MySuccessCompany.com E-NEWSLETTER
February 2020
This Month’s Selling Principle:
Payments Too Low
This is a specific closing strategy that we can use when our customer says, “The payment is still a bit too high”. It was shared by someone in one of our workshops several years ago and they called it Payments Too Low. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I can’t remember the name of the salesman who shared it with us, or if he even told us where he got it from. I do know that most successful pros are constantly borrowing strategies from each other, salespeople and trainers alike. I also know that I’ve received pretty impressive feedback every time I’ve passed it on. So, hopefully, you can put it to good use too.
The first thing we need to do is what I call ‘open the door’. Especially late in the negotiations, whenever our customer tells us “No!”, they usually are psychologically closed to what we have to say. The mistake we all sometimes make is to immediately launch into some killer technique without first engaging our client. After a sentence or two, we usually see their eyes glass over and they simply stop listening to us. After we’re done spouting off, they respond with something like, “Yeah, whatever, but the payment is still too high.”
So, the first step in this strategy is to engage our customer with, “Mr. Customer, let me ask you something…….” (pause for three or four seconds here, making our customer think, “C’mon and ask it already!”, which is exactly what we want.) “Of all the payments you’re currently making, how many of them are too low?”
After they laugh or tell us that’s ridiculous, we say, “Of course that’s a silly question. All payments are too high. That’s just the nature of payments.” What we’ve done here, is tell them that it’s normal for the payments to seem too high.
Now, let’s assume the sale by taking them into the future having already owned our vehicle for X amount of years, “The fact is, Mr. Customer, four years from now, when you’re ready to replace this new truck, you’ll be working real hard to keep your payments right around the ones that today… seem a bit too high.” If our customer is on a three year trading cycle we say, “three years from now, when you’re ready to…”, or a five year trading cycle we say, “five years from now…”, etc. We always need to adjust our techniques to the particular situation we find ourselves in.
Now, let’s remind them that they’ve done this before and survived it, “Just like now, you’re trying to keep your payments right around the ones that four years ago… seemed a bit too high.” This is powerful because chances are every time they bought a vehicle, the payments seemed a bit too high but they ended up buying it anyway.
Then, we tell them to relax and breathe, what you’re feeling is normal, “That’s just the nature of payments.”
Lastly, we close. Any close will work here (except ‘If I could…would you?”), “It’s obvious that you love this truck and we both know you can afford it. So, why don’t you just go ahead and do it? Aren’t you ready to put this shopping chore behind you and start to enjoy your new truck?”
Whenever our customer tells us that the payment is still a bit too high, what they’re really saying is, “I know there’s more room to give. So, cough it up, Pal.” This is simply a way to tell them “NO!” and allow them to still save face.
Thanks again for allowing me to work with you. I am truly grateful to you all. Remember, I return my e-mail and voice mail within 24 hours except on Sundays. If I can ever be of more help to you, please don’t hesitate to call on me.
So, until next time, be well, and do good work!
Michael D. Hargrove
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“Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee’s for closers only.”
Blake (from Glengarry Glen Ross)
Objection of the Month: “Give me your best price.”
These are just a few of the most common strategies shared at the workshops we’ve conducted all across North America and attended by thousands of the top sales people in our field. Please keep in mind that nothing works all the time, and no one thing will work for everybody. Each of these strategies, of course, need to be tailored to the individual user, to the specific customer, and the particular situation. Also, this is by no means the definitive work on overcoming this particular objection and it’s not intended to be.
a. “That’s the easiest part of my job, adjusting numbers. We adjust numbers all day long. What I can’t adjust, however, is your taste. So first, let’s find just the right truck for you, then we’ll go inside and I’ll show you just how easy it is to do business with us. Fair enough?”
b. “The best price is determined by the availability at the time we decide to do business and I’d be happy to go over all the numbers with you before you leave. First let’s find just the right van for you, Jim, then we’ll go inside and work out the very best figures we can. Did you say that you wanted a light color or a dark color?”
c. “It’s sounds to me like you want to save money just like the rest of my customers. Well, there are two ways I can help you do that, Mr. Jones, it’s the outside part and the inside part of my job. The outside part is where together we find just the right car for you (so you’re not paying for stuff you don’t need, or missing stuff you gotta have) and the inside part is where I help you and my manager reach an agreement on the numbers. I’m really good at both parts of my job. Will you give me the chance to prove that to you?”
