Selling Aint Hard PDF

Copyright © 2012 by Victor Antonio
Published by Sellinger Group

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This Sellinger Group Publication Edition is published by
Victor Antonio, Sellinger Group
11770 Haynes Bridge Road , Suite 205-‐501
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www.SellingerGroup.com
www.VictorAntonio.com

Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: May 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Antonio, Victor
Selling Ain’t Hard…When You Know How!

ISBN Pending (U.S.A.)
1. Business 2. Sales
Dedication

DEDICATION
To all those out there trying to close a deal, I salute

you!
You are the economic pistons that fuel this economy

engine we call capitalism.

CONTENTS
DEDICATION i
WORDS OF PRAISE FOR… xii
PREFACE xiv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xviii
CHAPTER 1.
MAKE THE COMMITMENT 1
#1: Why Are You in Sales? 1
#2: Quantifying the Goal 2
#3: Dark Days of Selling 3
#4: Know Your Target 5
#5: Data Mining 6
#6: Sketch Your Prospect 7
#7: Are You B2B or B2C? 8
#8: Law of Sales Attraction 9
#9: Knowing Your Product or Service 10
CHAPTER 2.
PRESENTING FEATURES AND BENEFITS 11
#10: Building Credibility 11
#11: The “I Don’t Know” Rule 12
#12: Features and Benefits 13
#13: Know Thy Competition 15
#14: Creating Value 16
#15: Sales Integrity 17
#16: Why Listening Works 17
#17: Open-Ended & Closed-Ended Questions 18
#18: Interview, Not an Investigation 19
CHAPTER 3.

HOW TO SELL WITHOUT SELLING 21
#19: Active and Passive Listening 21
#20: You’re Not Selling, You’re Helping 23
#21: Seek to Understand First 25
#22: Find Reasons Not to Sell 26
#23: Sell Steak and the Sizzle 27
#24: Never Get Caught Selling 28
#25: The Six Stages of Selling 29
#26: Stage 1 - Prospecting 30
#27: Stage 2 – Qualification 30
CHAPTER 4.
CLOSING THE SALE 33
#28: Stage 3 – Investigative 33
#29: Stage 4 – Presentation 33
#30: Stage 5 – Pricing 34
#31: Stage 6 – Closing 34
#32: The Sales Funnel 35
#33: Calculating Your Closing Rate 36
#34: The Rule of Thirds 37
#35: Five Reasons Prospect Don’t Buy 38
#36: When the Prospect Says They Don’t Have
the Money 39
CHAPTER 5.
BRIDGING THE SALES GAP 41
the Time 41
the Need 42
#39: When the Prospect Doesn’t Have a Sense
of Urgency 44
#40: Building Trust When There is No Trust 46
#41: Crossing the Sales Gaps 47
#42: They’re Rejecting the Offer, Not You 48
#43: Principle of Least Interest Effect 49
#44: Make the Client Discontent 50
#45: Long Sales Cycle versus Short Sales Cycle 51
vi

CHAPTER 6.
THE LONG AND SHORT OF THE
SALES CYCLE 53
#46: Measuring Your Sales Cycle 53
#47: I Have to Speak with My X 54
#48: Send Me Your Information 55
#49: That’s Too Expensive or That’s Too
Much Money 56
#50: Displaying Your Products 57
#51: Influence versus Manipulation 58
#52: The Primacy Effect 59
#53: The Recency Effect 60
#54: Presentation Sequence 60
CHAPTER 7.
THE MINDSET OF PROSPECTS 61
#55: Pricing Option 61
#56: Social Proof 61
#57: Salting the Jar (Another Example of
Social Proof) 62
#58: Rule of Consistency 63
#59: How Telemarketers Use Consistency 63
#60 Sales Truth Serum – How to Get Accurate
Information 64
#61: Sales Attention Grabbers 66
#62: Price Options 66
#63: I Don’t Know! 67
CHAPTER 8.
THE VALUE OF MONEY 69
#64: Reducing Your Sales Cycle 69
#65: The Alternative Close 70
#66: Verbal Packaging 70
#67: Sequence Your Offer 71
#68: Building Instant Credibility 72
#69: Relative Value of Money 72
#70: Customer Orientation 73

#71: Sunk Cost Fallacy 74

#72: Customers Lie 75
CHAPTER 9.
ASSESSING THE SITUATION 77
#73: Prospecting 77
#74: Prospecting via Cold Calling 77
#75: Prospecting via Inquiry 78
#76: Prospecting via Referral 78
#77: No Pain, No Sales Gain 79
#78: Lowering Resistance, Then Raising
Acceptance 80
#79: Situation Questions 81
#80: Verbal Gifting: The Ultimate Rapport
Builder 83
#81: Trouble Questions 88
CHAPTER 10.
PRESENTING THE PRICE 90
#82: Don’t React or Act 90
#83: The Psychology of Consistency…Again! 91
#84: Amplify Questions 93
#85: Rule of Association 94
#86: Reward Questions 96
#87: Tie-Down 98
#88: Tie-Down in a Small Simple Sale 99
#89: Tie-Downs in Large Complex Sales 100
#90: Price Distortion – The Magnifying Effect 102
CHAPTER 11.
RULES OF PERSUASION 104
#91: The Discount Deception 104
#92: Nodding: Pumping the Prospect for
Information 106
#93: Rule of Liking 108
#94: Rule of Reciprocity 108
#95: The Endowment Effect 108
#96: Foot-In-The-Door 110
viii

#97: Finding the Dominant Buying Motive 111
#98: Reversing Field - Building Rapport
and Credibility 112
#99: When to Consolidate or Partition
Your Prices 115
APPENDIX A: RESOURCES 118

OTHER BOOKS BY VICTOR ANTONIO 118
APPENDIX B: WORKSHEETS 119

COMMITMENT EXERCISE 119
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 122

x

WORDS OF PRAISE FOR…
Selling Ain’t Hard…When You Know

How
"I unequivocally recommend your program to anyone
interested in improving their approach. They would
not gain a mere inch, but several miles over the
competition, we certainly have." -Victor Lue-Yat,
CEO - DocuGreen.com
"Based on the info presented [at the seminar], at

some point in the near future Victor Antonio will be
the premier sales trainer in the country and beyond. I
have heard so many great things about you,...and
they're all true!" -Leon Meir, Sr.Business Advisor -
PrimePay.com
"...there is this light that shines in your eyes and this

genuine smile that breaks through and says 'I’m your
friend, I have what you need, and I will help you'.
Thanks again. You have affected my life in a very
positive way, and I am grateful! Thank You." -David
G. Figueroa, Manager - Intel Corporation

"Your presentation on Cold Calling Success made
such a good impression on me, that I actually used
some of your cold calling methods to get a meeting at
the conference." -Jennifer C. Friday, Ph.D., The
Friday Consulting Group, LLC.

PREFACE
There are a lot of misconceptions regarding the

profession of selling. The stereotype of a salesperson
is likened to someone who is always looking to sell
you something you don’t need or want. If you’ve ever
watched the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, you come
away with a very dim view of what salespeople are
and an even lesser opinion of their moral code and
conduct.
If you watched or read Arthur Miller’s Death of a

Salesman you’d swear that companies are set up to
suck the life out of salespeople and when they’re best
years of selling are over, they’re discarded without
regard upon the emaciated heap of used up
salespeople. Next!
I often receive emails from my readers or folks

who’ve visited my website asking a wide range of
questions that leads me to believe that selling is truly
a much maligned and misunderstood profession.
Here’s a sample of the types of questions and
comments I’ve received.

1) “Are salespeople born with the natural talents to
sell or are they created?” In other words, is it nature
or nurture that determines a good salesperson?
2) “Is it possible for an introvert to sell?” The

assumption here is that you need to be a fast-talking,
slick salesperson to being successful in sales.
3) “I could never go into sales. I hate selling because

I don’t like pressuring people to buy.”
Let me answer these questions succinctly:
1) No one is born a great salesperson. The best

salespeople are nurture over time molded by success
and failure.
2) Don’t confuse the gift-of-gab with selling. Talking

and selling are worlds apart. The best salespeople in
my humble opinion are those that listen more then
they talk, know more they show and follow through
on customer commitments. Introverts can sell and in
many cases, better than an extrovert.
3) Pressuring people to buy is a short-term recipe for

long-term failure. No one likes to be pressured. With
the advent of the Internet and access to product
information, consumers are no longer at a
disadvantage. In fact, oftentimes the consumer knows

more about the product or service than the
salesperson. Today selling is more about influencing
people rather than brow beating them to sign an
order.
The goal of this book is to share with you both a

philosophy about selling as well as strategies and
tactics that will help you influence buyers into buying
from you. Do not leap to the conclusion that the word
influence implies manipulation; that’s not at all what
I mean. Selling is about sharing! Share what you
know about what you have to offer with others in
such a way that they see the value of buying from
you.
The second goal of this book aims at giving you the

reader a solid foundation, especially if you’re just
starting out in sales. Even if you’ve been in the sales
game for many years, I’ve included some recent
studies and findings relating to consumer behavior
that you may find insightful.
Lastly, I hope that you will ‘dog-ear’ many pages in

this book so that you can constantly refer back to it
when you find yourself in an indecisive situation.
Even the best-of-the-best still need a constant
reminder of what constitutes great sales skills.
Learning never ends. This book will either be the
beginning of your learning process or a continuation
xvi

with additional tools, tips and tactics that you can use
to supplement your already stocked sales toolkit.
With all of that said, I hope you enjoy this book as

much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. And remember,
selling ain’t hard, when you know how!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my first sales mentor Jose Santana who took me, a

naïve young man, by the hand and showed him how
to sell with integrity and a willingness to always keep
the best interest of the customer in mind. Words
cannot adequately describe how much you taught me
and how your words and actions still guide my
actions even today.

CHAPTER 1.
MAKE THE
COMMITMENT

#1: Why Are You in Sales?
Suppose someone stopped you, dead in your tracks,

while making a sales presentation, and asked you the
question, “Why are you in sales?” How would you
answer? I’d like you to think about that for a moment
because it’s a very important question. In fact, I will
go out on a limb and say that the very answer to this
question will indicate whether or not you’ll be
successful in the sales profession.
Many who answer this question will say, “Money,

that’s the reason I’m in sales.” Which still begs the
question: “What will money get you?” Here are some
benefits of having money: financial freedom, worry-
free living, more time with family, sending the kids to
the best schools, buying that new car or house you’ve
always wanted, or retiring early. Can you think of any
others?

The more tangible and real you make your reasons for
being in sales, the more likely you are to stay
motivated and sell better. I’d like you to give this
question some serious thought: “Why am I in Sales?”
Write down the “why” that drives you.
#2: Quantifying the Goal
Writing down goals is fine, but it is more effective to

write down specifically what you “want” and what it
will take to get it. For example, if you want to buy a
$30,000 car with cash, then write that down. Now,
let’s assume your average sale is $1,000 and you
make a commission of $200 for each sale. Well, that
means you’d have to make 180 sales ($36,000
divided by $200) in order to earn that much money.
One hundred and eighty sales sounds like a lot;

however, when you divide by 12 months in 1 year,
that means you have to make 15 (180 divided by 12)
sales each month (or 4 sales per week) to meet your
goal. You now know how hard (or easy, depending
on your perspective) you’ll have to work to get that
new car.
Now it doesn’t have to be a car. It could be having

enough money in the bank to put your children
through college. Or maybe you want to pay off your
2
Make the Commitment

new house. Whatever the goal, quantify what it will
take in terms of sales to make it happen.
Assign your goal a time frame. Don’t just say, “I

want a new car eventually.” Not good enough! Give
yourself a deadline. When you give yourself a target
date, you automatically create a sense of urgency.
Failing to do so will only result in moving the date
out in order to alleviate any pressure you may put on
yourself. No deadline leads to complacency. It has
been said that a dream is a goal with a deadline, and I
wholeheartedly agree.
Lastly, I want you to find someone in your life who

you respect greatly. Share your goal with that person.
Then have that person witness your commitment
statement. Studies have shown when we know we’re
being watched by someone we respect, we are more
likely to act consistent with what we believe, and
what we said we would do. You will find a helpful
worksheet located in the Appendix.
#3: Dark Days of Selling
The reason for writing down tangible goals when

looking forward will become evident during those
dark days of selling (and there will be some). There’ll
be days when your sales numbers are not what you
expected them to be and when you don’t want to pick

up the phone to make that next phone call. There’ll be
days when every deal that was done becomes undone.
There will also be days when you don’t feel like
making the sales pitch or even taking the time to
write up a proposal to send to your prospect.
There will be low-tide days where you can’t seem to

surf your way out and catch a sales wave. At those
moments of personal anxiety, you will question the
sanity of being in sales. Therefore, reminding
yourself of your long-term objectives will come in
handy.
I once heard the saying, “Obstacles are those things

you see when you take your eye off the goal.” If
that’s the case, then the day-to-day challenges of
selling can be gratifying because you know it is part
of the success process. Every day brings you one step
closer to your goal.
Each day your challenge will be to overcome, avoid,

or jump over any obstacle in your path. Your strength
to stay the course will depend on your ability to call
to mind the reason or reasons for why you’re in sales.
If you know the long-term goal and you can see it
with clarity, even when things have gone wrong in
your day-to-day, then summon that vision of
tomorrow in your mind. Use it as a reminder that each
4
Make the Commitment

obstacle resolved brings you that much closer to your
goal.
#4: Know Your Target
Many times I’ve asked this question to salespeople:

“Who’s your target market?” Judging by the answer
I receive, I can separate quite effortlessly those
who’ve been in sales for a long time and have
experience versus those who are just starting. The
answer to this key question is an immediate tell-tale
sign of how much a person knows about selling. Nine
out of the ten times I’ve asked this question, the
response has been, “Anybody that will buy!” Reality
check: you can’t sell to everybody. It’s not only
impossible, it’s improbable. Not everyone you
approach will need or want your product or service.
When you talk to someone who doesn’t know who

they’re selling to and you find out they’re not having
any luck, you’ll often hear the excuse “No one’s
buying”.
That’s a lie, or at best, a poor excuse! Someone is

always buying!
The reason no one is buying may be because they’re

simply selling to the wrong target market. They can
have the best product in the world with all the bells

and whistles a customer could hope for, but if they’re
selling it to the wrong target market, their chances of
success are not very good. You can have the best
snow making machine in the marketplace, but if you
try selling to an Eskimo in the dead of winter you will
find that, “No one’s buying”. Why? It’s a great
product, but the target market is wrong.
Often, people fail in sales because they haven’t taken

the time to stop and think about who they should be
selling to. Many learn about the product they have to
sell, get a list of prospects or leads, and then try to
“close” a sale. When that fails, they blame
themselves, the market, or the product.
Here’s the answer to the question, “How can I sell

more? In order to sell successfully, you have to find
the people that need your product or service. The first
order of business is learning specifically beforehand
who it is. Ask yourself, “Who will buy my product?”
#5: Data Mining
Another good question to ask is, “Who has purchased

my product, or a similar type of product, in the
past?” The best place to look for the answer is with
the people who made purchases in the past. Take a
close look at who’s bought and what they’ve
purchased. If you begin to analyze these clients, some
6
Make the Commitment

commonalities and consistent characteristics will
become more apparent.
It’s also good to keep in mind one rule of thumb; it’s

six times easier to keep a client than it is to go out and
get one. The main thing to remember is people who
purchased from you and were satisfied in the past
have a high likelihood to buy from you again. It’s
easier to sell again than it is to go out and convince
someone to buy from you in the first place.
#6: Sketch Your Prospect
What I’d like you to do now is to become a sales

sketch artist. Create a profile of your ideal “suspect”
(i.e., client or buyer), and remember that every detail
is important. The more you define the buyer, the more
efficient you’ll be at targeting the right suspects. I’m
going to challenge you to come up with at least ten
characteristics of your ideal suspect. The last five will
be the most difficult, which will force you to really
think about the prospect you’re selling to.
Nonetheless, I have confidence in you and know you
can do it. The more you know about your prospect,
the more you’ll be able to influence and persuade.

