My SUPER blunt, take it or leave it sales strategy??

link82

12 years ago

I wonder if this can work with sending out mailers. Would love to hear what some more experienced Warriors have to say.

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mattflynn

12 years ago

I think it's hard to say this will work or not. I guess it would depend if the negative aspect of this approach made some businesses think they were going to lose out. But if they did not feel that way then it wouldn't have any effect.

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Bigfoot1

12 years ago

I believe in being blunt once you have them hooked. Being blunt initially might turn them off.

It obviously depends on your type of client and country. There are massive personality differences between people which makes different strategies work in different areas. For example, in the US south its far easier to be blunt faster up because people are generally more "real" while in TO people are far more reserved and thus need to be coaxed out of there shell. Its far easier to build a connection in the South which is why I network in the South while back in To I'm mainly focused on sending out mass mailers.

Figure out the type of personalities business owners have and find a way to reach THEM(not the gatekeepers).

You might have to spend some time in the businesses to just figure that out. Tailor your strategy and always split test.

One thing I have learned is that people have different personalities based on their language, location, business etc. Some people appreciate a no BS pitch while others find it abrasive. Get inside your customers head by looking at what they do and patterns.

I suggest spending some time in a completely different country trying to do business, it will broaden your mind and really make you intelligent in your customer acquisition.

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David Miller

12 years ago

I've used and still do use this approach with clients. To be clear, this will only work in face to face or phone sales.

I've actually had people attempt this with emails! Ridiculous!

The impact of this technique really depends on a few things. First of all you have to do this with complete conviction. If you have even the slightest doubt that you are not willing to walk away, you'll be as transparent as glass.

This is very different than the old door knob close. If you say it, you better mean it.

Equally important, you need to be certain that you would have been able to bring real value to the prospect. If you're just offering more of the same old - same old you'll be making the prospect very happy to know he's not going to have to deal with you anymore.

In addition, this is not something for an inexperienced salesperson to do. Done right, you'll end up with a client that will respect you for the remainder of your relationship. Done wrong, you'll come across as an arrogant twit and may run the risk of being known as such to anyone else in the prospects circle of influence.

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MaxwellB

12 years ago

Originally Posted by David Miller

I've used and still do use this approach with clients. To be clear, this will only work in face to face or phone sales.

I've actually had people attempt this with emails! Ridiculous!

The impact of this technique really depends on a few things. First of all you have to do this with complete conviction. If you have even the slightest doubt that you are not willing to walk away, you'll be as transparent as glass.

This is very different than the old door knob close. If you say it, you better mean it.

Equally important, you need to be certain that you would have been able to bring real value to the prospect. If you're just offering more of the same old - same old you'll be making the prospect very happy to know he's not going to have to deal with you anymore.

In addition, this is not something for an inexperienced salesperson to do. Done right, you'll end up with a client that will respect you for the remainder of your relationship. Done wrong, you'll come across as an arrogant twit and may run the risk of being known as such to anyone else in the prospects circle of influence.

Very true! People talk and if your clientele are high net worth individuals in Manhattan or Fortune 500 firms you better be able to come off as an expert with conviction not an a** or you'll ruin your reputation.

I read before that this type of conviction, that your offering is the best, because you know it's the best, is a solid strategy for figuring out why you got a no, and turn it into a yes.

By being so convinced yourself that your product is the only product anyone should choose you can confidently ask what is holding the prospect back.

But your right if you don't have complete conviction you'll sound as though your faking this conviction and people will know immediately your solutions real worth, 0.

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AndrewCavanagh

12 years ago

I think you're likely to blow off a lot of people who might become good paying clients or more important still a rich source of referrals.

Also by being too blunt you may not be listening to what prospects and clients are telling you and they are a wealth of information if you just listen.

If a prospect makes a client suggesting they are hoping for a whole lot more than you have to offer is that just being ridiculous or is it a huge red flag that you should have a premium service where you charge 2-10 times your usual fee and set out to fulfill those "crazy" expectations.

