MoneyINC Logo
25+
Years of
Trust
13,000+
Articles
Written 
10M+
Annual 
Readers
300+
Global
Mentions

Sell Me, Don't Tell Me!

Selling Bon Jovi

"Present to me, don’t pitch me. Connect with me, connect with my brand. Address me by my name or my company name not by "you guys." Care about my business as much as you care about your own business, about yourself and ultimately prove it to me." PW

In sales we know we must always be relevant, knowledgeable, swift, engaging, entertaining and creative. All while we listen intently, all while seeking profitable sales success. After all, the purpose of a sales presentation is to open a partnership opportunity and close this union by outmuscling competition, by proving the forecast in your presentation will outdistance the forecast in your prospect's expectation. The purpose is to build and cement a valuable, lasting and profitable quid quo pro union in business. Selling advantage of course comes in many forms, from brand to product to services to capital investments to the glue of personal relationships built on respect, time and experience: all built on mutual success. The most advantaged, repeatable and profitable results are derived through august professional sales leadership.

For decades I have promulgated, flapped my lips, mentored and proven through face to face selling engagements that I am personally trained and fully vested in over 101 ways to close a sale. I also humbly decree that in order to enlist any closing vesture, you must first earn the right to close the sale, earn the right to ask for the order. Otherwise your ability to close the sale will be just that… an ability, not the reality of a signed sales order.

As I read intently through the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Twice, Dealerscope and other media outlets regarding manufacturers and/or retailers that have lost their brand luster, have receded shelf space to competition or have lost valued market share, the articles are consistently void of the words “sales and competitive viability.” The editors speak about the fiduciary losses, the loss of market share, overcapitalized cost structures, the two or three companies that have taken market share away, perhaps even a word or two on a lag in product or service performance. Never have I read that the reason for the losses, the reason for the brand and product demise is weakness in the sales process, in sales capabilities, in sales' ability to out-fuel, out-present and outdistance competitors through their brand, products and market potential.

Nor have I ever read that market failure is tied directly to the brand’s inability to be creative through the sales process. It’s as if within these articles sales has nothing to do with the success or failure of a company, its brand or products. For those of us in sales roles, we stand steadfast in our determination to declare that a major success or failure factor for our company, our brand and products is based upon our ability or inability to sell.

Indeed, we are sometimes selling B2B or B2C. Always, we are selling a consumer, an investor, an analyst, an editor and even our team members. We even indirectly sell our competitors on just how good and strong our brand and products really are. The honest assessment is that all sales, marketing, communications, product management, services and executive leadership are supposed to be in sales mode 24 hours a day. Everyone must sell, everyone should sell, everyone should be given the dignity and vestment of professional sales and negotiation training in order to ensure that the brand, products and market potential are exceeded. Per the report card of sales reality, some team members are selling legends, some are selling mediocre, while many want to be professional and heralded sales leaders but no investment in mentorship or sales training is afforded by company executives. To be clear, especially for 2020 ahead, the more compelling and creative your selling, the more opportunity you will be afforded across shrinking categories and more expensive brick-retail shelf space.

Loving, creating and delivering formidable, highly relevant and effective sales presentations that work is what market leadership is all about. The aggregation of your brand promise through the threads of products, services, human capital and competitive advantage lives through your ability to articulate and navigate your brand and product market story; to protract brand leadership bravado more effectively than your competition. This intense sobriety, this heavy focus on the front end of sales excellence determines the future of your brand, your company and your employees. After all, a brand is a promise. After all, sales is a mirror of that promise as defined by selling actions, the ability to better present competitive product advantage, the ability to be a market maker, market winner in concert with channel partners. After all, a sale will be made today: either I will sell you or you will sell me as to why you are not ready to buy from me.

Sales training alone will not create a professional, highly effective salesperson. But, it will make any salesperson more effective and more brand and product-valuable. Just to prolong our conversation, as we congress and converse on the importance and ability to "raise the roof" on sales and profit through enlisting exceptional professional sales capabilities, here are just 10 of my 101 formidable sales closes for you to ponder and perhaps question me about.

Remember, in order to throw the winning touchdown, to perform on Broadway, to catch a great white, to earn a hole in one or to ask for the sales order, you must first earn the right through professional training, kinetic exercise and purposeful action. These sample, highly effective sales closes, much like a coach's playbook have zero value unless the player (the salesperson) is at peak competitive sales performance, engineered and disciplined through company aligned training, development and of course, have earned the right to ask for the order through a smart, relevant, creative and compelling presentation:

#17: The Affordable Close.
#54: The Alternative Choice Close.
#37: The Law of Averages Close.
#99: The Puppy Dog Close.
#48: The Line Logic Close.
#76: The Competitive Close.
# 3: The Ben Franklin Close.
# 1: The Trial Close.
#14: Questions Are The Answers Close.
#101:The Relevancy Close.

Remember, you must always earn the right to ask for the order thru smart, relevant and highly disciplined selling and negotiating orchestration. Always sell me, never tell me!

Peter Weedfald

Written by Peter Weedfald

Peter Weedfald is one of America’s top sales and marketing leaders. As the senior vice president of Sales & Marketing at Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America (SEMCA), Peter is in a rare position in which he oversees sales and brand/digital marketing for both Sharp's U.S. Home and Commercial Appliance businesses. By aligning sales and marketing as one, Peter has helped New Jersey- based Sharp Home Electronics Company of America focus on furthering its commitment to health, wellness and Simply Better Living by bringing highly relevant product offerings to consumers and businesses. Prior to SEMCA, Peter was the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung Electronics in the U.S. and has also held senior executive roles as President of Gen One Ventures, SVP, CMO of Circuit City, EVP of ViewSonic Corp. and media company VP, Executive Publisher for the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Peter is an avid and energizing keynote presenter, and author on topics in sales, marketing, technology, digital advertising and business leadership. His latest industry-centric book, Green Reign Leadership, is sold in over 11 countries with proceeds donated to various children charities.

Read more posts by Peter Weedfald

Related Articles

Stay ahead of the curve with our most recent guides and articles on , freshly curated by our diligent editorial team for your immediate perusal.
As featured on:

Wealth Insight!
Subscribe to our Exclusive Newsletter

Dive into the world of wealth and extravagance with Money Inc! Discover stock tips, businesses, luxury items, and travel experiences curated for the affluent observer.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram