One Sales Technique: the Pushy Version vs. the Non-Pushy Version

Being pushy can work, but it's a fine line. It's a different kind of technique to be used when it makes sense. It depends I think on the product and the situation you are in.

For example a residential cold caller NEEDS to be pushy, but not too much that they come across as rude. If you aren't persistent the person will simply hang up on you, so instead of backing off you use things to diffuse tension such as humour and asking non-personal questions while still going hard.

I would not recommend this technique for high value selling for example in a B2B because there's no need to. The other person will let you talk at least for a few minutes to explain what you can do for them. People won't give you the same courtesy on the street or when they're trying to watch television late at night so you have to push in order to be taken seriously.

I really like your version of the close, it's sexy and consultative.

I ask something similar but in a slightly different sequence:

After closing and getting the check, appointment or order form filled out I ask this: 'Is there anything we haven't covered today that would make you change your mind?'

If the prospect says 'No.' he has further tied himself down into making a decision, making it more solid because of the consistency principle.

If he says 'Yes.' it means that I can deal with the objection now instead of dealing with problems later on.

The question also frames the possible objection as a non-issue that can be quickly resolved. They have already agreed to go ahead. Handling last ditch resistance then becomes part of the wrapping up process; getting their payment details and contact information while talking through their concern.

I look at it this way.

Sales is about overcoming objections.

And what better way to overcome objections than to address them before the close?

If you're a professional salesperson, your pitch should already cover the typical objections you hear 95% of the time.

So when you come down to the close, you can present your solution with reasonably assurance you're getting the deal.

If they object, even after you've pre-qualified, anticipated and handled objections way ahead of time?

The means justify the ends. Be backs won't be back. Preserve your valuable time.

Ask a trial closing question after you smoke out the reasons. Since you missed the queues elsewhere in the presentation, you need to make a determination if they are really a prospect or not.

Here's my take. Consumers today have grown up being pitched thousands of times where high pressure sales people and the tactics they use have become well known stereotypes. A few years ago on the hit HBO series "Entourage" Academy Award Winning Actor Martin Landau portrayed an old school Hollywood Producer who used a typical sales line so often it became a running joke in the show.

The line was, "If I could [fill in the offer], would you be interested?"

That line of course comes straight from the sales world. Recognize it? You may have heard sales people say things like, "If I could get the price to $XXXX, would you be interested?" Yup. That's the one.

The point is, consumers today know what those lines are, they see them coming. They see them as salesy, and it's even become a running joke on a national television show.

And the thing is, when they hear these obvious sales lines - they resist them.

Because that's what causes sales resistance: when the prospect feels they're being "sold." People don't like feeling sold.

In fact, pushy sales tactics turn them off. They push them all right, that is, push them away.

So in time as more and more of these savvier consumers comprise the marketplace, my question would be:

Why would it make "sense" to be pushy?

Or are you thinking being pushy is the same things as being persistent?

I believe that may plant a seed of doubt in their mind about having purchased your goods: "No... but now you've got me thinking, is there something I've overlooked that perhaps I should consider?"

Wouldn't you prefer they be experiencing an afterglow at that moment rather than creating doubts?

I think it would be better to bring up possible deal killers early on, during the qualifying stage.

I'd ask early on, "What could crop up down the road that would make you change your mind?"

Now the prospect answers freely thinking of possible conditions that would prevent the sale - before we even get into it. In effect, handing me the terms I need to wrangle. In some cases, maybe those conditions are enough to make you reconsider doing business with them.

Depends how invested they need to be, doesn't it? People reverse themselves all the time. It's one thing to agree to a buy a shirt when you're buying a suit, post a sign on your yard after you've agreed to hang one in your window, but it's another thing to not try and get back $500 from a service provider when you later experience remorse.

I know from personal experience that businessmen want to be pushed but only to a degree. If you push and push, it may never happen. However, certain businessmen need a little pushing before they finally dive in.

The goal is to remember that some businesses don't want to be forced while others at some point do.

To push or not to push and if so how much? What internetmarketer1 makes the most sense to me. It seems like it would depend on the prospect so I try to get a read on them and tailor my approach accordingly.

So how does that sales person know when the prospect doesn't want to be pushed any further? Is it when the prospect starts to get angry or annoyed? Is it when the deal never happens, as you pointed out?

Okay, so it sounds like you've just helped me establish that "pushing" can kill the sale.

I hope you understand I'm writing about sales lines that come off as pushy, come off as only being in the interest of the sales person making the sale.

Because I'm not saying prospects shouldn't be encouraged to move forward - just that it shouldn't be "pushy". Because like you pointed out, pushing can be detrimental to making the sale and backfire.

And one of the things I do know is that a good salesperson does what he or she can to eliminate anything they're doing that may sabotage a sale.

So I'd rather say the prospects can be nudged.

If a "push" is something like, "what do I have to do to have you sign today?" - which prospects may feel as them being forced by the sales person...

...A nudge would be something like, "I'm wondering what you'd like to have happen next?" Which no one in their right mind would feel as being forced.

And I'm telling you, any sales person worth their salt should be able to take whatever the prospect answers to that nudge and still move the sale forward, don't you think so?