“A cat who sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again.
But he won’t sit on a cold stove, either.”
– Mark Twain
When the know-it-all pontificator looks down her nose and says “Never make the same mistakes twice!” I grunt and run.
Like any of us haven’t made the same mistake again, and again, and again before FINALLY figuring it out.
Like Mark Twain’s cat, if I sit on a hot stove, I won’t sit there again. But that’s because it suddenly became crystal clear that I did something stupid – and I know exactly what it was.
But when you’re growing your business and dealing with all that’s involved in creating a great product and then actually selling it – you’re not talking about sitting on a stove. You’re talking about walking confidently forward because the path looks clear – only to crash through a glass door you couldn’t see.
And so it’s only those of us who persevere long enough to make the same mistakes many, many, many times who wake up one day and suddenly “get it.”
That’s how I learned to speed up the sales process…
For years I thought that if I show people how smart I am they’ll want to buy from me. So I gave great advice. And people saw how smart I was. But they didn’t buy.
I made this mistake many, many times before I finally realized what I was doing: I was asking my prospects to skip a step.
There are four psychological “Levels” your prospects must pass through before deciding to buy:
1. Your prospect ‘raises his hand’ because something you said or did piqued his curiosity. You connected with him in a way that leads him to want to hear more.
2. Your prospect learns more about you, your company and products. He comes to feel that yes, you folks know your stuff.
3. Your prospect shares his personal situation. He needs to get to a place where he feels you really understand him.
4. You make a recommendation and close the deal.
These four levels are just reality. It doesn’t matter what you sell, your prospect must pass through each of these Levels – in order. If you sell coffee it may take a minute. If you sell military helicopters, it may take a year or more. But they MUST ALWAYS pass through these Levels.
I was losing deals because I couldn’t see this simple breakdown of reality. Since I couldn’t see the ‘hot stove’ I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. And when you can’t see reality, you break yourself against it again and again and again – until you do.
Today, my mistake is clear: I was recommending – a Level 4 activity – before my prospect had passed through Levels 2 and 3.
Now, the glass door you keep walking through may be different from mine. But what’s happening is that in your own way, you’re breaking yourself against reality and it’s hurting your sales.
To speed up the pace of your sales, slow down and walk your prospect through one Level at a time. Refuse to talk about your product before they’ve passed through Levels 2 and 3. And when you do this, your sales will happen faster.
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I’m going to create some more free training that will teach you how to systematically and consistently attract more first-rate customers, but I need to know what you want me to include. So please answer the 3 questions here.
