In Secrets of Closing the Sale, published in 1982, salesman and public speaker Zig Ziglar reveals how you can greatly increase your chances of closing your sales. He discusses how you can shift your thinking to better understand your potential customer—your lead—and he outlines specific sales techniques that can maximize the impact of your pitch. Ziglar takes a 360-degree approach to sales, teaching you about the salesperson, the customer, and the sale itself so you’re fully equipped to make the right decisions in the room and close the deal.
In this guide, we’ll begin by discussing the ideal traits of a salesperson and how you can develop them. We’ll then turn to the lead, explaining how they think and behave in sales situations so you can cater to their needs. Finally, we’ll talk about the sale itself and the strategies you can employ to maximize your chances of success.
Let’s begin by discussing what makes a successful salesperson. Ziglar argues salespeople must first internalize and live by the following two principles.
Ziglar insists that to find success and happiness in your own life, you must help others find it in theirs. Approach not only sales leads, but everyone you encounter, with the intention to help and support them. When you act in this selfless way, the happiness and success you spread come back to you—often, in the form of good sales numbers.
(Shortform note: An alternative perspective on helping others comes from Stephen Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Rather than seeking only to help others and expecting that you’ll eventually reap the benefits of your generosity, Covey advocates for approaching interactions from a win-win perspective. In this view, you actively cooperate with others to achieve mutual gain. This approach seems to offer more immediate rewards and implies more personal agency in achieving happiness than Ziglar’s.)
Understand that everyone is always selling, no matter what they do, asserts Ziglar. Selling is not confined to commerce but is rather a basic human necessity that even children know how to do. For instance, when you ask your sister to watch your pets over the weekend, you’re trying to sell her on spending her weekend with your dogs.
(Shortform note: In To Sell Is Human, Daniel H. Pink agrees that humans are natural sellers, but, unlike Ziglar, he makes a distinction between traditional selling and non-sales selling. For Pink, traditional selling is the professional salesmanship Ziglar focuses on. Non-sales selling, on the other hand, is the act of persuading others to surrender an intangible resource—like surrendering time to pick someone else up from the airport. Pink makes this distinction because he argues that even people who aren’t in traditional sales still must heavily engage in non-sales selling at work.)
The fact that everyone sells means there’s nothing embarrassing about selling and that you should do it with pride and integrity, asserts Ziglar.
(Shortform note: If you still struggle to make peace with your role as a salesperson, consider job crafting—changing the duties and relationships associated with your role to be more aligned with your values and interests. For example, if you like motivating others and you’re good at it, you might take on more coaching responsibilities for newer salespeople. This is a relatively modern concept Ziglar likely wouldn’t have been familiar with at the time of the book’s writing in the early 1980s.)
Beyond adhering to the above two principles, to succeed as a salesperson, you must also have the following six qualities:
First, to sell well, start from a rock-solid belief that your product will improve the customer’s life, stresses Ziglar. You’ll transfer this strong belief to your lead during a pitch.
(Shortform note: While you must have confidence in your product, don't let that keep you from adjusting it based on customer feedback and demand. Tony Robbins feels your customer’s needs should dictate what your product looks like, which might entail modifying or updating it. If your confidence in the product prevents you from changing it, you may lose sales.)
Second, develop a strong sense of your value as a salesperson, recommends Ziglar. Be convinced that you have something to offer customers and that you’re there to help them. This lets you approach each pitch with confidence and bounce back from negative interactions.
(Shortform note: To develop your confidence as a salesperson, consider creating an alter ego in challenging sales situations. An alter ego is a more confident and successful version of yourself you can channel when you lack natural confidence.)
Third, believe that the lead can afford the product or service, states Ziglar. Your belief in their ability to pay carries over to the lead, who will then also believe they can afford the product.
(Shortform note: Ziglar claims that your confidence in the lead’s ability to pay carries over to the lead. And indeed, studies show that confidence is contagious: When you see someone behave with confidence, you gain that same confidence because certain neurons called mirror neurons fire in your brain.)
The most important quality for any salesperson to possess is credibility in the eyes of the customer, writes Ziglar. The customer must trust that you have their best interests at heart and that you’re not trying to take advantage of them. Establish credibility by fully believing the two principles we outlined above (helping others find success will help you, and everyone is always selling) and developing the qualities we’re currently talking about.
