Do You Want to Get it Sold Or Just Keep Selling?
"MARK, I HAVE SOME BAD NEWS FOR YOU.
Since we last met and agreed to purchase your software, we have had an interesting conversation with one of your competitors and have decided to do business with them, instead.
" "Was it their price or something else?" "Not price, really; it was more a combination of concerns and nothing really specific.
" "Well, Dan, how can I compete without specifics?" "Mark, we don't expect you to compete; the decision has been made and is final.
Maybe the next time we have a need for your products and services, the outcome will be different, but there are no guarantees.
We appreciate all of your effort, time and professionalism and we certainly value your knowledge and expertise.
" "What could I have done differently to win your business?" "As I said, you did nothing wrong.
This other company just explained the outcomes we would receive a little better than you did.
" "May I ask how?" "We can't put our finger on it.
They didn't seem more knowledgeable or professional and they didn't work harder to get our business.
It was just the way they handled us and the buying process.
They made it simpler.
" "Was there a particular sales representative that you worked with?" "You are not going to like our answer because their sales representative is very new to sales and to the business; in fact, we will be the first sale for this person.
" "You mean I lost your business to a beginner?" "Well, a rookie might be a better term, but it was handled with the finesse of a veteran.
Overall, the buying process was effortless for us.
" "Were his prices better than ours?" "It was never about price, although you believed from the beginning that price would be our biggest concern and the ultimate deal breaker.
For us, it was always only about effective solutions to our problems.
Now, I have another meeting to attend so I'll have to end this meeting with you.
Please keep in touch, though; you never know when our circumstances will change.
Thank you again for all of your time, effort and help; we certainly appreciate it and we always like to have options.
" "Before I leave, can I ask you one quick question?" "Sure.
" "What was the name of the salesperson you worked with; I would like to know how I can compete against him in the future.
" "It wasn't a him, Mark, it was a her, and her name is Jessica Reynolds.
" As I left the office, I was dumbfounded.
I couldn't believe that I was shot down by a rookie salesperson, let alone a female one.
I have never been gender prejudiced, but I have been at this selling game for many years and I have proven my value by winning several sales contests for my company and, last year, I was the number one sales representative.
Where did I go wrong? I hate losing sales when I have worked so hard and put in so much time and resources.
I had never lost a sale to a rookie yet.
Though this was a first for me, it was going to be the last time.
I will do whatever is necessary to avoid this embarrassment again.
My mind was whirling with questions: How did she take this business away from me at the last minute? Did she offer a lower price? Was she more knowledgeable? Was their product better? In the back of my mind, I was even asking myself another question, though unwilling to admit that I could be thinking such a thing: Did she get the business because she really was better in some way? I had to find out who this woman was and how she scarfed this business out from under me; but first, I needed to think.
I needed answers and I needed them fast.
I called my next appointment to let them know that something had come up and we would need to reschedule it for later in the week.
I had research to do and I needed to do it quickly before it was too late, before she took any more business right out from under me.
I had several pending large proposals that I felt, up until a few minutes ago, were in the bag and ready to close, but so was the deal I just lost.
Now I wasn't so sure.
I've got to get moving.
Okay, lady, whoever you are; I'm on to you, and you better watch your back.
I'm not losing any more business to you without a fight.
I decided to stop at a local coffee shop that had free Wi-Fi.
I needed a caffeine jolt and to do some quick searches to see if I could find out more about this rookie, Ms.
Reynolds, and her company.
As I waited in line for my coffee, I noticed a woman sitting at a nearby table.
She was probably in her mid-thirties like me, attractive, but not drop-dead gorgeous; she looked very relaxed and focused.
I liked what I saw.
Her briefcase bore the logo ConnHour Software.
As I peered over her shoulder without her noticing, I was shocked to see that she was reading the website home page of one of my biggest and what I thought was my most secure prospects and she was taking notes.
Would this prospect bite the dust like the last one? I suddenly felt a wave of panic overtake me.
I saw all of my business going up in flames right before my eyes and I wasn't sure how to stop it.
My antenna went straight up and my defenses were on high alert.
What was I supposed to do? Should I confront her? Come up with some excuse to interrupt her? Just then, I noticed she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
Attractive, professional looking, intelligent and obviously on her way to success, why wasn't she married? Not interested? Still looking? Well, she could just as easily have asked the same questions about me.
Then I got an idea.
I asked the clerk for the number for their café and then stepped off into the corner, out of earshot, called them on my cell phone and asked for Jessica Reynolds.
As the clerk approached her, he said she had a phone call.
I was right.
This is the scoundrel that is taking my business away from me while I sit by in a ridiculous stupor wondering what to do about it.
I immediately hung up without talking to her, walked back and sat down behind her.
Now what? Should I play detective or make a subtle pass at her? Think fast, I told myself.
She was starting to log off and I was running out of time.
It's now or never, I thought.
"Hi, my name is Mark Andrews.
I work for a software company and I see you work for a software company, too.
" "Yes, I'm new in sales with them; Jessica Reynolds is my name.
" "Nice to meet you, Jessica; have you got a few minutes for another cup of coffee? It's on me, and I'd love to talk with you for a little while; maybe we can help each other out professionally in some way.
Besides, it's always a good business practice to know both your competitors and those people who could be potential advocates for you in your career.
" After I had blurted out this childish and transparent introduction, I realized how I must have sounded.
There's no way she's going to agree to a short chat with someone as obvious as me.
I mean, how stupid am I, anyway? You'd think I was just out of high school and on the make.
