How to Close Every Time. Every Day. Chances are you have had all kinds of advice and would-be guidance on how to sell yourself. How to move your products. How to woo your customers and prospects. The problem is, the voices you are listening to are all professors and consultants and the like- suffice it to say people who have sold little or nothing in their lives, save for the courses you have bought from them. The time has come to toss away the Willy Loman playbook, the tired clichés, and bring a new all- business, in- the- trenches approach to your sales drive.
You need to practice the art and science of The Kill.
The Kill is not deceptive or manipulative. It is anything but. It is about utilizing a sales process that begins with an understanding and appreciation of the customers and prospects intellectual and emotional needs, placing them above your own. It is about five key principles – NULL
- The best salespeople never appear to be selling anything.
- They practice The Kill by establishing their credentials as experts and friends.
- They never treat anyone like a customer or a prospect, but instead like a member of their extended family.
- They understand that the Provider is always more important than the product or service. When people Trust you as the provider, they will buy. If they don’t, they won’t. That’s how it works in the trenches.
- They know how to make an offer people cannot refuse.
When I was a high schooler, I landed a summer job selling magazine subscriptions in impoverished communities in NY. My bosses had a sweepstakes going and they advised me to use this to lure prospects into buying many magazines. The more they bought, the more times their names would be entered into the sweeps. It didn’t take me more than a week of failure to see that was Willy Loman selling at its worst. Few people bought. They saw right through the ruse. I needed a Kill. And I found one. I went back and treated everyone I called on as family. I told them about the sweepstakes and advised they ignore it. Instead, I suggested that they view the magazines as EDUCATION. That they buy a science and culture and history magazine so that they and their children could learn and grow and move out of the cycle of poverty.
They listened. I had made them an offer they could not refuse. They trusted me. We all felt like family. I broke the sales record that summer. And I made wonderful friends. And I learned a powerful lesson. I saw the wisdom and the strength of The Kill.
Right now, your approach is likely to plan for a sales meeting before you call on prospects. I suggest you change your ways pronto, and prepare for The Kill.
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management and marketing firm, and a popular media commentator on a host of business matters including marketing, branding, management and sales. Mr. Stevens is known for delivering business insights with blunt truths and unconventional wisdom.
In his latest book, "God Is A Salesman: Learn from the Master" (Hachette Book Group USA/Center Street; January 2008) Stevens advocates transforming the current culture of sales from transactional and superficial to one based on faith, trust and relationships. Based on the principles of the world's great religions, Stevens delivers a life- and career-altering guide for anyone who sells anything-and everyone sells something. Mark Stevens shook the marketing establishment with his Business Week best seller, "Your Marketing Sucks" (Random House/Crown Business, 2003), and redefined the rules of management with "Your Management Sucks" (Random House/Crown Business, 2006). He is the author of 24 business-related books including the
best sellers: "The Big Eight"; "King Icahn"; "Sudden Death: The Rise and
Fall of EF Hutton" (a Wall Street Journal bestseller and Library Journal
"Business Book of the Year"); and the enormously popular "Your Marketing Sucks."
Books by Mark Stevens have been published in USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Germany, Spain, Japan, Russia and Brazil.
- The Kill by Mark Stevens - September 1, 2008
