshake.
Next, we move on to the third piece in the puzzle, which is Qualification. The term qualification means we qualify them before we start asking/telling them about a future decision. We have created an acronym that will help you learn this concept. It is using the word “needs” spelled “n.e.a.d.s,” meaning we are not going to talk about a future buying decision until we find out what their n.e.a.d.s. are. Now, this will make you unique in the profession of selling. Most salespeople right from the beginning tell the prospect that they know what they need, why they should buy it, and so forth. The problem with that is it is too pushy today. So, we are going to use the acronym, and each letter triggers one of the concepts of questioning and qualifying. The ‘N’ stands for the word ‘now’, meaning, what do they have now? Here is a key point. Their past buying experience somewhat dictates their future buying decisions. If you show me your past, I can tell you a lot about your future.
Once I know what you have now, or what your past experience is, I then want to probe with questions about what you ‘enjoy’, and that is what the ‘E’ stands for. What do they enjoy about what they have now? Why are they enjoying it? The reason why this is important is that they will want that same feature or an improvement of that feature in a new product.
The ‘A’ in N.E.A.D. stands for what they would like to ‘alter’. That means what would the prospect like to do different or what would they like to change in the product or service?
The ‘D’ stands for ‘decision maker’. It is vitally important that we as sales professionals find out who the real decision maker is for our prospect. You can do that with one wonderful little sentence. You can smile at the decision maker and say, “If we are fortunate to satisfy your needs, who other than yourself will be involved in the final decision?” That is a wonderful sentence for you to write down and start using.
The ‘S’ stands for ‘solution’. As sales professionals, we are the solution to their need. We find out what that need is, and then we become the solution for it.
The fourth in the puzzle is called Presentation. Presentation, or demonstration, is the way that you show the benefits of your product. Never forget this: people do not invest in your product. They primarily invest in what it will do for them after they own it. In other words, my product is not what it is; my product is what it does and that is how the entire presentation must be structured.
There are fundamentals of a good presentation. First of all, presenting is not a spectator sport; it must be an involvement process where you involve the prospect in the presentation. Remember, the more senses that you get involved, the better. To do this, you must master the art of questioning. When you ask the prospect questions, you not only are building rapport, but you are also learning what their needs and concerns are. You are involving them in the presentation.
The presentation covers three basic fundamentals:
- Who we are
- What we have done
- What we will do for you.
Now, when you finish your presentation, the next process is you are going to see how they feel about going further. We call this developing a little test question, and these two are so wonderful; I hope you will develop them. Just smile and say, “Mr. Johnson, how are you feeling about all of this so far?” What a great little question. It lets you know if they are ready to go further or if they have more questions.
The second question I would like you to consider is this: “Mr. Johnson, do you see why we are so excited about this product?” You see, if he says to you, “Yes, I am excited too,” then he wants to go further and you know you are on target emotionally to get ready for the final closing of the sale.
At this point in the presentation, I can almost guarantee something is going to happen. Never forget, in most cases, no one can say “yes” until they first give you some type of no. In other words, there is something that happens when you present a product or service they don’t own. They hear a little voice in their ear that says, “I want it, I want it, I want it,” but then comes the fear of ownership. The buying tension grows. A pro knows how to turn the no into a yes. In fact, I do not believe we are really doing our job, the art of selling, until they say no or hit us with an area of concern. So, let me now cover the six steps of handling the objection.
Step Number 1 is what we call “Hear Them Out.” In a nutshell, this simply means don’t interrupt them. Too many people in selling, especially after they have a few years under their belt, answer objections too soon. They hear a couple of words that smell like an objection, so they jump in and end up answering the wrong area of concern. So, as a cardinal rule, I suggest you never attempt to answer an objection until the end of your presentation.
Use the, hear it twice rule. Now, what does that mean? Well, the prospect needs to mention the objection twice or it is probably not a real area of concern. So, if we are going to not answer a concern, we need to develop a concept I call the bypass. A bypass is simply asking them if it is ok if you wait to answer their question till the end of your presentation.
When they interrupt you with an objection and you are in the middle of the presentation, just simply say, “Mr. Johnson, I can appreciate that and I would like to note that as an area of concern, and with your permission, can I handle that at the end of my presentation?” Do you see how nice that was? Very gentle. The reason you use a bypass is two-fold. One, during your presentation you can address and overwhelm the objection to where it has no more power. Two, he may forget about the objection all together.
Step Number 2 is called ‘Feed it Back’. That means we ask him to elaborate. All right, so what has happened here is that you have finished your presentation and sure enough, the prospect hits you with the same objection he hit you with earlier. Now, you know you have to handle it. He might say, for example, “Tom, I just really believe that it costs too much.” And so you will feed it back. Warmly say – using his name – “John, today most things do; can you tell me about how much too much you feel it is?”
Step Number 3 is called ‘Question It’. In this section, you simply question how important it is. Say, “Mr. Johnson, is this area of concern critical at arriving at a final decision?” This one question often eliminates the entire area of concern.