(Shortform note: Establishing credibility is also critical in organizational leadership, as James Kouzes and Barry Posner argue in The Leadership Challenge. Without credible leaders, there can be no trust between the company and the public. The authors break credibility into three components: honesty, competence, and inspiration. For a company to be successful, its leaders must be truthful with the public, act on their values, and always strive to do better.)
Present yourself well, insists Ziglar. Do this by being clean and good-smelling and dressing neatly and professionally, yet not showily. Think about the image you want to project to your customers—reliable, knowledgeable, experienced, and so on—and dress in a way that reflects this.
(Shortform note: While the expectation of sales attire remains formal to this day, attire in other fields has changed dramatically since the writing of this book in 1982. The shift to business casual started in the mid-eighties in Silicon Valley, where executives wanted to simplify and streamline processes, which also meant simplifying and streamlining the dress code. Still today, a low-effort dress code helps tech companies project their desired image of being efficiency-oriented—the same way a polished suit helps salespeople project the image of competence.)
Develop empathy for your customer, advises Ziglar. Empathy is understanding how someone else feels (even if you don’t currently share that feeling) and then taking steps to help the person deal with that feeling.
(Shortform note: Chris Voss and Tahl Raz, authors of Never Split the Difference, would likely characterize the empathy Ziglar discusses as tactical empathy. This is empathy for someone with the aim of achieving your goals (for instance, you may express empathy toward your friend who dropped their ice cream with the goal of getting them to buy you both a new one). In this case, as a salesperson, you express empathy with the goal of getting the sale. To improve your tactical empathy, speak in an upbeat, warm tone by default and repeat the other person’s words back to them in conversation.)
Empathy is effective in sales because leads are motivated to buy when they feel understood and cared for, claims Ziglar. Empathy also helps you create a better pitch because, by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes, you can gear your presentation to their specific needs, thereby increasing your chances of success.
(Shortform note: Empathy is a quality that improves many aspects of your life beyond your ability to sell. According to the Dalai Lama in The Art of Happiness, you need empathy to be compassionate. Being compassionate, in turn, lets you connect with other humans and establish strong bonds. Empathy thus seems to be the foundation for a fulfilling life and a successful career.)
To be empathetic, develop both impeccable listening and speaking skills, insists Ziglar. Pay close attention not only to what the lead says but also to what their body language indicates. A lead’s body language often shows how they really feel: They might tell you they’re not interested in your product but unconsciously touch it or move closer to it, which indicates interest. When you fully understand what the lead feels, you can respond empathetically to those feelings.
(Shortform note: Ziglar is right to recommend you pay close attention to body language: Experts estimate that only 7% of information is conveyed verbally, and most information in an interaction is communicated through body language. One common physical cue is having crossed arms or legs, which signals resistance to what you’re saying. Another common tell is that a genuine smile creates wrinkles around the eyes—a smile with no wrinkles is likely not sincere. Finally, when the other person mirrors your body language, it means they feel connected to you.)
Additionally, record yourself making pitches and listen back to fine-tune your delivery, advises Ziglar. Your inflection has huge persuasive power, so it’s important to learn how to use your voice to convey your sales pitch and your sincerity about helping the lead. Also, listen for negative words in your pitch and eliminate them from your selling vocabulary. These include terms that imply unhappiness or pain and frame the sale as a financial transaction (avoid words like “deal,” “sale,” and “close,” for example). Additionally, use the most elegant or formal version of any word (for instance, use “wardrobe” instead of “closet”).
(Shortform note: Ziglar recommends you learn to control your voice and modify your vocabulary to most effectively convey your message and sincerity. In Way of the Wolf, Jordan Belfort takes this idea even further, recommending that you change your tone throughout a pitch to keep the customer engaged. You might thus use inflections that convey sincerity, followed by questioning inflections, which express a phrase as a question. Belfort also takes Ziglar’s proposal to avoid negative words and use the formal version of any word a step farther by suggesting that you develop an entire script for your pitch. This allows you to carefully choose the vocabulary you’ll use to communicate.)
Ziglar writes that you must enter a selling situation with the expectation that it will go well. When you have faith in your chances and abilities and approach the lead with a positive attitude, you greatly increase the chance of a sale. Avoid allowing negative, defensive, or combative thoughts or behaviors to seep into your sale. This will ruin your chances of selling.
(Shortform note: Ziglar’s idea that you should develop the expectation that you’ll be successful in your endeavors is one part of Norman Vincent Peale’s concept of positive thinking in The Power of Positive Thinking. Positive thinking encompasses the decision to be happy, the expectation that you’ll succeed (as Ziglar discusses), the conviction that failure isn’t an option, and the application of positive thinking to improve your life.)