Also if you're being blunt because people aren't replying to you that's almost certainly your fault.

You haven't found a message that appeals to them enough that they're compelled to call you.

You're the marketer in this equation and if you can't get them to call you then you have some serious work to do.

Having said all that it is vital you maintain good posture.

You should be saying and do things that empahasize that your time and expertise is highly valuable.

I don't think it's a great idea to promise everything or to be on call every second of every day for your clients.

They should respect your time.

But you can educate clients and prospects on the real value of your service without being blunt.

You could start by reading How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

The most valuable business book I've ever read, and reread and reread and read again over and over.

There's a place for being blunt but I would bet my bottom dollar it's a whole lot more rare than you're thinking it is right now and your bluntness is costing you high quality clients, high quality referrals and real money.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

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MaxwellB

12 years ago

Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

I think you're likely to blow off a lot of people who might become good paying clients or more important still a rich source of referrals.

Also by being too blunt you may not be listening to what prospects and clients are telling you and they are a wealth of information if you just listen.

If a prospect makes a client suggesting they are hoping for a whole lot more than you have to offer is that just being ridiculous or is it a huge red flag that you should have a premium service where you charge 2-10 times your usual fee and set out to fulfill those "crazy" expectations.

But you can educate clients and prospects on the real value of your service without being blunt.

You could start by reading How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

The most valuable business book I've ever read, and reread and reread and read again over and over.

There's a place for being blunt but I would bet my bottom dollar it's a whole lot more rare than you're thinking it is right now and your bluntness is costing you high quality clients, high quality referrals and real money.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Andrew, see below for why I specifically have been blunt because people weren't getting back to me. I should have specified in the beginning.

I am never rude first of all. And I am only blunt when they DONT give me the respect.

I think it may have been a case that the leads weren't good quality because I was competing against others (again see below) and when people make a decision they didn't care to speak to anyone else anymore even to say that they would not be working with us.

What I really mean when I say blunt is I know some sales guys will yes people to death just to get the contract signed.

I don't do that, some people ask "can we interview the callers that are going to be working on my campaign"

My response "No, we source all of the reps and interview them ourselves, it's part of our expertise and we don't allow clients to pick or rule out any caller"

Where as there is a type of sales guy who would say "yeah I don't think that should be a problem you can talk to them and interview them etc etc" and then sometimes the company will actually let them do that. Just to get the sale.

Originally Posted by reactiontm

It's not clear who's giong to be getting this message.

Are these people you've spoken with on the phone?

Are these "warm" leads? Cold leads?

I really should have specificied. These were not only warm but HOT leads of people who had indicated online that they were interested in lead generation/appointment setting. The problem was I was also competing against 4 other firms.

So where I thought even if they choose not to work with me they would let me know that but they didn't. I got my "no"'s in the form of not ever getting back to me.

Which is not what I'm used to and what I decided was I didn't want to have these kinds of leads anymore, they were smaller companies that were price shopping. It's not what we're about. We have competitive prices but I'm not about to whore myself out just because some other guy is giving away lead generation.

I close 40% of my exclusive appointments that we generate ourselves. Which is a little bit above average for the industry.

So with these "internet leads" I bought 25 total and closed 2, luckily one is going to be for a 6 month contract but regardless I'll never buy those again.

My point is if you speak to someone, have a great conversation, give them a proposal, and they ignore you and your emails, and you know you were competing with 4 other vendors why do you have to keep in touch? Why should I chase them?

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reactiontm

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MaxwellB

So where I thought even if they choose not to work with me they would let me know that but they didn't. I got my "no"'s in the form of not ever getting back to me.

Most are not going to tell you "No," as it's too confrontational for all but a small minority. And very few will tell you the truth about why they chose something else.

If you REALLY want to get at why, hire a gal to follow-up independently, ask for the contact person and ask them 2-3 questions. The answers you get there will approximate the truth.

Then you string the feedback together and look for trends.

A lot of the [legitimate] reasons given aren't going to be things that you can fix.

Honestly, your closing percentage isn't too bad.