#7: Are You B2B or B2C?
One of the big questions you have to ask yourself is,

“Are you a B2B or B2C oriented salesperson?” If
you’re a business selling to another business, this is
referred to as B2B or Business-to-Business. Knowing
your target market (i.e., company profile) will allow
you to focus on those businesses that are likely to buy
from you. Typically, in a B2B selling you’ll want to
know:
• What type of Industry do you sell to?

• What are the company’s annual sales?
• How many employees does the company
have?
• Where is the company located
geographically?
• Who are the decision makers (e.g., titles)?
• What products are they currently using?
If you’re a business selling to a person or consumer

directly, this is referred to as B2C or Business-to-
Consumer. In this scenario, to sell more effectively,
you want to know the typical customer profile. You’ll
want to know things like:
• Are they married or single?

• How many kids do they have?
• What is their annual income?
8
Make the Commitment

• Do they own a home?
• Are they dissatisfied with what they have
or own?
#8: Law of Sales Attraction
Knowing who to sell to will save you a lot of time

because you won’t be spending time on clients who
will never buy from you. Secondly, you’ll be able to
detect which sales approach is best to insure the sale.
Thirdly, when you understand who you’re selling to
and the best approach to use, your closing rate will
increase proportionally, thereby making you more
money. Additionally, because of your success, your
self-esteem will rise and confidence in your ability
will grow. Even if you are not consciously aware of
it, others around you will take notice. Successful
people love to be around other successful people.
This is where the Law of Attraction begins to
manifest. You’ve succeeded at all the things you’ve
been working so hard to accomplish, and others are
now attracted to your sales success. You begin to
widen your network of people, which, in turn, leads
to opportunities, much greater than what your mind
can currently imagine.

#9: Knowing Your Product or Service
The best method and fastest way to gain product

knowledge is to read or watch as much as you can
about the product. Devour product information. First,
memorize the important features of your product.
Then, develop benefit statements (i.e., what it will do
for the prospect) for each feature your product has to
offer. Finally, to really build your knowledge base,
list every possible question a potential prospect may
ask about your product. Your job as a salesperson is
to be able to answer these “feature” questions, and
then add a “benefit” statement. Prospects want to feel
comfortable about their decision to purchase. The
best way to reduce buying anxiety is to demonstrate
your competence by recommending the best product
for them to buy. But in order for them to believe you
or take your advice, they have to see you as an
expert—someone who knows what they are talking
about. Sometimes, selling is simply a transfer of
confidence. If prospects feel confident that you’re
providing them with the best solution for their need,
and they believe you, they’ll buy from you!
10

CHAPTER 2.
PRESENTING
FEATURES AND
BENEFITS

#10: Building Credibility
Nothing will undermine your credibility faster in

front of a potential client than your inability to
articulate what you have to offer or your inability to
answer the most fundamental questions about the
product or service you offer. When a client sets aside
time to speak with you about your product, and you
don’t know the answers to fundamental questions
about the product or how it can best serve the client,
then you’ve wasted your time. Even worse, you’ve
wasted the prospect’s time, and that is inexcusable!
Your goal as a salesperson should be to dedicate
yourself to learning as much as you can about your
product. Then, find ways to demonstrate to the client
how your product stands head and shoulders above
the competition. In other words, don’t let the prospect

be smarter than you. If you know your products
inside out it will show when you discuss them with
the prospect. One of the fastest ways to build
credibility is by demonstrating your expertise or
mastery of what you’re selling, and showing the
prospects how your product will help them become
more successful.
#11: The “I Don’t Know” Rule
You often hear sales trainers say that there’s nothing

wrong with answering a prospect’s question by
stating, “I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll find
out and get back to you”. I generally agree, but I
would add the caveat that although it’s alright to say,
“I don’t know,” too many “I don’t knows” will lose
the sale.
How many are too many? Well, use the 30-minute “I

don’t know” rule. If you say “I don’t know” more
than once every 30 minutes, then you’re not doing so
well. Therefore, the only way to prepare for a meeting
with a prospect and not get caught saying, “I don’t
know” is to practice, practice, practice.
So, here’s what I want you to do. List at least five

questions your prospect is more than likely to ask you
about your product. I realize there could be more than
five, but let’s focus on the first five likely questions.
12
Presenting Features and Benefits

Then, write how you would respond to the product or
service question posed by the prospect. Write out
your responses and study what you’re going to say
until it feels comfortable. Practicing the responses
aloud is important. The reality is, sometimes what we
write on paper doesn’t translate well when spoken
aloud, and may not communicate our exact meaning.
Therefore, keep playing with the words until it feels
comfortable to you and sounds natural.
#12: Features and Benefits
Earlier, I mentioned the use of features and benefits

as it pertained to your product and how it would help
your potential customer or client. I think it is
important to review what a feature is, what purpose it
serves in the sales process, and how tying a benefit(s)
to each feature will help you sell more. First, let me
define both terms so that you and I are on the same
page:
• Feature: a particular characteristic your

product has or your service has to offer
• Benefit: how a particular characteristic
will help solve a prospect’s problem or
issue
I’ve listened to presentations where after the first 10

minutes, I’ve felt totally lost. I didn’t understand

because all the features were being thrown at me,
along with technical or industry jargon. When a buyer
is overwhelmed or confused about what is being
offered, he or she will invariably choose not to make
a buying decision at all. The psychological term that
applies here is “risk aversion”. People seek to avoid
things that they perceive as having too much risk. As
a salesperson, one of the assumptions you should
always make when delivering a sales presentation or
pitch is that the prospect knows little to nothing about
what you are selling or how it would be of benefit.
If a salesperson tells you a computer has dual process

capabilities, he’s describing a feature that helps the
computer run fast. Then, if the salesperson explains
how you’ll be able to download movies in seconds,
instead of hours, he’s letting you know the benefit
The best salespeople know they need to describe their
product’s features and immediately tie them directly
to benefits. Another exercise I’d like you to try is to
create your own feature–benefit table. Start by listing
(in the left-hand column) all the features your product
or service has to offer. Then, in the right-hand
column, tie each feature to a benefit(s). This exercise
will force you to think really hard about all the
possible benefits your product or service offers. This
will help you maximize every sales opportunity and
influence the buyer’s perception in your favor.
14

#13: Know Thy Competition
The Internet has commoditized information (i.e., can

get it cheap), democratized it (i.e., available to
anyone), and made it ubiquitous (i.e., available
anywhere). Today’s prospect is more informed than
ever when it comes to the available options in the
marketplace. No longer do they have to buy your
product when with a simple click of the mouse they
can locate a multitude of others, often at a better
price. These days, it’s not enough to study your
product only. If you want to be the best amongst the
best in selling, you have to know what your
competitors are offering as well. The first step in
keeping current with the changes is to list your top
three to five competitors for the product or service
you’re offering. In any market space, at least three
companies always dominate. The next step is to
collect information on these companies as it relates to
your product offering. One of the best ways to do this
is by periodically visiting your competitor’s website
and monitoring the updates (e.g., new product release,
press releases about changes, etc.). Then, create a
comparative table that lists all your product features
alongside your competitors. This will help you see
where your product strengths and weaknesses lie.
Understanding the weakness of your product is
equally important to understanding your product’s
strength. Having this type of information prior to

meeting with a prospect will insure that you won’t get
caught off guard if a competitor is thrown into the
sales mix. Demonstrating to a prospect that you’ve
looked at other companies and you offer the best of
the best, will make it that much easier for the prospect
to decide in your favor.
#14: Creating Value
I’m convinced that over the long run, unscrupulous

salespeople get theirs in the end and wind up
unhappy. Wishful thinking on my part, you say? It
could be, although I’d rather build a sales business
honestly and slowly than having to worry about
eventually being caught.
The philosopher, Ayn Rand, had a simple equation

when it came to dealing with clients, friends, and
family. Rand believed that all partnerships and
relationships should be a “value for value”
proposition. In other words, if you offer value, you
should expect value in return. When the other person
or party ceases to reciprocate with value, then the
proposition is no longer valid, and you have every
right to terminate the relationship. When you sell, you
need to offer the customer value. Not only does that
value come in the form of a product or service, but
includes the value that you, the salesperson, bring to
the relationship.
16

#15: Sales Integrity
In today’s hypercompetitive market, differentiation is

becoming more difficult. The salesperson becomes
the differentiator for a company, bringing a
complimentary value to the products and services
offered. Don’t cheapen that value by trying to take
shortcuts and misrepresenting your goods. Create
value by selling product value and your personal
value and commitment to helping your client succeed.
More often than not, you, the salesperson, are the
differentiator when it comes time for the client to
make a buying decision.
#16: Why Listening Works
Have you ever been in a conversation where you

catch yourself mentally wandering off as the person is
speaking? We’ve all been there. The reason we have
a hard time listening to others is because the average
person has a speaking rate of 120 words per minute,
but our brain can only process 600 or more words per
minute. In other words, our brain is processing faster
than the other person can speak, which is why our
brains wander.
In selling, you have to discipline yourself to stay

focused and on task when meeting with a potential
client. In a meeting with a client, your task is to

“uncover” the hidden needs and wants of the
customer. You can do this by learning how to ask a
good question.
Socrates, the philosopher, used to irritate other

scholars because it seemed he was always asking
questions and never answering any. This strategy,
often referred to as the Socratic Dialogue, implies that
you ask more questions than you answer. When
visiting a customer, keep this paradigm in mind. You
are there to ask questions, not talk about yourself.
Sure, you should answer questions when the customer
does ask, but for every question he or she asks, you
need to begin an internal dialogue. Ask yourself the
following questions: “Why did he ask that
question?”, “Is there more to the question than I can
see?” or “Why was that question so important to
him?”
#17: Open-Ended & Closed-Ended Questions
There are two types of questions you can ask: open-

ended and closed-ended. A closed-ended question can
be answered with a word or two. An open-ended
question requires an explanation in order for it to be
answered. Examples of closed-ended questions would
include: “What’s your company’s name?” and “How
long have you been in business?” Examples of open-
ended questions are “Could you explain how your
18

decision-making process works?” and “How would
you describe your relationship with your current
vendor?”
As you can see, an open-ended questioning approach

really opens up the conversation for free-flowing
dialogue. Listening to the client’s response, for each
open-ended question, will help you discover the
client’s true needs. Be a detective. Each loaded
response provides you with rich insight. It may also
lead your line of questioning to more avenues, which
you previously may not have considered. Open-ended
questions help you develop rapport faster with the
client by creating a “conversational” environment that
sets a relaxed tone.
#18: Interview, Not an Investigation
One warning: A series of closed-ended questions may

make the client feel you are interrogating him, by
smacking him with questions and pumping him for
information. Don’t be afraid to ask one more question
if that’s what you need to do in order to better
understand the prospect’s needs. There’s nothing
worse than leaving a meeting not closely
understanding the client’s needs and desires. It is
better to ask a stupid question at the meeting than to
leave, to work on a proposal or make a presentation
that is way off.

Remember, use closed-ended questions to get
confirmation and to control the conversation. Use
open-ended question to get the prospect to talk and
give you information. The more information and
confirmation you have, the more effective your sales
presentation is going to be once it’s your turn to talk.
20

CHAPTER 3.
HOW TO SELL
WITHOUT SELLING

#19: Active and Passive Listening
We’ve all heard the saying, “God gave us two ears

and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as
we talk”. Learning to listen is a challenge. We are
often overcome by the need to share our opinions too
much. For some reason, it makes us feel good about
ourselves when we’re doing the talking.
Over the years I’ve learned, that the key to successful

relationships, professional or personal, is
communication. I’d like to say that communication is
divided equally into 50% speaking and 50% listening.
However, I’m more inclined to go with a 20:80
speaking to listening ratio. It takes time and practice
to learn how to listen. For some people, especially
introverts, it may come easily. However, most
salespeople are extroverts; they love to talk. Don’t let


them deny it! Keeping quiet is a non-verbal form of
torture for many salespeople.
You’ll often hear about two types of listening styles:

Passive and Active. Passive listening is the art of
keeping quiet and listening to what the client has to
say. Active listening is when you restate questions or
ask for clarifications while having a conversation
with a client. Active questions can look something
like this:
1. “So let me ask this another way, if you…?”

2. “So if I hear you correctly what you’re telling
me is…?”
In either case, the active questions can be either open

or closed-ended, depending on what answer you’re
looking for. If you need to find out more information,
choosing an open-ended active question would be
best.
An example of an open-ended active question would

be: “Would you mind going over again, the specific
steps for how the decision-making process works, just
so I’m clear?” Notice that I’m asking for clarification
using an open-ended question.
A closed-ended active question is great for

confirming specific information that you need to have
22
How to Sell Without Selling

in order to help you close the sale. An example of a
closed-ended active question could go like this: “So
you’re telling me a decision will be made by the end
of the month?” Note that I’m looking for a one-word
answer, yes or no. If I asked, “Based on what you’ve
told me, your budget is in the neighborhood of
$250,000?” Again, I’m looking for confirmation on
budget so I’ll know what my limitations are when
presenting a proposal.
This combination of asking the right questions and

knowing how to listen is a skill that you must
develop. It takes time and patience. Many salespeople
“wing it” when they go into a meeting with a client. If
you’re new to the game of selling, this is not the best
approach. It’s the lazy approach. In the end, you’ll
wind up wasting time for both of you.
#20: You’re Not Selling, You’re Helping
Sales is not an easy profession to be in. It is often

viewed with disdain and considered the necessary
evil. But without sales, there is no company. Without
the company, there are no employees or jobs. Without
jobs, families would have a hard time feeding,
clothing, and sending their kids off to college in order
to start careers.

Remember, you are more than just a salesperson. You
are part of an empowerment machine that makes this
world work! Sometimes, in the midst of trying to set
a meeting or close a sale, it’s easy to forget how
valuable your profession is to the survival of
everyone who benefits from what you have to sell.
What if you shifted your mindset? Instead of seeing

yourself as a salesperson, see yourself as an enabler,
helping others become successful. What if you see
yourself and the product or service you sell as an
empowerment tool, helping companies grow? How
much more motivated would you be, if you simply
viewed selling as helping others? That is exactly what
you are doing!
When you pick up the phone to set up a meeting with

a prospect view yourself through a prism. Instead of
seeing yourself as someone trying to sell something,
see yourself calling on a friend to help them solve a
problem they might be having. This shift in
perspective will change how you speak to your
prospect and the types of questions you’ll ask. Your
attitude will shift from trying to make a sale to
helping someone who may need your product. This
approach creates a new perception. Beyond seeing
you as a salesperson, you will also be seen as a
trusted advisor or consultant.
24

You will have transmitted a genuine sense of caring
to the prospect. You’re there to make a friend first,
and if appropriate, a sale second. In sales, we all
know people will buy from people they know, like,
and trust.
#21: Seek to Understand First
In sales, as the old adage goes, one should first seek

to understand before seeking to be understood. What
does that mean? It means that before you start selling
yourself, your company, or your product, find out if
they have a problem or need that your product can
solve. You can do this by asking key questions, open-
ended and closed-ended, to discover whether or not
your prospect is in need of your product.
The key to building a trusting relationship with a

prospect is by demonstrating that you have the
knowledge and experience to help them solve their
problems or help them with their needs. Let me take a
moment and define the difference between a problem
and a need.
A Problem: Having trouble with an existing product

or service.
A Need: They’d like to improve their performance

and are looking for a solution.

Keep in mind here, seeking to understand has nothing
to do with selling by itself Seeking to understand is
taking an objective view of the prospect’s situation,
and determining whether or not it’s worth your time,
in offering a solution. If, in the course of your
conversation, it becomes apparent there isn’t a need
or problem or a product fit, it’s alright to
acknowledge that fact. Read that again. It’s alright to
acknowledge the fact that there isn’t a problem, need,
or fit.
#22: Find Reasons Not to Sell
Shift your mindset from looking to make a sale to

looking to see if there is a problem, need, or fit. The
faster you can uncover the reality of the situation
(e.g., product, need, or fit), the quicker you can make
the determination to either a) pursue the opportunity
or b) walk away. Take this one step further. Look for
reasons why the prospect wouldn’t be a good client,
or why your product is not good for the prospect. This
might seem counterintuitive, but it makes complete
sense. By looking for reasons NOT to sell, the
prospect creates the following:
a) You remain more objective and/or

emotionally detached from making the sale.
b) Prospects will sense this objectivity and will
engage you in more direct discussion.
26

By removing the emotional component of wanting to
sell and replacing it with a sincere interest of wanting
to help, if it’s a fit, you’ve now positioned yourself
mentally to be in control of the sales process. Instead
of “hoping” your prospect is interested in your
product, your mindset is now one of, “Does this make
sense?”
#23: Sell Steak and the Sizzle
I often hear the phrases, “People buy emotionally”, or

“Selling is the transference of emotion from you to
the prospect.” I’ve been around salespeople who
muster up false enthusiasm before seeing a prospect,
thinking that their enthusiasm will rub off on the
prospect. They circumvent any logical thought
process the prospect might have for not buying. Their
motto is sell the sizzle; whether or not it’s the best
steak really doesn’t matter. You can fool some of the
prospects some of the time, but you can’t fool them
all the time. Selling with only enthusiasm shows a
lack of respect for the prospect’s intellect (i.e.,
capacity to make sound decisions). This is exactly
why salespeople are despised and not trusted.
I am not advocating that you sell like a mindless

automaton, with your sensitivity and enthusiasm knob
turned down to zero. What I am advocating is to keep
your enthusiasm in check until (and only until) you

have asked the prospect enough to determine that
there is a problem, need, or fit for your product. At
that precise moment, you can get excited and make
your product pitch with enthusiasm.
True enthusiasm, on your side, comes from knowing

that you can “help” someone else. You’re not selling,
you’re helping. True enthusiasm, from your prospect,
comes from knowing that you have the product
they’ve been looking for and it fits.
#24: Never Get Caught Selling
Sooner or later, you’ll hear a prospect say to you,

“You’re just trying to sell me!” I want you to practice
responding to this allegation by committing the
following phrase to memory:
“Mr. Prospect, my job as a salesperson is to sell.

But let me be clear, I will only try to sell you, if
and only if, we both believe my product (or
service) will benefit you. Does that sound alright
to you?”
The above response has three important components

I’d like to highlight:
1. First, I didn’t deny that I’d like to make a sale.

Any statement to the contrary would be
disingenuous.
28

2. Second, I established that I only wanted to sell
the prospect something if it would be of
benefit to him. The implication here is that if
it is not, then no harm, no foul, no sale, and
that’s alright.
3. Lastly, when I ask, “Does that sound alright to
you?” I am asking for permission to continue
our conversation with this new understanding
of mutual benefit.
The sum of the statement lets the prospect know that

your intentions are clear, forthright, and respectful.
This mindset will become second nature to you with
practice, and the constant self reminder that you’re
not selling, you’re trying to help. Pretend for a
moment that your prospect has just made the
statement, “You’re just trying to sell me!” What
would you say and how would you say it?
#25: The Six Stages of Selling
After having studied many sales training systems and

reading countless sales books on the market, there
seems to be a general consensus. There are at least six
stages of selling: Prospecting, Qualification,
Investigation, Presentation, Pricing, and Closing. In
order to be an effective salesperson, you’ll have to
master each of these stages independently. Each stage
is critical, providing the momentum to get to the next

stage, before finagling and closing a deal. Typically,
salespeople who struggle aren’t strong in at least one
of these stages. Identify where you believe yourself to
be weak and begin to take the necessary action to
improve.
#26: Stage 1 - Prospecting
You have to know where the fish are biting to be

successful. Begin by identifying a target market and
then contact those potential prospects to set up a
meeting to discuss your product or service. Earlier,
you were asked to describe specific characteristics of
your ideal prospect. You were also asked to define
yourself as B2B or B2C, and provide a sketch of your
ideal prospect. Doing all of the above will help you
narrow your selection, and focus on those prospects
who are most likely to buy from you.
#27: Stage 2 – Qualification
Now that you’ve identified the market you’re

targeting, the next step is to weed out potential buyers
versus non-buyers, or at a minimum, prioritize
potential buyers. The sooner you can uncover
whether or not the identified prospect needs your
product or service, will make a decision to buy, and
has the financial resources to make the purchase, the
more effective you’ll be at selling. Here is where
30

asking closed-ended questions (i.e., getting
confirmation) will really come in handy. It will help
to uncover whether or not the prospect is in a position
to make a purchasing decision.

32

CHAPTER 4.
CLOSING THE SALE
#28: Stage 3 – Investigative
Once you’ve qualified the prospect as a true potential

buyer, it’s time to have a more in-depth discussion
about their needs and your ability to offer a solution.
At this stage, your goal is to ask key open-ended
questions that will further substantiate the prospect
has a need, and that your solution is a good fit. It’s
worth noting that up to this point you still haven’t
presented your product offering. The key to the
investigative stage is to uncover as many needs as
you can by asking a lot of open-ended questions.
Then, when you present your product, you can gear
the presentation to answer the prospect’s needs or
concerns.
#29: Stage 4 – Presentation
Having understood your prospect’s needs and

concerns, you are now ready to talk about how your
product or service can help the prospect. Each point


you make in your presentation should be aimed at
answering: a) a prospect’s concern; b) informing the
prospect of things he may not be aware of; and c)
addressing any “unvoiced” concerns (i.e., concerns or
needs that the prospect did or may not want to voice
aloud). The presentation should highlight product
features, but should stay focused on how it translates
into a benefit for the prospect. Remember, features
tell, benefits sell.
#30: Stage 5 – Pricing
When all is said and done, it will come down to

pricing or simply, “How much?” The presentation
stage is about creating value; the pricing is about
proposal, a value proposition. If in the presentation
stage you’ve made your case that the prospect would
be better off exchanging his money for your product,
then you’ve done your sales job well.
#31: Stage 6 – Closing
The final stage is the close or obtaining a

commitment. Here’s where the proverbial pen meets
the paper. If you’ve sold well, the prospect will sign
on the dotted line and the deal is sealed. There are
numerous ways to ask for the order. Here are just a
few:
34
Closing the Sale
“Mr. Prospect, where do we go from here?”
“Mr. Prospect, can you see any reason why we

should sign you up?”
“Mr. Prospect, based on what you’re telling me, let’s

go ahead and get the process started.”
Asking for the order is the key. Too often,

salespeople hesitate to ask for the order for fear of
rejection. There’s only one thing worse than rejection
in selling—not asking for the order that could’ve
been yours if you simply had asked. Remember, ask!
Your prospects expect you to ask for the order. Don’t
disappoint them by not doing so.
#32: The Sales Funnel
There you have it, the six stages of selling. The best
way to visualize this six-step process is to imagine a
vertical funnel with the wide part at the top and the
narrow spout at the bottom. The sales process starts
by “pouring” sales leads or prospects into the funnel.
As the prospects move through the funnel, they are
then qualified before proceeding to the next stage:
investigation. Those who don’t qualify are removed
from the funnel. Having been qualified, the prospect
moves through to the next stage in the funnel, the
investigation, where specific questions are asked,
before proceeding to the presentation and pricing

stage. Lastly, if you can close the deal, you now have
a client (i.e., a prospect who bought from you
becomes a client) coming out of the bottom of the
narrow funnel. How many prospects you convert into
clients is called your conversion rate or closing rate.
Each phase of the sales funnel is critical, but none is
more critical than qualifying your prospects up front.
This phase insures that you don’t waste time trying to
sell to someone who isn’t going to buy your product.
#33: Calculating Your Closing Rate
In sales, the name of the game, is to start with many

qualified prospects. As you move them through your
sales stages (or funnel), you’ll still have a handful
that will come out of the bottom funnel, buy from
you, and be able to measure your effectiveness. In
selling, this is referred to as your closing rate.
If for example you had 10 prospects you were trying

to sell to, and after having gone through the selling
stages, only 1 buys, then your closing ratio or
percentage is 10% (1 divided 10 × 100%). If 2 out of
10 bought, then your closing percentage is 20%. Note
that in selling, there is no standard close rate or good
close rate since it varies from industry-to-industry.
For instance, a 10% close rate may be bad if you’re
selling a low commission ticket item ($100 printer),
36
Closing the Sale
but it would be great if you were selling a large ticket
item ($500,000 printer).
#34: The Rule of Thirds
Often, in selling, it is easy to get discouraged when a

big sale that you thought was in the bank doesn’t go
through. You can get frustrated when some prospects
see the value immediately, while others simply do
not. Having said that, here’s something you should
keep in mind. In sales, there’s a general rule of thirds,
which states one third of the qualified prospects who
agree to see and hear you proposal will see the value
immediately and buy from you. We’ll call this group
“Buyers”.
There’s another one third who are qualified prospects;

they simply require you to understand their needs and
show them how your product or service will benefit
them. We’ll call this group the “Evaluators”. If you
do it right, they’ll buy. If you don’t, they won’t.
Finally, there is the last of the one third of qualified

prospects, who no matter how much you show them
the benefits of your product or service , will never
make a decision to buy, or will simply reject your
offer outright. We’ll call this group the “Wasters” as
in “time wasters”.

A rookie mistake is to keep going back to a prospect
who won’t buy,—a waster in disguise. Learn to
categorize your prospects into three major categories:
Likely to buy (Buyer), May buy (Evaluator), and Will
never buy (Waster). Sales is a numbers game in the
sense that the more Buyers and Evaluators you talk
to, the more likely you are to earn higher
commissions. Don’t get bogged down talking to a
Waster who continually says, “Well let me think
about it. I need more information. Let me talk to your
existing clients?”,and on and on. The faster you can
identify a Waster, the more time you’ll have for
Buyers and Evaluators.
#35: Five Reasons Prospect Don’t Buy
Think back to the last time you tried to close someone

on a say, or simply requested something from
someone and the answer was a polite “No.” Maybe at
the time you didn’t know why, but if you really give
it some deep thought, you might conclude that they
may have said no for one of the following five
reasons:
1. No Money
2. No Time
3. No Need (or No Interest)
4. No Urgency
5. No Trust
38
Closing the Sale
An acronym is one good way to remember these five
reasons. I came up with: MT. NUT, which stands for
(M)oney, (T)ime, (N)eed, (U)rgency, and (T)rust.
Every sale you fail to close in your sales lifetime can

be categorized under one or more of these five
reasons. It’s imperative that you memorize these five
reasons so when you’re face to face with a prospect
who doesn’t seem to be moving in your direction, you
can look for signs of one or more of these reasons.
#36: When the Prospect Says They Don’t

Have the Money
I’m going to venture and guess that 95% (I’m being

conservative) of all the prospects who say they won’t
buy because of money are using money as an excuse
to back out of the deal. If someone wants something
really badly, they always find a way to come up with
the money or some creative way of financing the
purchase.
When a prospect uses a false reason for not buying,

this is referred to as a “stall”. Stalls are how a
prospect indirectly communicates to you, the
salesperson. They let you know that, until they
receive more information, something about the item
makes them feel unsure or unwilling to commit to the
purchase.

You, as a salesperson, must learn how to “vet” these
stalls by asking key questions that remove the initial
stall. A good way to find out whether or not money is
really the issue is to ask a “What if” question. It goes
something like this:
“If I can show you how you can afford this item
or suggest a creative way of financing this item,
is there any other reason why you wouldn’t want
to go ahead and purchase the item today?”
At this point, the prospect has to come clean. If

money is the real issue, then he or she will request
that you show him or her some options. If the
prospect was being insincere (e.g., using money as an
excuse to not buy), he or she will more than likely
you give you the real reason for why he or she won’t
make the purchase.
40

CHAPTER 5.
BRIDGING THE
SALES GAP


Have the Time
A prospect may tell you the reason they won’t buy

from you at this moment is because they simply don’t
have the time to invest in implementing, using, or
learning about your product. I’ve had prospects tell
me the reason they won’t buy my product is because
it takes too long to install or it takes too long to learn
how to efficiently use it.
The best way to handle this stall is to test the

prospect’s knowledge of efficiency and utilization.
For example, if you’re selling a prospect a product
that will help him or her save one hour a day, any
sane person would be interested in finding out more.
“Mr. Prospect, I know that you value time and that

time is money. If I can show you how this product will
not only save you money, but will give you more time


to do other things, would it be worth spending ten
minutes of your time, knowing I can save you an hour
a day?”
Notice again that my question is aimed at vetting the

prospect by asking him a question to see whether or
not his time excuse is a real excuse, or just a stall
tactic. Any sane person would at least be willing to
listen to such a proposal, if they’re being sincere.
A prospect who responds by saying that it is not

worth ten minutes of his time to learn how he can
save an hour is being disingenuous, indicating that it
might be time to move on to another prospect.

Have the Need
A prospect who tells you he doesn’t need your

product is either telling the truth or is unaware of
what needs he really has. The latter may sound like an
odd statement, but in the majority of cases, you’ll find
in selling that many prospects simply don’t know
what they “need”.
The goal of any salesperson is to show prospects how

much they need to use their product in order to save
time or money. It may require that you demonstrate
42
Bridging the Sales Gap

how, by not using your product, it is costing them
time, money, or anything else of value.
Let’s say, for example, that you are selling facial

crèmes that give the face more vibrancy and
elasticity, making clients look younger than they
really are. A prospect might say that he doesn’t need
to look younger; he finds his appearance fine the way
it is. This is a classic situation of no need. The key
here is to develop a need where one is not present.
You can use many strategies to appeal to time,
money, or even ego. You can remind the prospect
that:
• Appearance over time changes even without

us really noticing.
• Studies have shown that younger-looking
people tend to get hired faster than people
who are in their late 40s and up.
• The crème can be used to prevent wrinkles or
skin damage from appearing before their time.
Whatever your tactic, the aim is to create a need for

your product by giving the prospect reasons why they
should buy from you.

#39: When the Prospect Doesn’t Have a
Sense of Urgency
You must, I repeat, you must create a sense of

urgency, or the prospect will simply not take action.
A sense of urgency is created when you can convince
the prospect that delaying the purchase of your
product will in some way be detrimental to the
prospect. For example, if your product is designed to
save the prospect time, highlight how much time he
or she is wasting (loss of productivity) by not using
your product. If money is the fulcrum, then translate
the amount of lost time into how much money he or
she is losing.
Urgency is created by using reasons for buying your

product as momentum. Each reason you give for
buying your product should have a cumulative effect.
Think of a weight scale. On one side of the scale you
have this big weight that says, “No sale”. This is the
prospect’s current mindset toward your product.
Now, imagine that on the other side of the scale you
begin to add weights (i.e., reasons) for why it is
imperative that the prospect buy. Each weight is a
tangible reason for why the prospect should buy. The
more weight (reasons) the more likely the scale will
rule your way where it reads, “Ready to buy.”
44

A good strategy for creating urgency is to do a
“Where are we now?” and “What if?” scenario with
the prospect.
“Mr. Prospect, how are you currently doing this task

today?”
The prospect will then proceed to tell you, and as he

explains, listen carefully for where your product
might be able to help make his situation better.
“Mr. Prospect, based on what you’ve described, I can

see that you may be unaware of how much time or
money you’re losing (i.e., what it’s really costing
you). Allow me to show you where I believe we can
help you save time (or money).”
At this point, you begin to lay out all the ways the
prospect is losing money or time. Each reason is
aimed at creating awareness of the problem with the
resulting effect being a sense of urgency to resolve
the situation. By identifying and highlighting how the
prospect is losing money or time, you are driving
home the point more and more, causing the prospect
to understand and realize the pain of his position.
Pain is a great motivator. In fact, I will say that pain
is the motor that drives urgency. So the more pain
you create, the greater the sense of urgency.

#40: Building Trust When There is No
Trust
Trust is usually developed over time, but what

happens when you don’t have the luxury of time?
When you meet a prospect for the first time who
promised to give you 10 minutes of his time, how can
you create trust with such a short window of time?
There are two effective ways of creating instant trust.

Demonstrate expertise, as well as unsuspecting
honesty. Demonstrating expertise really needs no
explanation other than to say people respect people
who know more than they do and can help them solve
their problems. You can’t tell someone you’re an
expert. The most effective way to demonstrate
expertise is in how you ask questions, and more
importantly, the quality of questions you’re asking.
What you ask tells the prospect immediately about
how much you know your product or their problems.
Being unsuspectingly honest is telling the prospect

something he doesn’t expect to hear from a
salesperson (e.g., product weakness). Admitting to
your prospect what you’re product can’t do is just as
potent as telling your prospect what it can do.
Imagine walking up to a car lot to buy a car and the
salesperson says something like…
46

“Many people are drawn to this car for its looks, but
given its maintenance track record, I wouldn’t
recommend it to someone who is looking for a
reliable car.”
Your immediate reaction might be one of disbelief!

After the shock has worn off, you feel a sense of trust
develop. Who else but a trustworthy salesperson
would be so brazen and forthright as to tell you NOT
to buy something? Learn to build trust quickly by
demonstrating expertise and unsuspecting honesty!
#41: Crossing the Sales Gaps
In order to get anyone to buy your product or at a

minimum get them to consider your product, you
have to get them to cross over three mental sales
gaps. The first sales gap is “Awareness”. A prospect
has to be aware that he or she has a problem. This
may not be as obvious as it sounds. Sometimes, the
prospect isn’t aware of a situation that may be costing
him time or money. Step one is to create awareness
by identifying the problem for the prospect.
The next phase of the selling process is what I call

crossing the “Urgency Gap.” Once the problem has
been brought to the prospect’s attention, it doesn’t
necessarily mean he’ll act on it. In other words, he
may have a need or a problem that must be resolved,

but he’s not in a hurry or rush to do it right now. This
is where a good salesperson can come in and create a
sense of “Urgency” by showing the prospect how
much he is missing out on or losing by not having
your product. Lastly, even if the prospect is aware of
the problem and acknowledges that something has to
be done (e.g., a sense of urgency), he still needs to
cross the “Solutions Gap.” The solutions gap is where
you demonstrate, to your prospect that you have the
solution to solve the prospect’s problem. Stated
another way, you’ve made the prospect aware of a
need, and the prospect acknowledges the urgency of
the need. The only question remaining is do you have
the right product or service to satisfy this newly
discovered, urgent need?
During this last phase, you take the time to present

your product and how it can resolve your prospect’s
urgent needs.
#42: They’re Rejecting the Offer, Not You
Consider the following scenario: You’re walking

down the street and you see someone fall. You walk
over and extend your hand, to help them get up. They
refuse to take your hand, so you withdraw your hand,
and keep walking. Here’s my question to you: Since
your help was rejected, do you walk away feeling
bad? Your answer should obviously be no. You saw
48

someone fall. You assessed the situation and decided
they needed the help that you could provide. The
person’s refusal had nothing to do with your
“intentions.” Your intentions were good, so there is
no reason to feel bad at all. This is how you should
view selling. If your intentions are good (i.e., wanting
to help, not sell), and someone refuses your help,
there’s no reason to walk away from the prospect
feeling bad.
Selling is all about good intentions in helping

prospects achieve their goals by helping them solve
their problems or fill their needs. All you can do as a
salesperson, and all that is expected of you, is that
you get in front of the prospect, uncover a need, and
offer them a helping hand. If they refuse, just
remember, they’re not rejecting you—only your
intention in wanting to help. Oddly enough, in this
profession we call selling, there will be prospects who
desperately need help or a helping hand, but will
simply refuse to take you up on your offer to help.
Just remember, intentions count for everything. It’s
their loss, not yours…keep walking.
#43: Principle of Least Interest Effect
The person least committed to staying in a

relationship has the most power since they don't care
as much...hmmm. In selling, your job is to get the

other side to commit to the “sales relationship” by
getting them involved and creating a sense of
urgency. How do you do that? Read the next rule.
#44: Make the Client Discontent
Ernest Dichter, the father of Motivational Research,

dedicated his life to understanding what motivated
buyers to buy on both a conscious and an unconscious
level. Dichter insisted that one had to use the
techniques of motivational thinking, to make people
“constructively discontent.” He contended that only
by creating discontent would a buyer be motivated to
make a purchase. In other words, to get a prospect to
buy your product, they first had to be dissatisfied with
what they had or what they were using. The best way
to create discontent is by showing the prospect what
he or she is missing out on by not using your product
or service. For example, we all loved our records until
the 8-track tape player came along and we could play
multiple songs without having to flip the record. Plus,
the 8-track was portable. We then moved away from
the 8-track to audio cassette, preferring their size and
the ability, to find a favorite song faster. Next, we
turned to the compact disc. The CD was introduced
because we didn’t have to fast forward anymore, and
the sound quality (e.g., no tape hiss) was superior. We
then abandoned the CD when the mp3 (e.g., iPod)
came along because we store hundreds, if not
50

thousands of songs, without having to worry about
the number of CDs. Every time we moved over to a
newer technology, it was driven by our discontent
with what we were using.
In selling, look for ways to make your prospect

discontent by showing them something better, faster,
more convenient, or cheaper.
#45: Long Sales Cycle versus Short Sales

Cycle
The typical sales process includes the following

stages: Prospecting, Qualifying, Investigating Needs,
Presenting, Proposal, and Closing. A sales cycle is the
length of time it takes for you to close a sale, from the
day you started selling to that particular client. For
example, if you met with your client for the first time
on July 1, and you managed to close the deal on
August 1, your sales cycle would be 30 days or one
month.
In general, a low-ticket item will have a shorter

closing cycle than a high-ticket item. It is more likely
that you’ll sell a $100 computer printer faster than
you will a $50,000 printer.
The terms “long” or “short” used to describe a sales

cycle are relative. For some, a 30-day sales cycle may

be short. Others who are used to selling more in that
time would consider it a long sales cycle.
52

CHAPTER 6.
THE LONG AND

SHORT OF THE
SALES CYCLE

#46: Measuring Your Sales Cycle
There’s an adage that says you can’t improve what

you can’t measure. To be amongst the elite in sales, it
is first necessary to become aware of the length of
your sale cycle. You can do this by tracking specific
transactions from the initial point of contact all the
way through the sale. Use a calendar to mark when
you first started to sell to the person, and then note
when the sale was finally complete. Repeat this
tracking process for a few of your clients in order to
establish an average sales cycle.
Let’s say, after a few months of tracking your clients

through the sales process, you’ve determined that
your sales cycle is 45 days. At this point, you may
decide that 45 days is too long of a sales cycle. If so,
then you should be asking yourself, “Is there a way to


shorten my sales cycle?” The more you can reduce or
shorten your sales cycle, the more clients you’ll be
able to serve, and the more sales you’ll be able to
close in a given time period.
Begin by reviewing each of the steps in the sales

process, and find ways to be more efficient. For
example, maybe in the Qualifying phase, you can ask
more specific questions to further qualify your
prospects so they don’t wind up wasting your time.
The more you can qualify up front, the better your
chances of closing the sales at the end of the sales
process.
#47: I Have to Speak with My X
Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve just

finished making the best sales presentation about your
product or service, and you’re feeling really good?
You’re feeling so good you’re thinking there’s no
way this client can say no to your offer. Then you
hear this phrase, “Well, I like what you’re saying, but
I have to speak to my husband (or wife, or boss)
before I make a decision…let me get back to you?”
At that point, you’re stuck. You can’t force the issue
by demanding that the client make a decision right
there. So you just say, “OK, when can I follow up?”
54
The Long and Short of the Sales Cycle

The problem comes when you call a week later, and
the prospect is no longer interested. What if I could
show you a way to prevent yourself from getting into
this situation in the first place? How? It’s easy: insert
a qualifying question BEFORE you present. Here’s
what you’re going to ask: “Mr. Jones, aside from
yourself, who else needs to be involved to make a
decision?”
Now the client has two choices: If the prospect says

they need to involve their spouse, then you simply
ask to reschedule a time when both of them can be
present. Now, if the prospect says, I’m the person that
makes the decision, you can jump right into your
presentation knowing that the prospect won’t use the
excuse, “I need to speak with my spouse or boss.”
This simple question will save you time and
headaches.
#48: Send Me Your Information
How many times have you made a call to a company,

introduced yourself and your product, and after a few
minutes of chatting, the potential client says, “Send
me your information, I’ll look it over.” Now let’s be
honest with each other here; do you think they’re
really going to a) wait for your information to arrive;
b) stop what they’re doing and review your
information; and c) take the time and call you? No!

No sooner than you hang up the phone, you are
forgotten.
Even if you did send the info and followed up, do you
think they’d remember you out of the numerous calls
they get daily from other salespeople? No. The
question is, “How do you get in front of the potential
client so you can present your product and stand a
better chance of closing the deal?”
Well, here’s how you do it.
When the prospect says, “Send me the information,

and I’ll review it.” I want you to reply, “I could do
that, but I also know you’re still going to have
questions. So, why don’t I stop by and drop off the
information personally? Would Monday or Thursday
work for you?”
Then, be silent, and wait for a reply. If you’re lucky,

they choose one of the two dates, and you’re one step
closer to closing the sale.
#49: That’s Too Expensive or That’s Too

Much Money
In selling, there will come a time when you’ve

finished a sales pitch, and the prospect pushes back
by saying, “That’s too expensive or that’s too much
56

money”. Now, there are a couple of ways to handle
this price objection. One of my favorite tactics for
overcoming this objection is to “reframe” the price in
such a way that it doesn’t look that big to the
prospect.
For example, let’s say I’m selling a monthly

membership for a fitness center that costs $50 a
month to be a member. The prospect says, “Isn’t that
a bit expensive?” Instead of trying to argue or
convince the prospect that it really isn’t that
expensive, “reframe” the price. What you say is,
“Fifty dollars may seem like a lot, but it really isn’t.
That comes out to a little over one dollar a day.” Then
you ask, “Wouldn’t you agree that your health and
well being is surely worth a little more than a dollar a
day?”
Then, say nothing. At that moment you’ve

“reframed” how the prospect will look at the value of
your offer, and you now stand a better chance of
closing the sale.
#50: Displaying Your Products
Would you agree that every advantage in sales helps?

A recent study showed that simply having your
product on display could increase your sales by 10 to

20%. Merely looking at the product, being able to
physically see it, will increase the number of sales.
So, what does that mean to you?
The next time you’re doing a product pitch or sales

presentation, make sure you have your product in
front of your potential buyer. Have it right next to
you. As you describe the features, hold it in your
hand and occasionally hand it to your potential buyer.
Having a picture of the product is good, but nothing

can beat the hands-on, touch and feel of the product.
Imagine for a minute going to a car dealership to look
at cars, and all they had were pictures. Imagine going
to the store to buy clothes, and all they showed you
were pictures?
Having the product on hand and allowing the

potential buyer to examine it, play with it, and even
try it on for size, will increase the likelihood of them
buying. It’s not just about tell, it’s about “show and
tell”.
#51: Influence versus Manipulation
There are several ways to influence people. They say

that those who believe they aren’t susceptible to
influence are the most likely to be victims of
58

influence. Which begs the question: is influence good
or bad? Well, the difference between influence and
manipulation comes down to a matter of ethics and
intent. If you are influencing someone’s reason for
buying from you because it will help them, then
influencing them is a good thing. If you are
influencing them, regardless of whether the product
will help them or not, you can consider that
manipulation. Success in sales, in the long run,
depends on your ability to influence and NOT
manipulate. Remember, it is six times cheaper to keep
a customer than to go out and find a new one. Selling
your customers what they want or need will keep
them coming back for more.
#52: The Primacy Effect
People tend to remember the first things they hear, or

the first things they read. This is why making a first
impression counts in sales. What people see or hear
will affect how they perceive you from that point
forward. In a sales presentation or pitch, you always
want to lead off with something memorable that you
want the prospect to remember about you or your
company.

#53: The Recency Effect
People tend to remember the first thing they see or

read (the Primacy Effect), but as time passes, they
will recall the LAST thing they’ve seen or read. This
is why having a good closing—with a strong
emphasis on what you want the prospect to know—is
critical. At the end of a lengthy sales pitch or
presentation, it’s always a good idea to summarize the
key points.
#54: Presentation Sequence
Should I present first or second? Studies have shown

that if you have an option to present first or second,
you should always present first. See my tip on the
Primacy Effect to understand why. But, if there is a
time lag between the first and second presentation, for
example, you can present on day one or day two, then
you should present on the second day. To understand
why, see my explanation of the Recency Effect,
which states that people remember what they hear
last.
60

CHAPTER 7.
THE MINDSET OF
PROSPECTS

#55: Pricing Option
When submitting a proposal to a prospect who has

agreed to buy, the prospect will typically choose the
less expensive option. The reason behind this is the
fact that many prospects who are buying for the first
time are risk averse. They don’t like to take risk. By
buying your less expensive item, they minimize the
risk of buying the wrong thing, and therefore avoid
what we all know as buyer’s remorse. So what if you
want them to buy the most expensive item? Is there a
way to influence them to buy the more expensive
item? The answer is yes. Check out my next tip to
find out how!
#56: Social Proof
When determining a course of action or behavior,

when unsure on how to act or behave, we will look
for social clues or environmental cues for help. For


example, let’s say you’re out and about looking for a
good nightclub. There are many to choose from, but
only one has a line that extends around the corner.
You immediately draw the conclusion, based on the
long line (i.e., social proof), which nightclub must be
the best on the strip.
#57: Salting the Jar (Another Example of

Social Proof)
This technique is used to get clients to tip for services

rendered at any public event or place. We’ve all seen
a tip jar filled with money deposited by patrons who
want to show their appreciation for the service
they’ve received. If you go to a piano bar, you’ll see
the piano player with a tip jar atop the piano. If you
go to a coffee shop, you may see a tip jar next to the
cash register. The “salting” part comes in when no
one is around and the tip jar is empty. The piano
player or coffee server will usually salt the jar with
some of their own cash (e.g., some change and a few
$1 bills), hoping to influence people to leave a tip.
This is an application of the social proof principle.
Seeing that others have tipped will compel you to do
the same.
62
The Mindset of Prospects

#58: Rule of Consistency
This is also known as cognitive dissonance. This rule

states that when your beliefs or values are not in line
with your actions, you feel compelled to act to
resolve this tension. For example, if you state you’re
going to do something and then don’t follow through,
you will feel an uneasiness brought on by your
inconsistency. Think back at a time when you told
someone you would do something, but at the last
moment you decided to back out for some frivolous
reason. Do you recall how you felt? That’s cognitive
dissonance. This rule further purports that the more
public the declaration, the more you will feel
compelled to act consistently.
#59: How Telemarketers Use Consistency
Telemarketing folks will often ask you right off the

bat, “How are you doing?” and then go silent. If
you’re like many people you’ll respond, “I’m doing
great! What can I do for you?” At that moment,
you’ve fallen into the consistency trap. Once you’ve
told them you’re feeling great, you’ve set yourself up
to be influenced. Studies have shown that
telemarketers are able to sell to you more effectively
(i.e., you are more susceptible) if they can get a
positive response to the question, “How are you
doing?” People will act consistently with what

they’ve stated aloud. (Refer to the rule of
consistency.) It becomes more difficult to be rude or
simply hang-up after stating you’re doing great, and
manipulators know this!
#60 Sales Truth Serum – How to Get

Accurate Information
Have you ever had to ask the following questions to a

prospect:
• When do you think you’ll be making a

buying decision?
• How much money do you think will be in
your budget for next year?
And when you did get the answer (i.e., the

prediction), for some reason you didn’t feel quite
confident that you were getting an accurate answer. In
fact, more often than not the answer you received was
either highly optimistic or pessimistic and far from
accurate.
Here’s an interesting approach to getting more

accurate or realistic information out of a person.
Instead of asking a “focus question,” start by asking
an “ideal question,” followed by a focus question, to
produce more realistic results.
64

Let’s say you’re meeting with a prospect named Bob,
and you’re trying to get a realistic timeframe for
when a buying decision will be made.
Option 1: Ask the focus question.
Salesperson: “When do you think you’ll be

making a buying decision?”
Bob: “Well, I don’t rightly know. It could be

within a week or two.”
Option 2: Ask the ideal question first, then the focus

question (e.g., ideal – focus sequence):
Salesperson: “So Bob, if conditions were ideal,

when do you think you’ll be making a buying
decision?”
Bob: “Well if everything goes according to plan,

I’d say two weeks.”
Salesperson: “When do you personally think

you’ll be making a buying decision?”
Bob: “Well, I’d say more like three weeks.”
One study showed that using the ideal–focus

sequence forces the respondent to really think about
the answer they’re giving you. It works almost like
truth serum for selling. This is a relatively simple and

painless technique, which you can incorporate into
the information gathering phase of your sales process.
#61: Sales Attention Grabbers
Often times, we want to grab a prospect’s attention

before we launch into our sales pitch. Here are three
sure-fire ways to grab a prospect’s attention. First,
ask the prospect, “Let me ask you a quick
question…” Nine times out of ten the prospect will
stop mentally in their tracks and listen. Secondly, you
can say, “Let me run something by you.” Or, the third
thing you can say to get a prospect’s attention is,
“Tell me if this makes sense”. Indirectly, you’re
asking for the person’s opinion, and we all know how
people love to share their opinions. Note that all three
approaches don’t have an aggressive tone to them.
When you ask these questions or make the
statements, you come across as someone who just
wants to bounce an idea off the person, making them
more susceptible to listening to what you have to say.
#62: Price Options
After having completed your presentation, you hand

the prospect your proposal, which includes a higher-
priced and lower priced option. Which do you think
the prospect will choose? More than likely, they will
choose the cheapest of the two in order to avoid
66

paying too much. This phenomenon is called “loss
aversion.” It gets better. What if you offered the
prospect three options, varying from the most
expensive, middle-of-the-road, and least expensive?
Which do you think the prospect would choose? If
you guessed the one in the middle, you’re right. Loss
aversion is at work here. In order to avoid over-
paying or under-paying, the prospect will choose the
option in the middle. When you present your proposal
to a client in the future, always put your “target
option” (i.e., the one you hope they choose) in the
middle, sandwiched between a lower-priced and
higher-priced option.
#63: I Don’t Know!
Early in my sales career, someone taught me a

wonderful tool for getting past the “I don’t know”
stalemate. When you ask a prospect when they think
they will make a buying decision, the prospect might
reply, “Well, I don’t know”. If they do, here’s what
you should say: “I know you don’t know, but if you
did know, what would it be?” For some reason, this
response always seems to garner a response from the
prospect. Use it!

68

CHAPTER 8.
THE VALUE OF
MONEY

#64: Reducing Your Sales Cycle
The best way to effectively reduce your sales cycle is

to set up the next appointment while you’re at the
customer’s premise finishing up a meeting. Too often,
salespeople leave a meeting without pre-arranging a
time and date for the next meeting. This leads to a lot
of “telephone tag,” and the next thing you know,
several days if not weeks have gone by.
When you finally do get a hold of the prospect, it

might be too late, or they seem to have lost interest in
the whole matter. Before you leave the meeting,
confirm a time and date. If the prospect says, “Well, I
don’t know when we can meet again.” all you have to
do is use the “I Don’t Know’ technique, to get your
answer.


#65: The Alternative Close
In sales, the word “close” can be used to mean to

close a deal or to get a commitment. The best way to
insure that you close a prospect is by offering them an
alternative. If they don’t know which product they
want to buy, offer them an option. If they don’t know
what day they can meet with you, offer them an
option. For example, if you’re selling a dryer and the
prospect seems ready to buy, simply ask an
alternative question to close the deal: “Would you
like it in green or just white?” If you’re trying to line
up the next meeting, simply ask, “Would Monday
afternoon or Friday morning be best for you?” You
can even use this technique in your personal life.
Instead of asking your spouse what they would like to
do for dinner, rephrase the question as an alternative:
“Honey, would you like to stay in tonight or go out
for dinner?” If your spouse responds, “Let’s go out,”
then ask another alternative question: “Chinese or
Mexican dear?”
#66: Verbal Packaging
How you say something can influence how it is

received. For example, which do you think will sell
better in the store: meat that is 90% fat free or meat
with 10% fat? If you guess the 90% fat free, you win
the prize. Both ads say the exact same thing, except
70
The Value of Money
the message is packaged or presented differently and

influences the way the buyer perceives the product.
People like to ingest things that are fat free, and abhor
eating anything with too much fat in it. Psychologists
and behaviorists refer to this method of presenting as
framing, whereby you, the salesperson, are framing
how the product is perceived.
#67: Sequence Your Offer
I’d like you to take a look at these two options:
Option 1: Gas $1.50, $1.65 with a credit card.
Option 2: Gas $1.65, $1.50 paying cash.
Even though both options are the same, if you’re like

most people you’ll be a little taken aback by Option
1. How dare the gas station owner penalize me $0.15
per gallon of gas, just because I use a credit card? On
the other hand, if you see Option 2, you’re a happy
camper, because you have the option of saving
money. The $1.65 in Option 1 is seen as a surcharge
for gas, while the $1.65 in the Option 2 is seen as just
that, an option. People love options, and they hate
surcharges with an equal passion. How you present
(i.e., frame) pricing and options can make or break a
sale.

#68: Building Instant Credibility
A man walks onto a car lot and shows interest in a

particular car. The salesman immediately informs him
that this particular car has a history of problems, and
other available cars were better and less expensive.
The man is stunned by the salesperson’s honesty. You
walk into a restaurant to eat and order a particular
dish. The waiter informs you that the last two patrons
ordered the meal and didn’t like it. The waiter then
points out a similar item you might like, and it is a
few dollars cheaper. The patron is taken aback by the
waiter’s honesty. What do these two cases have in
common? The salesperson and the waiter told the
customer something they didn’t expect to hear: the
truth. What is the result? In both cases, the salesman
and the waiter built instant credibility with their
customers.
#69: Relative Value of Money
You go to the local store to buy yourself a new pen.

You notice that the price is $20 but you distinctly
remember seeing it at another store a few miles away
for only $13. What do you do? Do you drive to the
other store and save $7 or buy the $20 pen? Consider
the following scenario. You decide to buy a suit for
$500, but then remember seeing the exact same suit
for $493 a few miles down the road. What do you do?
72
The Value of Money
Do you drive to the other store? If you’re like most

people, you will make the effort to drive to the other
store to buy the cheaper pen, but you will not do so
for the high-priced suit. Money apparently has a
relative value. In both cases, the savings are the same
(i.e., $7) but when we take $7 as a percentage of the
price, our perspective about the money’s value
changes. The absolute value of money is apparently
not so absolute, and is determined by the context of
the purchase. This explains why it’s easier to sell an
expensive suit first, then up-sell the inexpensive tie,
as opposed to the other way around.
#70: Customer Orientation
If you’ve been to any of the large stores lately, you

may have noticed that nothing is being sold within the
first 10 feet of the store. That’s because studies have
shown that customers need space upon entering the
store to orient themselves. This space is called the
transition space. Putting products at the door would
be futile since customers will just pass right by them.
In selling, customers need time to orient themselves
to understand what you’re trying to sell them, and
how it applies to their needs. Never put your best
stuff at the beginning of a sales pitch or presentation.
The customer may not get it. It’s better to spend the
first few minutes laying the groundwork or providing
background information of what you want to talk

about before leaping into the details of what you have
to offer. If you jump into the sales pitch too quickly,
you may disorient, or worse, confuse the customer.
As the saying goes, a confused mind never makes a
decision, especially a buying decision. Orient the
customer first, before beginning your sales pitch.
#71: Sunk Cost Fallacy
Someone gives you a $100 ticket to an event, but the

weather is horrible for traveling. Do you go? If you
paid $100, would you be more motivated to go?
Studies show that most people would risk their safety
and go to the event if they paid for the ticket. They
feel compelled to go since they spent the money. This
is called the sunk cost fallacy. Car salespeople use
this technique all the time. A salesperson will try to
keep you on the car lot as long as possible because
the more time you invest (sunk cost) in trying to find
the right car, the more you will feel compelled to
make a decision as opposed to going through the
whole process at another car dealership.
In selling, you want to get the potential buyer to

commit time to the sales process, thereby compelling
them to seriously consider your product. You can get
the prospect involved in the sales process in several
ways. You just have to be creative. For example, you
may have the prospect try out the product by using it
74
The Value of Money
for a day, or maybe you can get the prospect to attend

a training workshop. Whatever the approach, the
more you can get the prospect involved in using or
learning about your product, the more compelled
they’ll feel to buy. Create the pull of commitment, the
sunk cost effect, by getting the prospect involved as
much as you can.
#72: Customers Lie
Speaking of conversations with customers, let’s talk

now about how we find out what the customer’s real
needs are. I mentioned that good salespeople not only
listen for what is said, but also for what isn’t said.
Here’s the thing. Don’t be shocked by what I’m about
to say. Customers lie. Yep. Customers lie. They either
withhold the truth from you or simply won’t be
honest with you when confronted. The psychology is
fascinating. Customers distrust salespeople. That’s
the unfortunate side effect of folks who have had bad
experiences at car dealerships. One study showed that
in an average 10-minute conversation almost three
“lies” are told. So imagine how many can occur in 1
hour? Listen closely to what your customer is saying
and verify by asking follow-up questions like, “When
you said X, did you really mean X?”

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CHAPTER 9.
ASSESSING THE
SITUATION

#73: Prospecting
Of all the six stages in selling, prospecting is by far

the most important; no prospects, no clients, no
business, no money! You get the idea? In
prospecting, the first step is knowing who you’re
selling to. Once you’ve identified your target market,
the questions are; “How do you get them to come to
you?” or “How can you approach them?” In sales,
prospecting falls into one of three categories: Cold
Call, Inquiry, or Referral. Let’s take a look at each to
help you determine which method of prospecting is
good for you.
#74: Prospecting via Cold Calling
Whenever you pick up a phone to call someone that

you don’t know, you are making a cold call. The
objective of cold calling is to briefly introduce
yourself and your company to the potential client.


The hope is to generate enough interest that the
prospect will want to set up a meeting to learn more
about what your product has to offer.
#75: Prospecting via Inquiry
Many companies decide to market their product

through radio, TV, newspaper, print advertisement, or
via a promotional mail out. Either way, the prospect
sees the promotion and decides to give you a call to
find out more. This type of lead is called an inquiry.
#76: Prospecting via Referral
A referral describes someone who has used your

product or service and has recommended you to a
friend or colleague. You then decide to give them a
call and mention your common friend or colleague as
a way of breaking this ice. Many refer to this as a
“warm call” as opposed to a cold call. If the interested
referral contacts you, then I guess you can call that a
“warm inquiry” Either way, the relationship starts
from some reference point, instead of point zero.
78
Assessing the Situation
#77: No Pain, No Sales Gain
Studies have shown, that buyers are motivated more

by their need to avoid pain than their desire for
pleasure. Remember, your questioning strategy
should be one where you constantly remind the
prospect of what he or she stands to lose by not taking
action (i.e., buying from you). Creating enough pain
(or justification) in the prospect’s mind can only be
done when you sit down and thoughtfully strategize
the key questions to ask, and how each question will
create a sense of urgency. Your questions should be
geared to uncover the following information:
a) Are they using your product today?

b) If not, whose product are they using?
c) Are they satisfied? If not, why not?
d) If they say they’re satisfied, dig deeper and
uncover the subtle discontents.
e) Would they be inclined to use your product or
buy from you ,if you could demonstrate your
product’s superiority?
f) Do they have the money to buy from you?
g) Are you speaking to their decision maker?
Can you think of any other questions you might want

to ask?

#78: Lowering Resistance, Then Raising
Acceptance
Many salespeople, when meeting a prospect for the

first time, will immediately jump into their sales
pitch. They’ll describe how their product or service
can help solve the prospect’s need. What is the
problem with this? The prospect feels overwhelmed,
confused, and pressured to make a decision. What
will be the result? The prospect will be ready to run
away at the first opportunity that presents itself. So,
what is the best to approach the situation? Begin by
assuming every prospect you meet has a high
resistance and low acceptance to whatever you’re
selling. Before you can get a prospect to accept what
you’re selling, you must first lower their resistance.
How do you do that? Let’s go back to our six phases

of selling: prospect, qualify, investigate, present,
propose, and close. During the first three phases of
the sales process, your objective is to focus on asking
questions and learning more about the prospect and
their business. During these three phases, you can
begin to establish a level of trust and credibility with
the prospect by demonstrating, through your
questioning, that you’re more interested in what he or
she needs than just selling something. If done
correctly, you will begin to lower the prospect’s
resistance to what you have to offer. It only makes
80
sense that once you’ve listened long enough and

understood what the prospect needs, the prospect will
reciprocate by listening to what you have to offer.
When the information has been gathered to your
satisfaction, and you feel that the prospect has told
you all you need to know, the presentation phase of
the sales process begins at that precise moment.
Having lowered the prospect’s resistance, the next
three phases of the sales process are focused on
getting the prospect’s acceptance. The general rule is
simple: you must first lower the prospect’s resistance
during the first three phases, before you can seek the
prospect’s acceptance in the last three phases. Seek
first to understand, and once understood, begin to sell.
Begin by understanding the situation.
#79: Situation Questions
Once you meet with the prospect and exchange

pleasantries (e.g., nice weather we’re having, great
office and location, how long have you been with the
company, love your company’s product portfolio,
etc.), it’s time to get down to business. It all begins
with easing into the phase of asking Situation
Questions, questions designed to gather your
prospect’s background information, and the current
state of affairs as it relates to what you and your
company are offering in terms of products and
services.

Here are some types of Situation Questions that you
may want to consider.
Supplier questions:
• Who do you currently use as your supplier?

• How long have you been using your current
supplier?
Motivation questions:
• What factors today contribute to your success

with regard to (your product or service)?
• Are you looking for alternatives? If so, why?
Buying process questions:
• How often do you purchase?

• What led to your decision on that particular
vendor?
Market questions:
• Who are your current competitors?

• How do you see our product helping you
compete?
When asking Situation Questions, the objective is to

understand the current situation with the company
and the quality of the current supplier relationship.
82
Each question should be aimed at answering two

essential questions:
1) Are they a match for my product or service?

2) Are they in the right frame of mind to
consider my product as an alternative to their
current supplier?
#80: Verbal Gifting: The Ultimate Rapport

Builder
One of the biggest challenges we face with a new

client or prospect is getting them to open up in order
to help us understand their situation and then be able
to provide an adequate solution.
Unfortunately, clients and prospects are somewhat

jaded by the sales process and immediately throw up
a mental defense perimeter after a salesperson walks
into the room.
Think back to the last time you went to a car

dealership. Before you stepped one foot on the lot,
you were already preparing yourself for mental
warfare. In fact, by the time you got to the car
dealership, you felt this tense anxiety to turn back. As
you walked into the dealership, you repeatedly
warned yourself not to give out too much information
because it might be used against you when it came
down to negotiating a price. Sound familiar?

Clients today are more reluctant than ever to give out
information. However, without this free exchange of
information and ideas, it’s hard to 1) build rapport
and 2) offer the client our best product or service. So
the question is, “How do we get them to open up?”
One of the best ways of building rapport or getting

someone to open up is to apply the rule of reciprocity.
In the field of influence and persuasion, most people
are familiar with the rule of reciprocity, which states
that if we are “gifted” something, we feel the social
pull to reciprocate in kind. Since no one likes to be in
debt or indebted to someone else, we move swiftly to
cancel the debt by repaying the favor in kind with
something of equal or greater value.
When most salespeople see a prospect, and after

pleasantries have been exchanged, they dive right into
asking questions. They’ll listen intently and then
demonstrate understanding by asking another
question. As salespeople, we already know in
advance what critical pieces of information we need
to qualify and/or sell the prospect. So we prepare a
list of questions and then engage in the following
sequence to gather the information:
Step 1: Ask a Question
Step 2: Listen Intently
84
Step 3: Demonstrate Understanding (Back to

Step 1)
The danger with this question–listen sequence is that

it can come across as an interview, or worse, an
interrogation. A prospect who feels like they’re being
interrogated will resist “giving” you information. By
virtue of your countless questions, it will appear to
them that you are there to “take” this information.
As citizens in a society, we hate or resist takers in any

form. To illustrate my point, here’s an example of a
salesperson’s first encounter with Bob, the prospect,
who’s looking to buy a car.
Salesperson: Man, it really is hot out here!
Bob, the Prospect: Yes it is.
Salesperson: Well Bob, you seem like a man who

means business, so let’s get right to it. Is it alright
if I ask you a few questions?
Bob: Go ahead.
In the above example, no meaningful piece of

information (i.e., a verbal gift) was offered upfront by
the salesperson However, the salesperson does
demonstrate that he respects the prospect’s time by
wanting to get right to business. Unfortunately, at the
cost of not taking the time to establish an atmosphere

of mutual exchange, Bob the prospect is bracing
himself for an interrogation by a “taker.”
To avoid this stigma or any misunderstanding, it’s

critical that from the onset when visiting a prospect
you aren’t seen as a “taker”, but rather a sharer of
information. The best way to do this is to insert a
“gift” at the beginning by first volunteering a piece of
information in the questioning sequence.
Step 1: Volunteer Information (The Gift)
Step 2: Ask a Question
Step 3: Listen Intently
Step 4: Demonstrate Understanding (Back to

Step 1)
Begin a conversation by first presenting the prospect

with a verbal gift that will cause him to want to
reciprocate. Let me define this verbal gift as some
type of information about you or your company that
has value and meaning to the prospect. Let’s step
back in time with Bob, the prospect, except this time,
let’s try using the verbal gift approach.
Salesperson: Bob, I remember buying my first car

20 years ago and it was a Cutlass Supreme. Man,
I loved that car. What was your first car?
86
Bob: My first car was my grandmother’s old

beat-up, wood panel station wagon; a real chick
magnet for an 18 year old. (sarcasm)
Salesperson: So I take it a wood panel station

wagon is not why you’re here today.
Bob: Nah, I’d like to look at some of your luxury
sedans.
The salesperson, by volunteering a piece of personal

information with meaning (e.g., we all remember our
first car), presented Bob with a verbal gift that he then
felt compelled to reciprocate by sharing his own
personal experience about his first car. This allowed
the conversation to get started without the salesperson
feeling as though he was forcing the other to
participate and vice versa. The prospect saw the
conversation as an exchange of information, not a line
of questioning.
The rule of the verbal gift is simple: share something

of value and the other person will reciprocate. The
next time you meet someone for the first time,
whether in a social or professional setting, try it out. I
think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how often
people will open up to you by simply offering a
verbal gift.
Now is this rule 100% guaranteed? No, but I’m

willing to bet that your conversations with prospects

will see a dramatic improvement by simply applying
this rule.
#81: Trouble Questions
Listening carefully for trouble. When asking probing

questions to uncover dissatisfaction, begin by asking
general questions that relate to your product. Here are
a few “improvement” questions you could ask:
• What areas do you think need improvement?