Step Number 4 is called ‘Answer It’. This means you are choosing the applicable closing technique. Let me give you an analogy. Most of us have visited a restaurant where we first walk in, sit down, and then they hand us a menu. We open the menu and choose the food we want for the meal. In most cases, we aren’t going to look up at the server and say, “I will have one of everything.” Closing is the same way. We choose the applicable closing technique for the situation. So, you must have many closing techniques on your menu.
Step Number 5 is called ‘Confirm the Answer’. When we have given our answer to the objection, we must then Confirm the Answer. That means you must now warmly say, “Now that settles that, doesn’t it?” Now, if you don’t do that, they will hit you with the same objection later on because you didn’t confirm the fact that you answered it.
Step Number 6 is called ‘Change Gears’. Change gears means when you handle an objection, you can’t stop or they will hit you with another one. So, we take them elsewhere with three words. The words are, “By … the … way.” Those three little words allow you now to take them mentally to a new subject.
And now, we are moving into the sixth piece of the puzzle, which is the most important piece in my opinion, which is Closing a Sale. You could call it ‘calling for the final agreement’. You could call it ‘getting the final Yes’. You see, never forget, if you have done everything else correctly up to now, the presentation should proceed smoothly and naturally to the close.
So, we have presented our benefits, we have shown the product, and now we must make a decision that they will own. This is called being assumptive that they will take advantage of the product or service. Never forget as you close the sale, you must close it with casual confidence. That means you must act relaxed. I know how nervous some of you get at this part of the selling process. That is why it is so important that you practice, drill, and rehearse your presentation so that it is not something new to you. It is something natural.
Now, when you go into the closing of the sale, do not show any physical or emotional change. Why? Because if you suddenly get different or sound different, it will trigger fear in them and they will put up their defenses. Remember, at this point you must have thoroughly covered the financial aspects. Why? Because people must know all the money involved before they can give you the final yes.
Closing of the sale begins with what we have always called the Order Blank Close, which is simply you ask them a question, they answer it, and you write it on your paperwork. It could be as simple as smiling and saying, “Mr. Johnson, what is the complete name of the company so I get it down properly?” If it is a husband and wife, those of you in personal sales, you might smile at the person who is really most excited about owning the product and just say, “Mary, did you have a middle initial?” You see, that is a reflex; they will give it to you without thinking. When they give you that middle initial or the correct spelling of the last name, or where they want the statements mailed, just nicely move on to your paperwork.
One of the scariest steps in the selling process for both the prospect and the sales professional is moving to the paperwork. But, we must move to the paperwork as soon and as natural as possible.
Oh, they might stop you as you begin to fill out the paperwork. This is natural and to be expected. The prospect might say something like, “Hang on, Tom. We aren’t sure about this.”
Just gently say, “I can understand that, Jim. What I thought I might do is put everything down, see how it looks, and then you can arrive at the right decision.” See how gentle that is?
In fact, how many times will you hear “no” before you believe it? The top producers I have trained often times have to make a minimum of five attempts at closing a transaction before they get the final agreement. And, your ability to help them say “yes” when they want to say “no” will determine your success in selling. But, it is not overbearing, it’s not strong, and it’s not aggressive. It’s done with questioning and a lot of empathy for them.
One more thing about paperwork. Don’t just put your head down and start filling out the form like a dog chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole. You will scare them to death. You must chit-chat with them as you fill out the form. Keep it loose. Keep it relaxed.
So, now what do we do? The seventh piece in the puzzle is getting referrals. Many people ask for referrals and don’t get very many because they simply don’t ask properly. I would like you to consider using the term “quality introductions” instead of the word “referral.” You see, some people have been turned off when you ask for a referral. Why? Because they have had a bad experience in the past. They gave a friend’s name as a referral, and as a result, their friend was upset.
Instead of asking for a referral, say something like this, “John, I am trying to build my business on a word-of-mouth basis, and I would so appreciate it if you could think of a couple people I might serve by giving me a couple of quality introductions.”
When you ask for quality introductions, it is imperative that you bring up small groups of people they can think of. You might start with their closest friends, their family, and then you might ask about the people they work with, and so on. This helps spur on their memory, and you will be more successful at getting those “quality introductions.”
I believe you will enhance your ability to get quality introductions if you build “thank you” notes into your business. I built my entire business through a referral base because I kept in touch with people and sent a lot of thank you notes. In our world today, which is getting so impersonal, those little hand-written thank you notes are worth their weight in gold.
A couple of new things I am teaching in which I highly recommend to you is that you take a few client names and addresses with you when you go out of state on a vacation. And...send them a postcard. It is so impressive. Write on the post card, “Hi Bob, I am getting a little rest so I can come back and give you better service than ever before. Thank you for being a valued client.” You will be amazed at how open and nice they are when you return.
Another concept we are teaching is not to send the normal holiday cards. Everybody sends the normal holiday cards. I would like to suggest that you consider sending a Thanksgiving card or a letter, and it should say something like this, “During this season of Thanksgiving, let me thank you for being a valued client. We have so appreciated serving you and look forward to doing so for many years. We wish you a happy Thanksgiving, a joyous holiday season, and a prosperous new year.” Now, you stand out. You are ahead of the competition. Try it! It works!