d. “All final figures are determined by management and by you, the customer. I’m the agent that first makes sure you get the car that best fits your needs, and then works hard to get both you and the manager to agree on a figure. So, let’s first make sure this is the right car for you and then we’ll go inside and reach an agreement! Did you want an automatic or a five speed?”
e. “There are lots of different ways we can fit whatever car you end up choosing within the budget you had in mind. What I’d like to do, if you’ll allow me to, is put all the ways we can accomplish this for you in writing, so you can see for yourself firsthand. After reviewing them all, YOU tell US which one works best for you. I think that’s a better way of doing business, don’t you? So let me ask you, earlier you said you needed more room. Does this one give you the room you were hoping for in your next car?”
f. “Before we’re done, not only will we go inside and discuss price but we’ll also talk about down payments, monthly payments, interest rates and numbers on your trade-in. Okay? And I’m going to invite you to make your final decision on the numbers and the numbers alone. Not because I’m a nice guy (although I am), not because of the store’s reputation (although it’s outstanding) but only on the bottom line. Fair enough? Now tell me Ms. Customer, what do you like about your current car that you want to make sure you also get in your next one?”
g. “I appreciate your vote of confidence in me but I don’t think I’m a good enough salesperson to earn your business on price and price alone. So, first let’s make sure we find the car that best meets all your needs too, then we’ll go inside and work out the very best numbers we can for you. Sound fair?”
h. “Let me surprise you with what we can do for you! Can you be a little patient?”
i. “Mr. Client, I won’t waste your time. If we can’t make the numbers work, I wouldn’t even expect you to do business with us. That’s fair isn’t it?”
j. “Whether it’s choosing the exact right vehicle for you or going inside to work out the very best terms for you, let’s take all the time necessary to make a sound decision, okay? And remember Sir, YOU are the one in control, no one can spend your money for you! That’s reasonable, isn’t it?”
k. “Of course you want the best price. Smart buyers always do. The price of any car varies, however, with each bit of equipment the car has. You’ve asked me a question that’s impossible to answer without first knowing a little more about what you want. Were you looking for a lot of power equipment this time or just basic transportation? You know, that’ll affect the price.”
Next month’s objection will be: “Give me your best price but I’m not buying today.” We need YOUR input! Please forward your ideas on this one, or your suggestions on which objection to cover next, to [email protected].
“Income seldom exceeds personal development.”
Jim Rohn
On Success:
Double Time!
by: Neil Eskelin, Source Unknown
Les Brown, a noted inspirational speaker, tells the story of one of his friends, a salesman, who was in financial trouble because sales were down. Les asked him, “How many phone calls are you making a day?” His friend answered, “Twenty five.”
Les didn’t hesitate with his advice. “Double them,” he said. “Make fifty. Or seventy-five. Or one hundred.”
The salesman answered, “Aw, man. that’s too much.”
“Too much!” replied Les. “You tell me that you are behind on your bills and then you say it’s too much. You know, one way to get back on your feet real quick is to miss two car payments. How can you say anything is too much when you have everything at stake?”
The advice Les Brown gave his friend needs to be heard by people everywhere. It’s amazing what we can do when we’re “hungry” for success. Most people who say “I’ve tried,” haven’t scratched the surface of their potential.
Today, why not make a commitment to achieve your personal best?
Adrift
by: Adam Khan, Self Help Stuff that Works
In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive — much skinnier than he was when he started, but alive.
His account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity — how he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still (evaporates sea water to make fresh) — is very interesting.
But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.
When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds.
“I tell myself I can handle it,” wrote Callahan in his narrative. “Compared to what others have been through, I’m fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude….”
I wrote that down after I read it. It struck me as something important. And I’ve told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I’ve said it, I have always come back to my senses.
The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. I’ve read enough history to know you and I are lucky to be where we are, when we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our fantasies. It’s a sane thought and worth thinking.
So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you’re going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, you’re fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude.
“Let’s not substitute the joy of today with the promise of “someday soon”.”
Michael Hargrove
Upcoming Public Events:
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Date(s): February 4th & 5th, 2020
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Boise, ID 83705
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