What would (legitimately) prevent a one call close?

1: Trust
2:Trust
3:Trust

etc etc, you get the idea

I really think the easier question would be to ask... "What has to present for a one call close?"

If you really look at the cold call process you are there calling 8 hours a day 5 days a week and you close what 8 -10 deals a week? What was different over the other 2000+ calls made?

I personally ( And I know many are not going to like this ) have gotten away from Cold Calling for a number of reasons. But the primary reason is its like Russian Roulette. Sure you can Target your list and you can do this and that and the other, but if the person on the other end is not at THE Tipping Point, they simply are not going to buy.

Again, I personally spend my "Sales Time" developing relationships. I have given up the search for work across the Country or the World for that matter, and have focused on my back door. Your basic "Hi how you doing, here is my LOCAL business, here is what we offer, have you thought about this or that?" etc. Just getting to know the Prospects, and placing MY ( Well was my business I just finalized selling it today - part of it anyways ) business in their minds. I do fall into sales using this, just like cold calling. The person I speak with is at the Tipping Point, and I just so happen to be Johnny on the Spot at the right place at the right time.

Part of this process for me, is getting a better understanding of where people are at and what their ideas are. How can I adjust my opening presentation to tap a greater percentage of people. If they say "Oh I'm not interested" I almost ALWAYS back that right up with "What could I have said to peak your interest?" ( The look on the Prospects face after that one is usually priceless )

The same thing if I am trying to close on something and it simply goes south. "What questions did I not ask?"

Part of the sales process is learning from each and every point of contact what you may have excelled at and where you may have sucked. Basic development of your sales pitch. How can you make this stronger and more convincing.

How many times have you called on a place or to a place and the Gate Keeper says oh so and so is not in, then you ask when they will be in and they say Wednesday. Wednesday comes back around and they decision maker is still not in. It happens right?

But what happens if on the first call you got the Gate Keepers name? So on Wednesday you say "Beth is so and so there?" and they say "hold just a moment".

I have actually tested that in cold calling as well as cold walk-ins.

I just got off the phone with a guy that read one of my sales books. He sells a service to larger companies (500 employees or more) and he says that his average commission is about $20,000 or a $65,000 sale. He averages 6-8 calls before a sale is made.

He wanted me to recommend a sales job here he could make a sale in one call. He asked me about vacuum cleaners.

After I asked him about his experience (what I just talked about), I suggested that he should stick with what he was doing. And I explained why.

I said;
"It isn't whether you can close on one call. It's how much you make per call. If it takes you 6 calls to make $20,000...that means you make about $3,300 on every call. If you sell a $2,000 vacuum cleaner, and make $1,000 on a sale...but only make one call....that's $1,000 per call. This is assuming that you close the same percentage in each instance.

In my opinion, I'd stick with the repeat calls to make the sale. Because with one call closing, every call is a new customer. There is prospecting involved, which may take up much of your time. But with repeated calls on a very high end service? after the first appointment, there is no prospecting. So...per hour...you're probably ahead doing what you are doing."

Of course, this didn't come out precisely as I said, but very close.

He was just enamored with the idea of closing a sale in one call. And, while it appeals to me greatly. his situation showed greater results from a multi-call model.

Just wanted to share that with you guys.