The foundation of the Perfect Sales Process is attitude. It is important that you work on your attitude every day. You got to keep it up and positive. Too many people in selling wait for a good client, a motivational seminar, a good book, or something else to get them motivated. The day you turn pro is the day that you realize that attitude in selling is everything. Attitude is something you have built within yourself. The most important thing you have is your enthusiasm, your excitement for the job that you do. And that is…serving people. Prospects will say “yes” to you more through your conviction, your excitement, and your enthusiasm than in anything else. And, if you do not have it in “here” (inside yourself), then you can’t transmit it out “there.”
So how do you get this attitude? Well, first of all, you have to do what I call “Mental Psych Up.” Do this every day before you hit the streets of selling. This is how it works. Everyday, we all must get rid of the past. It is done. It is over. Get rid of it. You see, the past is like a bucket of ashes. What do you do with a bucket of ashes? You throw it out; you don’t try to re-burn them. You get rid of it… Period! That is what you must do with the past. Every morning, make yourself a commitment, “I will live in the present moment.”
By dwelling on the past, you are bringing those negative emotions and thoughts into the present. That determines your feelings and attitudes of today…which in turn determines your productivity of tomorrow. So by the negativity of yesterday, you are ruining your future. Let it go. Live in the present moment.
Another element that can devastate your attitude is a disease of the mind that tends to be prevalent in our country today. What disease am I talking about? Procrastination. You see, procrastination can be defined as living yesterday, avoiding today, and thus ruining tomorrow.
So, how do we overcome this challenge? By living by three little words: "DO IT NOW!" The things you don't enjoy, the things you want to avoid, the aspects of your selling day in which you can stand: DO THEM NOW! That is the key. Those are the actions that the sales champions do on a daily basis. It is my belief that the successful sales champions are willing to do the things the average salesperson is afraid of or unwilling to do. The sales champions do what they fear most, eliminating that fear and conquering procrastination.
Another element to keep in mind is a little philosophy we call GOYA. Those four letters stand for Get Off Your Anatomy. GOYA is the way out of any slump in selling. If all of the sudden sales are down, it is probably because 60-90 days ago your activity levels were lower, or you stopped doing the basic fundamentals that made you a success in selling in the first place. So, Get Off Your Anatomy and go back to the basics. Fundamentals win championships.
And finally my friends, I want you to realize something extremely important. One of the keys to a good attitude is to really be proud of whatyou do. The world of selling is arguably the most important job in America.
Almost every third world country and almost every other country is trying to duplicate our free market system. They want what we have, which is the freedom to produce a product or service and bring it to the consumer to make a profit. In a nutshell, they want the art form called selling. Selling is the highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work in the world today. Selling is without a doubt the foundation of our free enterprise system. It is what makes capitalism work. So, be proud of what you do. Walk with your shoulders back and your head held high because you have chosen the profession called selling. You have what it takes. Master this message and watch your sales soar as you fly to new heights as a champion.
“That was incredible,” said Jack as he and Digger walked out of the Hilton onto the sun-lit street in downtown Cincinnati.
“My friend,” said Digger. “You have now entered a bigger world. A world of not only your creativity…but also the creativity of your mastermind group. And, another thing I want you to consider, Jack, is that your mastermind group doesn’t have to be just people you know.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jack.
“Well, your mastermind group can also include the greatest minds of all time. We live in an amazing time in history where information is plentiful. And…the sad thing is that most people don’t ever tap into it. For example, how many of your sales associates at your company listen to the personal development products your company sells?”
“As far as I know, none of them. We just sell them,” said Jack.
“I can imagine your company charges a pretty hefty fee even for employees to access their personal development products.” Digger said with a wry smile forming on the corners of his mouth.
“No, they don’t charge us anything. They told us we could listen to anything we wanted,” said Jack with a puzzled expression on his face as he looked into the eyes of his smiling mentor.
“Exactly!” exclaimed Digger.
As they approached Jack’s car parked on the street, Digger paused and grabbed Jack on the arm. “Listen to me carefully, Jack. Success takes work. Work that most people aren’t willing to do. People want the results of success…but none of the effort. But, if we are willing to put forth the effort, then we can make it come true. Walt Disney said, ‘All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.’ The first thing you must do in pursuing your dream is to prepare for it. That takes learning. Learning that much of your competition isn’t willing to do. That, my friend, gives you a distinct advantage.”
With that, Digger reached into his pocket, pulled out a card, and handed it to Jack. On the card, it read in Digger’s handwriting,
Jack,
I took the liberty of browsing through the list of products your company sells. Your company sells some of the best. As my eyes scanned the list, one jumped out to me as a perfect fit for you. It is Scott McKain’s Distinctive Selling. If you want to succeed in the world of selling—and I know you do—then go through Scott’s program.
Make it a Great Day! You can do it!
Digger