Selling in a Time of Corona – S1E10 – COVID is for Closers

Creative intro

Glengarry Glen Ross

Alec Baldwin:            Let's talk about something important. Put that coffee down. Coffee's for closers only. A, B, C.  A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, ALWAYS be closing.

Elliot Epstein - intro: So, someone ate a bat apparently and the world turned upside down. Hi, I'm Elliot Epstein. And I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life coaching, consulting, training, and speaking about all facets of sales development, pitching, presentations, negotiation, the C-suite sales calls and all of the various components in the sales cycle in between. And now we find ourselves in a world that's very foreign. Welcome to Selling in a Time of Corona.

Elliot Epstein:             If your face is filled with a smile of familiarity right now, then you clearly already know the beauty of that clip from Glengarry Glen Ross - arguably one of the best sales movies ever made. And I cut the swearing out, which took longer than Australia's been in COVID lockdown. If you haven't seen it, you must be brain dead from watching too much Peppa Pig. Glengarry Glen Ross is guaranteed with a box of homemade organic popcorn on the couch.

But what is closing anyway in the year 2020, and particularly in the context of the coronavirus.

Whilst the old fashioned closes that dominated the sales profession have dissipated, a good thing, given the reputational damage they caused. The pendulum may have swung too far the other way - to a place where sales cycles extend, and the deals aren't closed.

If we open the tobacco-filled pages of crusty old sales closing books, we'd find techniques that were written when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were still breastfeeding.

For example:

The Alternative close; “So, Mr. Customer, would you like the blue one or the red one?” Who said they were ready to buy anyway?

The Triangulated close; “So does your solution do X?” “Well, if it did Mr. Customer, would you buy it today?” This one is still used by the car industry today without realizing it makes most people want to rush home and have a hot shower to rid themselves of that dirty feeling.

And the ‘No means Yes’ close. That was a doozy, which is phrased as “I can't see any reason why we can't go ahead, can you?” No…. Where it's presumed the client's intellect is a few fries short of a Happy Meal and can't work out what's happening…seriously.

It's no wonder that most of us have moved on from this kind of prescriptive, self-centred, what's the technical term I'm looking for … crap.

Hopefully we've evolved from Neanderthal to Enlightened with the focus of the engagement is the client asking lots of questions, professionally diagnosing real issues and presenting evidence-based solutions that solve their problems.

But, there’s a ‘but’. Sale cycles are extending. COVID-19 has thrown projects into a wild tornado, and we're not sure where they'll land, when the storm settles.

We need to know what deals are on the table. What is still doable, short term and long term. And we need to simply ask for commitment from those that still have rampant need.

Companies are still operating…decisions may be made over Zoom or email collaboration. Budgets may be expanded, retained, or cut, but they're still being managed. As I've mentioned already in this podcast series… people are still buying.

So, let me share with you some ways of confirming next steps with clients. I say that deliberately, because it's not closing in some ancient mythology language. It's just honest and clear communication.

1 - You may have a few recalcitrant prospects who haven't responded or take ages to get back to you for all sorts of reasons.

Send them a text, could be an email, but text is more personal, and it says this; “Hi, John, have you given up on our project?” That's it. Just wait. Chances are they'll get back to you with “I'm so sorry, been snowed under more than a Mount Buller wombat. Let's talk.” Or ‘No, but likely to be next quarter”, or “Budget totally flamed. Sorry. Can't do it right now.” Each response opens the door to continue to clarify the situation. Be it good, bad or indifferent, but you're still talking.

2 - Scarcity. The wonderful professor, Robert Cialdini has written and researched persuasion. And he's done this extensively in his books on influence and they are mandatory reading. And scarcity is one of my favourites of his chapters. In old school Glengarry scenes, people would have made up complete rubbish. Like it's the last one left, when there are a thousand of them sitting in the warehouse, and clients who remember, talk to each other would eventually find out and blast your reputation faster than you can say. Pete Evans, Paleo Bio charger. Today, though, especially since COVID-19, there was a genuine scarcity of resources that should be calmly explained to clients.

For example:

Josh and Kate are coming off another project with ABC bank on the 23rd of June. Would you like us to allocate them to you for your project?

We only have two accredited engineers who can install a solution in the timeframes we've been discussing in the scope. If we work backwards from the August timeframe, as we discussed, we will need to have them committed by June 30, what are your thoughts?

Or it takes six weeks to ramp up and test the solution we've scoped for you. Is there any reason why we couldn't have the briefing and design workshop in the next 10 days?

Scarcity, when true, has to put the client on the spot. They don't owe you a contract, they owe you a position.

Finally, number 3

Ask the client straight out. This skill has been coached more than Trump's script writer. Yet it still doesn't happen enough. And now amidst the turmoil of Corona, it's even more critical. The number one reason salespeople don't ask clients for the order straight out, is fear.

Fear that the client will say no, fear that the client will take offence for some stupid reason, fear that they have pipeline isn't big enough to stand the rejection. Please, get your Lego out, build a bridge and get over it.

Here's the phrasing for asking for the order:

“Would you like to go ahead?”

“Would you like to book dates?”

“Are you happy to get started?”

“Would you like to approve the proof of concept?”

“Shall we get started?”

“Do you want to send me a purchase order?”

After spending 4 million hours on coaching open-ended questions, this is the one skill that is deliberately closed because it works.

As for the pipeline, it's as good as you want it to be.

With that in mind, I'll close. And I'll leave you with the final words of the famous monologue we started with from Glengarry Glen Ross.

Alec Baldwin:             These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you, they're gold. And you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you, it's just throwing them away. They're for closers.

Elliot Epstein:             Stay safe, stay positive. Remember your ears are safe. I recorded this entire podcast downtown at Mitch and Murray as a mission of mercy.

Take care of yourselves, until next time.