Ziglar adds that you can gain confidence in your abilities by becoming a better public speaker and an expert on your product. You also gain confidence by simply practicing selling. This confidence, in turn, will let you approach the next sale positively.
(Shortform note: In The Confidence Code, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman agree with Ziglar that you can develop confidence, but they suggest a radically different approach to doing so. Rather than acquiring knowledge and experience, they propose you fail fast—try things with the expectation that you’ll fail so you can learn immediately from your failure. This act of taking risks and rebounding from failure builds confidence.)
Finally, to maximize your effectiveness as a salesperson, always seek opportunities to grow and acquire new knowledge that makes you better at your job, writes Ziglar. Do this by consuming relevant content and media, like self-help books and podcasts.
(Shortform note: Not only should you consume content that promotes your career growth, but you should also be smart about when you consume this content, suggests Robin Sharma in Who Will Cry When You Die?. Read or listen to podcasts during unexpected downtimes, like in traffic. Prepare for this by always having reading or listening material on hand.)
Now that you understand the principles and qualities that make you a good salesperson, let’s turn to the customer. In this part, we’ll talk about six common customer behaviors you must understand to do your best selling. We’ll then turn to five common customer objections and how to best address them, according to Ziglar.
Here are the six common customer behaviors.
Customers often unwittingly express false reasons for not wanting to buy the product, claims Ziglar. For instance, someone might argue they can’t afford the product when in reality, they simply already own a similar product. As a salesperson, you must listen well (as discussed in Part I) to figure out what their true objection is so you can address it. We’ll talk more about addressing objections in the next section.
(Shortform note: Ziglar contends that people often give false reasons for not wanting to buy a product, and indeed, other experts agree that people generally aren’t as in tune with themselves as they think they are. Humans are good at evaluating themselves on certain traits—they tend to correctly evaluate how emotionally stable they are, for instance—but they’re bad at evaluating themselves on traits like intelligence and generosity. You might take advantage of humans’ habit of thinking of themselves as smarter than they perhaps are by flattering their intelligence to make a sale.)
Often, a lead declines to buy because they don’t have enough information on the product to make the choice to buy, writes Ziglar. They want you to provide more information so they can feel secure in their decision to buy. For instance, a lead might decline to buy your smartwatch because they don’t understand all its capabilities. When you explain these to the customer, they feel confident they’re getting value from the product and buy.
(Shortform note: In Way of the Wolf, Jordan Belfort elaborates on the idea that leads are more likely to buy when they have comprehensive information about a product. A lead’s certainty about a product falls somewhere on a scale from one to 10. As a salesperson, your job is to move them to 10 on the scale. What’s more, he argues, there are also scales of certainty about you, the salesperson, and the company you work for. Establishing credibility in the eyes of the lead, as we discussed in Part I, can be seen as moving the lead’s certainty about you to 10.)
Customers far more often buy products they want over products they need, contends Ziglar. This means you must appeal to peoples’ desires, not their needs. When selling your smartwatch, don’t pitch it on its utility but rather on its stylishness and modernity, for instance.
(Shortform note: Donald Miller would disagree with Ziglar on the notion that people buy things they want, not things they need. In Building a StoryBrand, Miller claims that people are motivated to purchase by the basic need to stay alive and prosper. Any marketing or brand that doesn’t speak to these basic human needs will fail. In other words, if a lead doesn’t feel your product will fulfill a basic human need (like securing shelter or building self-esteem), they won’t buy.)
Ziglar also believes that customers buy the experience of pleasure the product promises, not the product itself. So, when selling, stress the joy the product will give the purchaser. For example, when selling your smartwatch, emphasize the freedom the customer will feel when they don’t have to track their exercise themselves.
(Shortform note: In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller provides even more targeted advice on how to sell the experience of pleasure: Be very specific. It’s easier for customers to imagine and desire a specific future pleasure than a vague one, which will then make them more likely to buy. For instance, rather than telling a lead your smartwatch “will make you feel great,” tell them your smartwatch “will make you feel like there’s nothing in the world holding you back.”)
Buyers fear loss more than they appreciate gain, asserts Ziglar. Customers will often be motivated to buy when they feel they’ll miss out if they don’t. You can use this knowledge to sell by showing customers that their lives are worse off for not owning the product. For example, emphasize to a customer how much harder it is to track their exercise without your smartwatch.
(Shortform note: Behavioral psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky were able to put a specific number to our fear of loss: We dislike losing 2.5 times more than we like gaining. They came to this conclusion in an experiment in which they gave subjects the chance to win $100 or lose $100 if a coin landed heads or tails respectively. Most subjects declined this bet and only took the bet when their winnings could be $250.)
Now that we’ve discussed customer behaviors, let’s look at five common reasons why Ziglar believes customers don’t buy from you and how to address those reasons.
Leads will argue that they don’t need your product, warns Ziglar. In such cases, the lead often simply doesn’t have enough information to understand how the product will benefit them (we discussed this idea earlier in this section). Ask questions to glean what they don’t yet understand and then provide the missing information to show the product will improve their life.
(Shortform note: While you may be able to convince a lead who claims they don’t need your product that they do need it, a better approach might be to more effectively filter your leads so you only approach people who very likely do need your product. According to Mike Weinberg in New Sales. Simplified., filter your leads by asking yourself who your current best customers are, what they have in common, and where you can find more such customers.)
Ziglar asserts that customers may tell you they don’t want the product (this differs from the first objection in that “wanting” implies an emotional desire while “needing” implies a utilitarian requirement). To address the customer’s lack of desire for the product, make them consider that not buying means missing out on something (as discussed earlier in this section, people are more motivated to act by the fear of loss than the possibility of gain). For instance, if your customer doesn’t desire your smartwatch, explain that they’re missing out on the ability to share their exercise regimen with their friends.
(Shortform note: In modern parlance, Ziglar is talking about creating a sense of “FOMO” in your customer: the fear of missing out on something good. While this can be an effective way to get your lead to buy, you might also consider creating a fear of losing something the lead already has. This, too, motivates people to act. For instance, you might convince a lead to invest in a new digital organization tool because doing so reduces the chances they’ll lose their current job as a result of disorganization.)
Many customers also don’t feel they need the product immediately, writes Ziglar. To overcome the customer’s lack of urgency, first agree that there’s no rush, then tell them that if they wait for the perfect moment to make the purchase, they’ll spend all that time without the product when they could be enjoying it now.
(Shortform note: There are many other tactics companies use to create a sense of urgency to buy: Offering a product at a discounted price only for a limited time, using words and phrases that imply urgency, and creating a feeling of scarcity by offering only a limited amount of the product. However, these tactics merely create the illusion of urgency, while Ziglar’s approach seeks to convince the customer there truly is urgency.)
Many customers pass because they don’t feel the cost of the product reflects its value, asserts Ziglar. Therefore, point out the value of your product by showing that it’s more satisfying and higher quality than a cheaper product. For example, you might explain that your smartwatch is more expensive than competitors’ because of its superior battery life, which lets you use it more before recharging.
(Shortform note: The act of showing how your product provides greater value than competitors’ is called differentiating your product. According to A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin in Playing to Win, this means creating a product that appeals to consumers because it’s higher quality or has better branding. Lafley and Martin point out an added benefit of differentiating, beyond allowing you to make the immediate sale: It creates brand loyalty, which makes you and your company more resilient to passing market trends.)
It’s possible the customer won’t want the product because they don’t trust you, writes Ziglar. This is the hardest objection to overcome, and it’s best to preempt it by adhering to the principles and developing the qualities we discussed in Part I. It’s nearly impossible to change the mind of someone who doesn’t trust you.
(Shortform note: In Start With Why, Simon Sinek agrees with Ziglar that you can’t convince someone to trust you using logic and that you must earn trust over the long term. However, Sinek provides a different way to earn trust: by convincing the other person that you share their values and beliefs. In a sales situation, you might tell your customer that you believe selling should be a win-win situation to earn their trust, for example.)
Now that you know what you as the seller must bring to a sale and how leads tend to behave in buying situations, you can move on to crafting an effective pitch. Do this by following these five rules.
The best way to make a sale is to lead the customer to their own conclusion that they need the product, emphasizes Ziglar. When the customer convinces themselves that they need what you’re offering, they’re almost sure to buy. Help the customer come to their own conclusion by asking them targeted questions. For example, a question might be: “Wouldn’t it help you get in shape if you knew exactly how much you were exercising each day?”
(Shortform note: In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie offers a more empathetic way to get customers to convince themselves to buy: Instead of asking obvious leading questions, solicit their opinion or suggestions to improve the product. Customers who feel you value their opinion might end up appreciating the product more. Alternatively, consider taking a hands-off approach and simply provide the customer with references so they can make inquiries independently.)
Keep selling the product after the deal has gone through by offering additional services and checking in on the customer’s satisfaction level, advises Ziglar. This maintains your seller-buyer relationship, making future sales to the customer possible.
(Shortform note: Not only should you maintain your relationship with your customer over the long-term, but you must also continuously adapt to their changing needs, insist Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles in Raving Fans. You can do this by making small, repeated improvements to your product that keep it up-to-date.)
When pitching, speak both to the customer’s logic and emotion, recommends Ziglar. This means you must make a coherent, logical argument for why they should purchase your product and also speak to their emotional desires. Doing this ensures your customer rationally understands why they should buy your product and sincerely believes it will improve their lives.
For instance, when pitching your smartwatch, you might outline the watch’s capabilities—its battery life, waterproof casing, and ability to play music—and also explain how the watch will make the customer feel free and in control of their lives.
(Shortform note: If you need more detailed guidance on how to speak to both logic and emotion, consider Brian Tracy’s recommendation in The Psychology of Selling to adopt a “show, tell, ask” format for your pitches. The first “show” portion most directly addresses logic, pointing out the product’s features. The “tell” portion creates a narrative that explains how the customer will benefit from the product—this speaks to emotion. Finally, in the “ask” part, you ask the customer questions that force them to use logic to justify their purchase.)
To help the customer understand and feel that they need your product, illustrate its value using a vivid demonstration, advises Ziglar. One such demonstration could be breaking the cost of the product down into the cost per use or per time period. For instance, if trying to sell a smartwatch for $500, break that into a $0.27 per-day cost if the lead keeps the watch for five years. This makes it easier for the lead to justify the cost.
(Shortform note: In To Sell Is Human, Daniel H. Pink frames the use of demonstrative techniques like breaking down cost not as a way to address logic and emotion, but as a way to establish clarity for the lead. Often, leads require clarity when choosing between two buying options because humans struggle to select superior yet delayed rewards over inferior yet immediate rewards (for example, paying less upfront for a service than paying more per month). Breaking down both costs can give them the clarity they need to make the superior choice.)
Additionally, use props to illustrate the value of your product. To show how durable your watch is, run over it with your car, for example.
(Shortform note: A marketing tool that proves how successful Ziglar’s advice can be is the infomercial, a long-form advertisement frequently featuring product demonstrations and pioneered by Ron Popeil. His first infomercial, which aired in the early 1950s, was for the Ronco Chop-o-Matic, a food chopping device, which Popeil demonstrated.)
Finally, if you can’t use math or props, use vivid descriptive language to paint a picture of the lead’s future happiness as a result of buying your product. For instance, you might describe the lead’s run through a beautiful, verdant forest while using your smartwatch.
(Shortform note: Ziglar proposes you paint a picture of your lead’s future happiness to induce them to buy, and there is indeed scientific evidence that visualization can catalyze action. When you can envision a future scenario—sitting on a sunny beach, for example—you’re more likely to take the actions that lead to it (buying a plane ticket, for example).)
Ziglar adds that to create vivid demonstrations, you must prepare extensively for them. Develop a script or some talking points so you can pitch flawlessly.
(Shortform note: Jordan Belfort proposes several specific ways for you to write a good script: Spread information on the product throughout the script (rather than front-loading it), adopt a casual mode of speech, and write pauses into the script.)
Your customer will likely bring up objections, writes Ziglar. This is good because it means the customer is seriously considering the purchase. Nonetheless, you must address all objections effectively to make the sale.
(Shortform note: In Sell or Be Sold, Grant Cardone proposes that perhaps you don’t need to address all objections yourself: Allow the customer to address their own objections by asking them what they would do about the problem they’re raising. If they propose a viable solution, then you’ll have even greater certainty that the customer is serious about buying.)
Here are three techniques to counter objections:
Elicit the lead’s objections before they bring them up themselves so you can address them immediately, suggests Ziglar. Do this by asking targeted questions; for example, “Do you have any concerns about the durability of this smartwatch?” If the lead voices a concern, address it head-on.
(Shortform note: One of the most effective and trust-building ways to address objections is to acknowledge your or your product’s flaws when applicable, writes Mark Manson. Doing so makes companies more likable and turns their imperfections into assets. For instance, you might acknowledge to a customer that your company’s not great with customer service but that you’re working hard to improve and that their feedback on it is valued. This greatly increases customer trust and may be enough to overcome an objection.)
If the lead flat-out says no to the purchase, straightforwardly ask why they’re not interested and then address those objections, advises Ziglar.
(Shortform note: While Ziglar recommends persisting in eliciting objections even once the lead has given a firm “no,” sometimes, a “no” really means the lead isn’t going to buy. If there’s an opportunity cost to persisting with a difficult sale (for instance, if you have other prospects you could be visiting), consider terminating the pitch and moving on.)
When addressing objections, do so one at a time, while always appealing to the customer’s logic and emotions, advises Ziglar. Addressing objections one at a time keeps you in control and maintains the clarity of your pitch. Also, structure your responses to objections so you first logically and then emotionally invalidate them.
For instance, if your customer is worried about using their smartwatch for swimming, first assure them that the watch is designed to be water-resistant up to 20 meters (logic), and then assure them that if something does go wrong with the watch while swimming, they’ll get a free replacement (emotion).
Alternative Advice on Addressing Objections
Jordan Belfort also recommends addressing objections one at a time, but he recommends first deflecting the objections by repeating your script to outline the more general value of your product—essentially, he advises that you re-present the emotional and logical case for your product. He calls this process “looping,” because it’s a process wherein to address an objection, you loop back to your presentation. If the customer again objects, then Belford advises that you address the content of the objection specifically.
The difference between this approach and Ziglar’s is that while Belford suggests "deflecting" the customer's concern and returning to the script, Ziglar advises immediately addressing the specific content of each objection the first time a customer raises it.
If the lead raises an objection you feel is nonsensical or even malicious, maintain your positive attitude by responding courteously and thoughtfully, insists Ziglar. You can do this by agreeing with the customer on their objection before addressing it.
(Shortform note: In Sell Or Be Sold, Grant Cardone presents another reason why maintaining a positive attitude in the face of objections is important: If the lead buys, you can sell your continued kind and patient service as a feature of the product. If the lead is impressed with your calm and courteous demeanor, they may be willing to pay extra to secure your help.)
The final rule of crafting a good pitch is to tailor it to your lead and their circumstances, writes Ziglar. This requires you to listen well to the lead (as discussed in Part I) so you can learn as much about them and their needs as possible. Once you understand who they are and what they want, you can determine the best way to deliver your pitch—with humor, seriousness, or a bit of both—and what facets of the product to highlight (for instance, if your customer is a runner, emphasize the running function of your smartwatch).
(Shortform note: As important as it is to understand your customer so you can tailor your pitch to their needs, you must also understand yourself so you can play to your strengths when delivering your pitch. To do this, you might apply Ziglar’s advice to listen well to the lead to yourself: Pay attention to your thoughts and behaviors to understand what sort of seller you are. You might also consider if you fall into a particular category of salesperson—a “caretaker” or “professional” salesperson, for example—and then build on that strength.)
Develop your conviction in your sales abilities and in the advantages of the product, and use both in tandem to sell more effectively.
Write down five qualities and strengths you possess. These don’t have to be related to selling. Do your best to get to five.
For each quality, note next to it how it can help you sell more effectively. This may not be initially obvious, and you may need to approach them from a different perspective to see their advantages to you in selling. (For instance, if you’re a deliberate thinker, you might note that this helps you respond thoughtfully and honestly to leads’ objections. If you’re a people person, you might write down that you can connect easily with customers.)
Next, write down five qualities of the product or service you’re selling. These don’t have to be qualities your company strongly advertises: It’s better if they’re assets you personally perceive in the product. (For instance, you might see the friendliness of the carpet installers as a major asset of the carpeting business you work for.)
Finally, for each product quality, jot down how you might pitch your lead on it using your own strengths. (For example, if you’re a people person who connects easily with customers, you might note that you can speak enthusiastically and convincingly about the friendliness of the carpet installers.)
Devise a system to sell to customers over the long term.
Write down three to five ways you can continue selling—or adding value to—your product in the long term. This will be completely unique to your product or service. (For instance, if you sell pet products, consider setting up a subscription program. If you own a bike shop, consider offering customers periodic tune-ups on their bikes.)
Now, write down the frequency at which you can offer this long-term value. How often can you realistically provide additional services or products? If it’s helpful, refer to a calendar and jot down a tentative schedule. (For example, your bike shop might only be able to offer customers tune-ups every two months. The pet shop, on the other hand, might have the capacity to deliver subscription pet food every day.)