• If there were two or three things you could
improve, what would they be?
• What are some capabilities you’d like to have
tomorrow, that you don’t have today?
• What would you say is your number one issue
with the product that you’re currently using?
These probing questions are meant to beat the bush to

see what flies out of the prospect’s mouth. Listen
carefully for soft trouble spots (e.g., the client shows
dissatisfaction, but minimizes it at the same time).
Gather as many trouble spots as you can during the
conversation.
88

CHAPTER 10.
PRESENTING THE
PRICE
#82: Don’t React or Act
Salespeople who are looking for trouble spots will

immediately react with some visual cue or change in
audible tone, after hearing one. As soon as you react,
the client may notice it and decide to pull back, and
not speak so freely. In poker, the fastest way to lose
your money is to telegraph your opponents the type of
hand you’re holding. The way to win and win big in
poker is to let the opponent think they have the upper
hand and that they’re in control. Every time a card is
drawn, smart poker players will lull the opponents
into a false sense of security causing them to commit
deeper to the pot. Once he’s gotten them to commit as
far as he thinks they’re willing go he goes all in,
catching the opponent by surprise and leaving them
confused and unsure of themselves.
It’s no different in selling. If the client tells you

something critical that you can use later to help you
close the deal, don’t show any emotion whatsoever,

Presenting the Price
or you will cause the client to pause or even worse,

stop feeding you good information. Allow the client
to talk and encourage him to share as much as he can
about the troubles they’re having. Don’t interrupt.
Just shut up and listen. Once in a while, throw in
some momentum phrases:
• That sounds interesting, tell me more about

that.
• You mentioned some discontent with this
item, can you elaborate?
• When you first discovered the troubles you
were having, how did you handle it?
• Sounds like you’ve had it rough. What did
you do?
The obvious purpose of these phrases is to nudge the

client along in talking about the trouble they’re
having with their current vendor or product. The more
the client talks, the more information you gain, and
the more the client starts to feel comfortable with
sharing. You’ll build faster rapport and trust by
listening and empathizing with the client’s situation.
#83: The Psychology of Consistency…Again!
Human nature dictates that people hate to admit when

they’re wrong, and they will become more defensive
when a decision they’ve chosen is threatened. This is

often referred to as the Psychology of Consistency.
Once a person makes a decision, they will behave in a
manner that supports that decision. Studies have
shown a person’s conviction will grow significantly
once a decision to buy has been made. In other words,
once a person makes a decision, they will justify and
rationalize why they made that decision.
Another aspect of consistency that needs to be

considered is the fact that the more public that
decision is, the more the prospect will defend that
position. If the person you’re dealing with was
involved in the previous decision to go with another
product, they will undoubtedly be more reluctant to
tell you what the trouble spots have been with the
product since the purchase.
At this point, you will experience “friction”. In other

words, the client will resist giving you the answer you
need to be more effective. This means you will have
to be more persistent in dragging it out of him.
It’s critical to find out if the person you’re dealing

with was involved in the selection of the current
product you’re trying to compete against. If the
person was, then you may have to find a way to
“blunt” the consistency factor. Look for parameters
that will allow the person to save face.
92
#84: Amplify Questions
When confronted, a client may try to characterize his

troubles as minor irritations that the company has had
to endure. The client may be in denial or simply
hasn’t considered the consequences of these trouble
spots.
This is where you will now focus your attention —

turning those trouble spots into tangible expenses for
the company. The goal is to amplify the trouble spots
to such an extent that the client begins to see the
impact on a much broader, company scope.
An “Amplification Question” typically follows an

open or closed question and seeks to highlight the
“impact” of a given problem. Amplification
Questions are essentially used for exposing the real
impact of a problem and creating a “sense of
urgency” on the client’s part to act and correct it.
For example, let’s say you’re selling a computer

program that will allow a prospect to access their
information 24/7, from anywhere in the world, from
any computer. The prospect’s current system can only
be accessed from a company computer in the office
and only during working hours.

As a salesperson, what you can do is put the
consequences of not having certain features into
question form to “amplify” the problem for the client.
For example:
1. How does not having 24/7 access impact

productivity?
2. What kind of problems does it create when
you have to generate reports?
3. Is limited access creating delays in
paperwork? If so, how is it impacting delivery
times?
Notice that each question is geared at “amplifying”

(as opposed to the prospect minimizing) the
problems.
#85: Rule of Association
Most salespeople, seeing that the client now

understands the need for change, would seize the
moment to make their product pitch. This isn’t a bad
approach. But there is a psychological mood at play
that might hurt you unless you address it right there;
it’s called the “Law of Association”.
Now the buyer associates you with bad news (i.e.,

you’ve amplified the pain), which makes it
unpleasant to continue the discussion. If you tell the
94
client that you have a solution, you are “telling” him

what he should do. The most effective strategy is to
get the client to “tell you” how your products would
help him alleviate his newfound concerns.
Let me give you an example to illustrate my point.

Early in my career, I knew an individual, we’ll call
him Joe, who would tell me what I was doing wrong
whenever he saw me. He “told” me what I should do,
but for some reason I never wanted to listen to him
because he was always so negative. It got to the point
that just looking at Joe coming down the hallway,
would put me in a bad mood. My brain, without my
consent, associated bad news with Joe. From that
point on, Joe could’ve had the best ideas in the world,
but my state of mind would not permit me to listen to
him.
When you talk to a client and all you do is bring up

all the troubles he’s having and then ask him
questions that only “amplify” those “troubles,” the
client may have the same reaction I had to Joe. He
might just shut down on you and go to someone else
to help solve his problems. People don’t like to be
told they’re wrong, but they like to be shown how
right they are.
So before jumping into the product presentation, let’s

go ahead and make the client feel good about his need

for change. Let’s “reward” him with compliments on
his insight into the problem. How? See the next rule.
#86: Reward Questions
Once you’ve identified the trouble and amplified it to

the point that the buyer sees the full impact of what
he thought was minor, he is now in a state of mind to
listen to your product proposal. A Reward Question is
similar to an Amplification question, with one key
difference. A Reward Question is positive, and an
Amplification Question is negative.
Let’s go back to the example where the company

doesn’t have 24/7 access to their computers, which
caused the following trouble. We took these three
trouble spots and created “amplification” questions to
bring the totality to the prospects:
1. How does not having 24/7 access impact

productivity?
2. What kind of problems does it create when
you have to generate reports?
3. Is limited access creating delays in
paperwork? If so, how is it impacting delivery
times?
96
Notice that these three questions are negative in tone,

which is useful if you want to generate pain and a
sense of urgency.
Reward questions on the other hand are positive in

tone, and allow the client to elaborate (i.e., dream a
bit if you will) on what it would mean to have these
troubles resolved. For instance:
Seller: (Amplify) How does not having 24/7

access impact productivity?
Buyer: Right now, we have reports being

generated late, which in turn causes confusion
and delays in delivery.
Seller: (Reward) Would having access eliminate

those confusions and delays?
Buyer: Absolutely.
Seller: What else might it improve?
Buyer: Well, it would help us track our inventory

better. Sometimes the reports are so delayed that
they don’t reflect our true inventory.
Seller: (Reward) How would having accurate

reports help you save money?
Buyer: Sometimes we order products we don’t

need because the inventory reports are old,
which means we’re spending money

unnecessarily, which reduces our positive cash
flow.
The goal of Reward Questions is to get the buyer past

the pain of ‘not having’, and into a state-of-mind that
sets up a “what if” scenario. This will allow him to
think about the positive aspect of resolving other
problems that are a consequence of the immediate
problem.
#87: Tie-Down
Let’s do a quick summary of where we are at with

S.T.A.R.T. system. Up to this point we’ve learned to
understand the prospect’s current Situation by asking
key question about current performance. We followed
that up by specifically keying in on Trouble they
might be having with their current supplier. Up to this
point, the goal has been to create awareness on the
prospect’s part.
The next step in the process was the need to really dig
for some pain by highlighting the real price of not
addressing key issues to the prospect. In terms of time
and money, it really was costing the prospect. Using
the Reward step, you get the prospect to see the
upside and benefit to resolving some of the current
issues. If you did your job, the prospect should be
feeling a sense of urgency to resolve his problems.
98
It is now up to you, the salesperson, to begin to tie-

down the prospect’s needs by demonstrating how
your product or service will help the prospect.
The last step in this S.T.A.R.T. system is the Tie-

Down. A tie-down can best be described as a
summation question posed by a salesperson seeking
to get some form of agreement or commitment from
the prospect.
Tie-downs are powerful closing techniques that can

be used to get the prospect to commit to buying or to
simply get the prospect to agree with what you’ve
stated. Tie-downs can be used in small (simple) and
large (complex) sales, but how you use them to close
a sale differs.
#88: Tie-Down in a Small Simple Sale
In a small sale, the prospect is less conscious of price.

A tie-down can be used to gain the prospect’s
commitment right there and then. For example, after
having created the need and urgency, you may try to
tie a prospect down for a commitment by using some
commonly used tie-down phrases:
• Based on what I’ve shown you, you can see

why buying now would be a good idea. Am I
right?

• Now that you’ve seen the product, let’s go
ahead and get the process started. Does that
sound good to you?
• Seeing is believing, and you have to admit
that buying this watch makes sense, don’t you
think?
• Even you must agree, this is a great deal for
the price. Let’s go ahead and write up the
order. How’s that sound?
If you’re selling an item that isn’t high priced and

isn’t that much of a commitment to the prospect,
these tie-down techniques are viable and have been
shown to work.
#89: Tie-Downs in Large Complex Sales
When selling a high-value item, the commitment to

buy now requires a greater risk on the part of the
prospect. Do you think a decision can be made
quickly? I have my doubts.
The sales value equation is simple: the more a

prospect has to pay, the more time he needs (i.e.,
hand holding) before he’ll commit to buying the item.
Higher value means a higher risk to the prospect.
Simple tie-down techniques, like the examples above,
may prove to be more harmful than helpful in your
selling process.
100
For example, if you haven’t built enough value into

your sales presentation and then lunge into a tie-down
to close the sale, the prospect will push back and say,
“Whoa! Wait a minute. I’m not ready to lay down
that type of money based on what you’ve told me.”
Many sales books today apply a one-size fits all

mentality when it comes to closing a sale. Using
high-pressure closing techniques (i.e., tie-downs) may
work when trying to sell a $10 watch, but will fail
miserably when you’re trying to sell a high-end item.
A complex sale is one where the item to be purchased

is so expensive that it requires multiple people to
make the final decision. More people involved means
the sales process just got a bit more complex, and
requires a more systematic approach to getting the
prospect to agree to a purchase.
In a complex sale, tie-downs occur throughout the

sales process and not just at the end of a sales pitch.
Every time you’ve made a point, demonstrated your
product’s competence, and sought after the prospect’s
agreement, you are essentially using a tie-down. A
tie-down in a complex sale is more akin to an
agreement or acknowledgment.
If done correctly, by the time you’re ready to present

your product or service, you’ve already gotten a

series of commitment statements from the prospect.
As you demonstrate your capabilities, you tie each
feature/benefit to the commitment statements (or
agreements) that the prospect has made previously,
regarding the importance of a particular feature.
#90: Price Distortion – The Magnifying

Effect
Daniel Putler, a former researcher at the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, tracks and studies, of all
things, egg sales in California. In his studies, Putler
discovered an interesting dynamic in consumer
buying habits when the price of eggs fluctuated. He
noticed that when the price went down, consumers
bought more eggs. No surprise here. Putler also
discovered that when the price of eggs went higher,
consumers cut back on their buying two and half
times (2.5×). He found that consumers “over react”
when they see a price increase. Putler had
encountered the rule of asymmetry in egg sales.
Asymmetry exists when one thing goes up (or down)
and the other goes in the opposite direction, but with
greater magnitude. Putler found what economists
have known for quite some time: price increases act
as judgment magnifiers. Buyers are more averse to
loss than they are to the pleasure of gain.
102
Let’s take Putler’s finding beyond eggs. If you were

to find a $50 bill, you’d feel real good. But if you lost
$50, you would feel two and half times worse
compared to the joy of having found $50 bill. This
aversion to loss (i.e., not wanting to feel the pain of
losing something) causes people to make irrational
decisions. This may explain a client’s behavior when
we raise the price of our product. If you give a client
a price break, he or she may feel some joy or sense of
satisfaction. Keep in mind that you have also set a
precedent (i.e., the client will expect a discount every
time he buys). And if you do raise the price, keep in
mind that the client is going to “over react” and
experience 2.5× dissatisfaction, and may choose to go
elsewhere. Clients forget quickly when you give them
a great price or discount, but they won’t forget the
2.5× pain and discomfort you caused them when you
increased the price.

CHAPTER 11.
RULES OF
PERSUASION

#91: The Discount Deception
The University of Ohio did an interesting study. You

might find it interesting, especially if you’re a
proponent of giving product or service discounts. The
school had a theatre department that sold season
passes for 10 shows put on during the semester. The
folks at the university wanted to test the effect of
discounted ticket prices on the show’s attendance for
that particular semester.
When a person was approached about buying season

tickets for $15, they were offered one of three types
of season passes. Out of the 60 students in the test
group, one group was sold a season pass at full price.
The second and third groups were sold season passes
with a discount of $2 and $7, respectively. The two
groups receiving the discounted passes were told they
were receiving a promotion discount from the theatre
company. All three groups had access to good seats.

Rules of Persuasion
The folks at the University wanted to see if offering

discounted passes as opposed to full-price passes
would make a difference in the attendance for the 10
shows. The results were as one might expect. Those
who paid full price showed up more often than those
who received discount passes.
Our initial impression of things causes us to view

things in such a way that is consistent with our initial
impression. Simply stated, in the case of the
discounted season passes, if it’s a cheap ticket, then it
must be a cheap show. Therefore, buying something
cheap causes us to devalue or view the object as
having little to no value.
In selling, the tendency sometimes is to provide the

client a hefty discount as an inducement to buy our
product. But given the University of Ohio’s study, I
think it’s worth pausing for a moment to reflect on
how the buyer might view your proposal.
We’ve all been in a situation when someone offers us

such a good deal that we wonder, “What’s wrong
with this picture?” So it should come as no surprise
that your buyer, upon receiving a very low price (big
discount) may think, “Why are they selling it so
cheap? What’s wrong with it?”
Buying something at a price that’s too good to be true

may set up in the buyer's mind a discount deception.

Just like the season ticket pass holders, the buyer may
choose not to use the product even after the purchase
(i.e., devaluing the item from the beginning).
Value attribution is about controlling perception, and

the last thing you want is a buyer to associate you (or
your company) with selling cheap products or
services. The unintended consequence of heavily
discounting a product may be that the buyer, sensing
little value, chooses not to buy any other products in
the future. Be careful!
#92: Nodding: Pumping the Prospect for

Information
Let’s go back to the premise that the best salespeople

are usually the best listeners, and let’s analyze more
closely why that might be so. We’ve all known that
person who was able to squeeze out more information
from a prospect, and we’re left wondering how.
One study in particular may provide us with a clue of

why that might be so. Research conducted on human
behavior has revealed that using a head nod
encourages the other person to talk. It’s our way of
saying, “Go ahead, you’ve got the floor.” It has also
been shown, that nodding your head in intervals will
encourage the other person to speak. One study
showed that individuals will talk three to four times
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Rules of Persuasion
longer, just by encouraging them with repeated head

nods.
The psychology of why this works is rooted in a need

to satiate our ego and validate ourselves to others.
When you’re listening intently and agreeing with
what the speaker is saying, you are validating what
they are saying. That validation is hard wired to their
ego (i.e., their need to demonstrate their authority on
the subject) and helps their self-esteem. When self-
esteem rises, the speaker is “emboldened” to continue
to pontificate or share information. The person
speaking gets a good feeling when others listen and
care about what he had to say. The attention paid to
them further encourages them to keep speaking,
which is why they can’t keep themselves from
talking.
The next time you’re speaking with a client, try

encouraging them to speak with repeated head nods.
When you ask a question, become silent and wait for
them to start speaking. When they start talking,
encourage them to continue by adding in some
frequent head nods and some pensive stroking of the
chin for good measure. So you see, not only are the
best salespeople in the world good listeners, they've
also mastered the art of nodding their heads and
stroking their chins!