Remeber that they're not marrying these competitors of yours. You could assemble a pile of case studies of those who've used other vendors and put these people into a "keep in touch" campaign... you never know when they're going to switch, and they've identified themselves as clients who are spending money.

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Rus Sells

12 years ago

I can see where he is coming from. Long ago back in the day when I was a wanna be roofing salesman closing a dismal 10-20% of the people I pitched, I was following most of the sales advice I had been taught. Most of which is the same type of advice given right here on these very forums when it comes to sales/selling.

HOWEVER!!!!

Once I decided to learn absolutely everything I could about my industry and become a TRUE expert in my field something changed.

My approach changed completely and naturally.

I started being more blunt and to the point with my prospects. I spoke quite, "matter of factly" with them, and I honestly didn't care if they signed with me or not so I had nothing to loose at all for telling it like it is in a straight forward blunt kind of way.

Its like I naturally started being this way as I became one of the most educated people in my industry. Not because of arrogance or ego, just because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was "THE" expert here.

Now don't get me wrong, you can't be this way without truly being a top notch expert as mentioned previously in this thread. It took me at least 2 years of in depth learning about my industry to get to that level. It might have taken longer but we only worked 6-7 months out of the year so winter was heavy, heavy, heavy on the learning side.

On the flip side, Andrew is 100% correct. If you are being blunt because you aren't getting responses in the first place then its time to examine your message and interaction with a prospect first.

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reactiontm

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MaxwellB

look this is the last time I'm ever going to email you, if your interested in moving forward/learning more let me know. Otherwise good luck with your business.

Does anyone disagree that this is a good strategy? Why?

It's not clear who's giong to be getting this message.

Are these people you've spoken with on the phone?

Are these "warm" leads? Cold leads?

Like you, I've always been blunt in my approach.

But here's the thing: people buy when they WANT to buy.

And unless you're giving them a GREAT reason to move forward now, who cares if you're not going to keep in touch?

Your wanting to SELL something to them today is not a valid reason for them to buy today.

And, you don't think there's a thousand other marketers who will get in touch with them tomorrow, or today- the very day where you "cut them off?"

What makes you so special that they would even care whether or not you stay in touch?

Is your point of difference so clear, so attractive, so well articulated that they can't live without you?

Not knowing the answers to the first few opening questions, I would say who cares- keep those people in your system...

You've heard the Woody Allen phrase, "80% of success is showing up."

A corollary would be, "80% of success is hanging around long enough for your prospect to buy."

But you've gotta get busy sending them follow up materials that will give them good reasons to buy... but again, they're only going to buy on their timetable, not yours.

If they haven't bought from someone else, then they simply aren't ready yet.

Meanwhile, keep generating new leads, and what's the harm in keeping these folks on your list?

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Perestroika

12 years ago

Since this is your exit strategy I dont see a reason why being blunt would be a problem. You reached out to them multiple times, they never responded and you are giving them one last shot. Perhaps you can modify your last response to them and mention that you do not have the resources to constantly contact them. Tell them that you dont want to waste their time by constantly contacting them if they are not interested in your services. You can also try to scare them by saying that you will be reaching out to their competiton instead. Just phrase it nicely where it sounds like you tried to help them with their business, you dont want to be a pest and bother them anymore and that there is more fish in the sea.

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919492

12 years ago

I highly recommend to guarantee your work and make it a non risk situation for your potential client.

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David Miller 12 years ago

I think it's important to understand that blow off does not and should not mean p*ss off.

You can be blunt (perhaps not the best word) and let a prospect know in a professional way that you can no longer afford to devote any more time to trying to get them to become a client.

Sadly, many people can't seem to do this without coming across as arrogant, or worse, making the prospect feel stupid for not wanting to buy. I've seen some salespeople become downright offensive towards a prospect for "wasting their time" and that certainly isn't what the goal is.

Too often salespeople will use this tactic to make themselves feel better. The need to validate yourself at the expense of someone else is an indication of someone who should have a career path other than sales.
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My SUPER blunt, take it or leave it sales strategy??

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