Assume the Sale
Boost Your Closing Ratio on New Enrollments When You Adopt This Simple Mindset
Kids are the greatest salespeople. Last night my daughter, Emma, was sitting at the dining room table with a pad of paper in front of her. As I walked through the living room and she said, “Hey, Dad! Do you want to play tic-tac-toe?”
I glanced at her briefly and said, “No, I’m sorry, I have a lot of writing to do tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.”
To which she answered, “You’re X!” and started drawing the grid on the paper. In spite of myself, I walked over to the table and started playing.
The master closer got her sale. Why? Because she assumed the sale. She didn’t take “no” for an answer. In fact, she didn’t even hear the word “no”. She moved on and closed me on joining her in the game.
“Hi! Do You Eat Meat?”
The summer before I started college in the 80′s I learned first-hand the power of the assumptive sale. Desperate for money, I took a job selling meat door-to-door in the San Fernando Valley.
The pitch I was taught was simple and disarming: I walked up to the customer’s front door and knocked. When somebody answered I said, “Hi, my name is Chris and I’m from the Lemieux Meat Company. I know this sounds like a crazy question, but…do you eat meat?”.
Caught off guard, most people nodded their heads as if in a stupor. I’d quickly say, “Follow me”. Then I’d spin around and start walking to the truck. Do you know what 99% of all the prospects did? Right. Believe it or not, they followed me out to the meat truck (like a puppy dog) where they’d see all the vacuum-sealed (and very expensive) meat.
And here’s the important point: I didn’t ASK them if they’d like to follow me out to the meat truck. And I didn’t ask if they’d like to see the meat. I assumed it. I led them. And I was always amazed at how well it worked.
I only worked that job for a short time (kids would open the door and huge, snarling Rottweilers would chase me to the truck because I smelled like raw steak), but it trained me in sales psychology better than anything I learned at USC in college. (A few years after I left that job I told a friend what I did that summer and he rolled on the floor laughing and said, “Are you kidding me? You sold meat door-to-door? What did you do…walk up to their front door wearing a bloody butcher’s apron and dragging a bloody carcass onto their front porch?”)
Almost.
Use “When”, Not “If”
You can learn a lot from this. First, always assume you’ll get the sale when talking to a prospect. Say things like, “When you enroll your child in our academy…” and not “If you enroll your child in our academy…”.
Also, paint a picture of what it’ll be like when they’re enrolled in your academy. Help them visualize the future with you: “Once your child achieves the rank of camo belt, they’ll be ready for sparring…” or “Once your child participates in their first tournament, they’ll never look back…”.
Make It Smooth and Guide Them
Next, understand that people want to be guided through the enrollment process. They don’t want to think. They want you to lead them and they look to you for confidence and answers. Avoid creating unnecessary “bumps in the road” both parties stumble over. Don’t ask, “Do you want to enroll?”. That’s what you call a “say-no” question. People naturally want to put things off and will usually hand you the old “lemme think about it” stall. Instead, say, “Once we get you enrolled, we’ll get your child’s uniform size and have him try on some uniforms. All you have to do is put your John Hancock here and we’ll be all set”.
Do you see how much more assumptive that is? It makes people feel more comfortable because you’re in control.
So…always assume the sale. Oh…and you’re X!