#93: Rule of Liking
We are more likely to be persuaded by people we

like, know, and trust. We favor buying from people
we like.
#94: Rule of Reciprocity
When someone gives you something, you feel a sense

of obligation to return the favor in kind.
#95: The Endowment Effect
Studies have shown that once you believe you own

something, you will be more reluctant to give it up.
This psychological attachment is known as the
endowment effect, which states that people will value
a good or service “more” once they see it as their
own.
One example of this effect is highlighted by Barry

Schwartz in his book, The Paradox of Choice, where
he illustrates how to employ this strategy in sales by
playing on people’s inability to part with what they
perceive as their possession. In this example, two
groups of car buyers were set up to be sold under
different conditions to test the endowment effect.
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Rules of Persuasion
Car owners in the first group were asked to buy a car

that was fully loaded with all the features one could
possibly want in an automobile. The owners were
then told to go ahead and take off any of the options
from their list before finalizing the deal.
A second group of car buyers were given the opposite

task. They were given a car with no options, and were
asked to add the options they desired.
It should come as no surprise that the first group

ended up buying cars with more options. Why? Once
the car buyers in the first group mentally bought into
their car and saw it as theirs, they were more reluctant
to give up options that they would perceive as mental
losses. The emotional cost of eliminating an option
outweighed the price of owning the option, so they
kept it.
Remember, the emotional impact of a loss (i.e.,

giving up something) is stronger than the desire for
gain (i.e., adding something). A buyer who takes
mental ownership of a purchase will hold on to more
options (buy more) to minimize the pain of having to
give something up.
You may be thinking, “But doesn’t adding features

give the client some sense of satisfaction? Why not
add options instead of subtracting them?” A great

question! Studies have shown that, in absolute terms,
you will be more impacted by a loss versus a gain.
#96: Foot-In-The-Door
As a kid growing up in the inner city of Chicago, it

wasn’t unusual to see vagrants and drug dealers loiter
about the streets. I’d often see them go up to a
stranger and bum a cigarette: “Hey man, you got a
smoke?”
The stranger would nod yes, handing the vagrant a

cigarette and a lighter. After lighting the cigarette,
taking a few puffs, and returning the stranger’s
lighter, the vagrant would thank the stranger and then
ask, “Hey, do have any spare change in your pocket
so I can get something to eat?” More often than not
the stranger would dig into his pocket, pull out a few
coins, fork them over, and continue on his way.
If they didn’t know the stranger was a smoker, a

much safer approach was to ask them for the time of
day: “Hey mister, can you tell me what time it is?”
And then they’d follow up with the spare change
request.
One in particular called the Foot-In-The-Door (FITD)

technique brought these inner-city memories back.
The FITD technique involves making a small,
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Rules of Persuasion
negligible request first and then following up with a

much larger request. The first small request (i.e.,
Initial Request) is a setup for the real request (i.e.,
Target Request). Studies have shown that if someone
agrees to your first request, they are likely to agree to
your second request.
#97: Finding the Dominant Buying Motive
The first step is to identify the buyer’s Dominant

Buying Motive (DBM). A DBM is the primary
reason a client will buy from you. Let’s say you walk
into a store with the purpose of buying a dryer. The
DBM is the need to be able to dry clothes. But if we
look beyond the DBM we’ll see that there are other
mitigating circumstances that are “supporting” the
DBM.
Let me illustrate my point by using the need for a

dryer to dry my clothes as my DBM. I also know that
by having a dryer I will also solve other issues or
concerns. For instance:
• I wouldn’t have to hang the clothes out to dry

on the clothesline, which will save me time,
effort, and some embarrassment.
• I don’t have to go to a public Laundromat to
get my clothes dry.
• The current dryer isn’t effective, so the
clothes smell of mold.

• A good dryer could help me reduce my
ironing time.
• I wouldn’t have to dry clean certain items
thereby saving some money.
• My current dryer is an energy hog and I keep
blowing a house fuse when I use it.
So you see, although my DBM is the need for a dryer

to dry my clothes, I also have mitigating
circumstances and reasons that support my buying a
new dryer. In selling, most people just attack the
DBM by telling the buyer that having a good dryer is
a good thing, and then they go on to explain all the
latest bells and whistles (i.e., features) that come with
the dryer. A more effective strategy would be to
emphasize how having a dryer will solve the other
mitigating circumstances surrounding a good dryer.
#98: Reversing Field - Building Rapport

and Credibility
One of the fastest ways to build rapport and trust is to

prove, in concrete terms, that you are looking out for
the client’s best interest. Zig Ziglar said that people
don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care about them.
One tried and true strategy that I use to prove to a

client that I care is something I call “Reversing
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Rules of Persuasion
Field”. In football, when a player carrying the

football reverses field, he goes the opposite way to
avoid getting tackled by the defense.
In sales, when someone thinks you’re going to go one

way, you surprise them by going the other way,
thereby catching them off guard.
Scenario
You walk into a restaurant and then are escorted

to your table by the greeter. He tells you that
your waiter will be by in a just a moment to take
your order. After a few minutes go by, a nice
young man introduces himself politely and asks,
“May I start you out with a beverage or a drink?”
You order your drink and then the waiter tells
you about Today’s Specials. After rambling off
the list of specialties and before he quickly darts
off he says, “Let me go get your drink and I’ll be
back to take your order.”
Minutes later the waiter comes back with your

drink. Then he grabs his pen and notepad and
asks, “Are you ready for me to take your order?”
You decide to order one of the Specials. The
waiter pauses for a moment and looks at you
and says, “The last two people I had in here
before you ordered the same plate and in both
cases they weren’t very happy with the way it
was prepared. If you’re really hungry for that
type of dish, try this other dish. People love it! It’s

a bigger serving and $5 cheaper than the
Special.” You instinctively agree. As the waiter
leaves, you think to yourself, “Wow, what an
honest waiter. Not only did he save me from
ordering something I might not like, he saved me
$5 in the process. I like this kid.”
Result:
The meal was great. You usually tip 15%, but for his
honesty and kindness you feel the need to
reciprocate and show your appreciation, so you
decide to leave the kid a 20% tip.
The old adage that honesty is the best policy holds

true here. With so much information available to
buyers today, they need someone they can trust who
won’t steer them in the wrong direction when making
a purchase. This is the premise of consultative selling.
People need help making critical decisions. Position
yourself much like the waiter and car salesman, as
trustworthy, and you will reap the benefits in the end.
Seek to serve, then to sell.
Demonstrating goodwill is a powerful influencing

technique, if done correctly and with integrity.
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Rules of Persuasion
#99: When to Consolidate or Partition Your

Prices
Let’s say that you’re the new software manufacturer

on the block who sells a software package to the
high-tech industry. You’ve been asked by a potential
client to submit a bid. You see this as a great
opportunity to win your first big client but you have a
dilemma. How should you submit your bid? Should
you offer one consolidated price or should you offer
partition pricing where you break down the pricing
item-by-item?
Consolidated Pricing:
Software: $199.00
License Fee: $0
Upgrade Fee: $0
Tech. Support: $0
Total $199.00
Partitioned Pricing:
Software: $145.00
License Fee: $5.00
Upgrade Fee: $10.00
Tech. Support: $36.00
Total $199.00

Studies show that companies with low reputations
caused buyers to be a little more suspicious, and they
paid greater attention to pricing. The majority signed
up if the prices were consolidated.
On the other hand, it’s no surprise that the company

with a high reputation didn’t have a problem getting
participants to sign up with either consolidated or
partitioned pricing. It is worth adding that the
consolidated pricing got a higher close rate than
partitioned pricing.
If you’re in a business space where you’re the new

kid on the block or the unknown entity, the best thing
to do is to propose one bottom-line price. You’re the
low reputation company that no one has ever heard
of, which could be a problem when bidding on a deal.
Consolidate all your features, add-ons, support, and
so on under one price to avoid triggering any
suspicion or hesitation on the part of the buyer.
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Rules of Persuasion

APPENDIX A: RESOURCES
Other Books by Victor Antonio
The Logic of Success
Cold Calling Success
Why the Squirrel Kept Winning
Response Block Selling
Sales Psycho
Winning Back the Business

Appendix: Worksheets

APPENDIX B: WORKSHEETS
COMMITMENT
EXERCISE
Think of something you’d like to achieve and then
“quantify your goal” just like I did with the new car.
[Find a picture (e.g., cut it out of a magazine) that
represents your goal & paste it right here]
(1) Object of your desire: ____________________

(ex. Car)
(2) Cost of this object: _______________________

(ex. $36,000)
(3) Average commission per sales: _____________

(ex. $200)
(4) Months to complete this goal: ______________

(ex. 12 months or 1 year)
(5) How many sales needed:

____________________Take (2) divided by (3)

(6) How many sales per month:
____________________Take (5) divided by (4)
Commitment Statement
I __________________________________ (your
name) hereby commit to directing all my time,
energy, and resources to achieve the above goal by
___________ (date).
Sign right here: ___________________________

Today’s Date: _________________
Witnessed by:_____________________________
120
Appendix: Worksheets

ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Victor Antonio is proof that the

American dream of success is alive and well. A poor
upbringing from one of the roughest areas of Chicago
didn't stop Victor from earning
a B.S. Electrical Engineering Victor Antonio
and an MBA, building a 20-year
career as a top sales executive, and becoming CEO of
a multimillion dollar high-tech company.
Prior to being CEO he was President of Global Sales

and Marketing for a $420M company. He was tasked
with building a global sales force, establishing
contract agreements, developing financial pricing
models, and in charge of developing the corporate
brand and marketing the company's services for
worldwide acceptance. Before that he was Vice

About the Author
President of International Sales in a Fortune 500 $3B
corporation at the time. Within a two-and-a-half-year
time period he grew their business from $14M to
$98M in annual revenue. During that time his sales
totals were $162M, and he was selected from over
500 sales managers to join the President’s Advisory
Council for excellence in sales and management.
This is a guy who loves to sell and teach others how

to do it! In his own words, "It wasn't until I got into
sales that I fully realized the opportunities selling
afforded a person! If you like independence, aren't
afraid of personal accountability, and want to control
your earning potential, then sales is for you! All
others need not apply!"
His success in sales and management also helped him

establish channels internationally. He has conducted
business in Europe, Asia, Latin America, The
Caribbean, South Africa, and The Middle East.
Victor has shared the big stage with some of the top
business speakers in the nation including: Rudy
Giuliani, Zig Ziglar, Dr. Robert Schuller, Paul Town
(Author of Rule #1), Paul Ortellini (CEO of Intel),
John May (CEO of FedEx Kinkos), and many other
top business speakers.
http://www.victorantonio.com/

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To all those out there trying to close a deal, I salute

You are the economic pistons that fuel this economy

#71: Sunk Cost Fallacy 74

APPENDIX A: RESOURCES 118

APPENDIX B: WORKSHEETS 119

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 122

WORDS OF PRAISE FOR…

Selling Ain’t Hard…When You Know

"Based on the info presented [at the seminar], at

"...there is this light that shines in your eyes and this

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding the

If you watched or read Arthur Miller’s Death of a

I often receive emails from my readers or folks

2) “Is it possible for an introvert to sell?” The

3) “I could never go into sales. I hate selling because

Let me answer these questions succinctly:

1) No one is born a great salesperson. The best

2) Don’t confuse the gift-of-gab with selling. Talking

3) Pressuring people to buy is a short-term recipe for

The goal of this book is to share with you both a

The second goal of this book aims at giving you the

Lastly, I hope that you will ‘dog-ear’ many pages in

With all of that said, I hope you enjoy this book as

To my first sales mentor Jose Santana who took me, a

#1: Why Are You in Sales?

Suppose someone stopped you, dead in your tracks,

Many who answer this question will say, “Money,

#2: Quantifying the Goal

Writing down goals is fine, but it is more effective to

One hundred and eighty sales sounds like a lot;

Now it doesn’t have to be a car. It could be having

Assign your goal a time frame. Don’t just say, “I

Lastly, I want you to find someone in your life who

#3: Dark Days of Selling

The reason for writing down tangible goals when

There will be low-tide days where you can’t seem to

I once heard the saying, “Obstacles are those things

Each day your challenge will be to overcome, avoid,

#4: Know Your Target

Many times I’ve asked this question to salespeople:

When you talk to someone who doesn’t know who

That’s a lie, or at best, a poor excuse! Someone is

The reason no one is buying may be because they’re

Often, people fail in sales because they haven’t taken

Here’s the answer to the question, “How can I sell

#5: Data Mining

Another good question to ask is, “Who has purchased

It’s also good to keep in mind one rule of thumb; it’s

#6: Sketch Your Prospect

What I’d like you to do now is to become a sales

One of the big questions you have to ask yourself is,

• What type of Industry do you sell to?

If you’re a business selling to a person or consumer

• Are they married or single?

#8: Law of Sales Attraction

Knowing who to sell to will save you a lot of time

The best method and fastest way to gain product

#10: Building Credibility

Nothing will undermine your credibility faster in

#11: The “I Don’t Know” Rule

You often hear sales trainers say that there’s nothing

How many are too many? Well, use the 30-minute “I

So, here’s what I want you to do. List at least five

#17: Open-Ended & Closed-Ended Questions

#26: Stage 1 - Prospecting