"Sure, why not? I've got some time before my next appointment.
" I didn't know it at the time, but this woman was about to become my hero, mentor, teacher and, possibly, even something more - but only time would tell about the last one.
Despite myself, I was attracted to her and I could sense that there was some small interest on her part as well, but first things first.
Stay focused, Mark; you've got to find out what this woman is up to.
Our conversation lasted about twenty minutes and, as we talked, it became apparent that she had some revolutionary new sales training that I had never heard of.
It was called MasterStream.
I wanted to know more, I wanted to know everything.
And I wanted to know it now.
I never let on during our talk that she had just taken a huge sale from me because I didn't want to lose the opportunity to gain as much trust and information about and from her by creating too much stress in our new relationship.
There would be plenty of time to 'fess up later.
Little did I know that she was on to me before I even knew it.
My ruse had failed to work.
First lesson learned.
When in doubt, honesty is always the best policy.
At the end, we exchanged business cards and agreed to meet for lunch the next day.
"Mark, I'll tell you more about MasterStream tomorrow, but I have an appointment to get to and I have to run.
I've got a sale to close before my competitor is on to me," she said with a combined smile and smirk.
She left me wondering, was another of my good prospects going to bite the dust with this new MasterStream program before I could do anything to save it? I sat there for a few more minutes thinking: I have read every sales book written.
I have attended more sales seminars than I can count and I have spent thousands of hours honing my sales approaches and techniques on prospecting, presentations, closing and much more, and along comes Ms.
Jessica and, with hardly any experience and only one process, is taking business out from under a seasoned, successful veteran right before my eyes.
How is she doing this, taking my business away with apparently little or no effort whatsoever? Lunch tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
If she had some new secret weapon, I wanted it and I wanted it now.
The next day, I arrived at the restaurant first.
As I waited, I reviewed my schedule for my afternoon appointments to see if I could reschedule them if it became necessary because of needing more time with her than I had planned.
As I was thinking about how our lunch would go and how to begin to probe Jessica for information, a thought occurred to me: I'll just treat this as a typical sales presentation and start by asking lots of open-ended questions until I have the answers I want.
Boy, was I in for a big surprise.
Jessica approached the booth I was in with this big smile and engaging personality.
I was starting to like this lady and this could present problems with my probing approach and even more later.
Focus, Mark.
"Hi, Mark, great to see you.
I've been looking forward to our lunch since we met yesterday.
How is your day going?" "Fine, thanks for asking, and yours?" "Just closed another deal.
I am on a roll.
My first month in sales, and I'm five for five.
" "Wow, that's tremendous; you must be proud of yourself.
" "Well, I can't take all of the credit.
It's this powerful system I learned while I was in between jobs; it deserves most of the credit.
" "Tell me about it.
" "Well, when I was first hired into this sales position - my first, by the way - I was given a binder filled with all sorts of typical sales stuff; you know, probing questions, presentation materials, features and benefits, objection handling techniques and closes.
When I told my manager that I didn't need the binder, he looked at me with a grim expression.
"He said, 'Jessica, we have honed this selling system with years of research, the best advice from some of the most famous sales trainers and consultants in the country, and it works.
I must insist that you follow this system.
'" "What did you say to him?" "I just told him that if I don't become your top sales representative in less than one month, doing it my way, you can keep all of my commissions and I'll memorize every page in the binder.
" "Kind of arrogant, don't you think?" "Not really.
I have that much confidence in the MasterStream Method.
It just works and it is magic - and I don't mean that in any mystical sense of the word.
" "Okay," I said a little sarcastically, I'm afraid.
But I was determined to get to the bottom of that lost sale, so I added, "Tell me more about this so-called Method.
" "Let's order first, okay? I'm famished.
" During lunch, we exchanged small talk, just personal getting-to-know-you stuff like favorite hobbies, where we were from, etc.
; just light stuff, really.
But as the conversation progressed, I could feel the tension growing in our relationship.
There was something about this woman that made me feel I was gradually falling into this deep chasm and enjoying every minute of it, but fearing it at the same time.
"MasterStream is not really new.
It's a blending of some of the best psychology, research on human behavior and creative thinking going back thousands of years.
It was developed by a man called T.
Falcon Napier, who I think is a genius.
"Anyway, the basic premise behind MasterStream is the effective management of the prospect's tension.
The basic tenant of the entire process is: Pay attention to tension.
" She went on for about twenty minutes explaining how the Method works and its application to sales and, I have to admit, I was astounded, amazed and blown away.
I had never seen anything like this in all my years of studying and practicing sales techniques, systems and processes.
You name it, I've studied it.
Not that the techniques I learned were wrong, mind you.
Yes, some made more sense than others, and some were more ethical than others, but none of them came even close to what little I had learned about MasterStream in these two short meetings with Jessica.
This was the next evolution or next generation that brought the best of the best together from centuries of wisdom, with the addition of T's insight and creativity and .
.
.
bam, there it was, right before my eyes: a truly revolutionary selling process that would skyrocket my sales success faster than I could ever have imagined.
"Jessica, it's getting late, and we both have appointments.
Can we talk again about this MasterStream? I want to know all there is.
" "Mark, it will take time to cover it effectively.
It's not just some simple new fad, but a process and psychological technology that you need to learn, comprehend and integrate systematically.
It's really a completely new way of looking at the entire sales process.
We have to take one step at a time.
I'll make you a deal.
" "Shoot.
" "While I am sharing this technology with you, we will agree that neither of us will go after any of the current prospects we are presently working on.
I know I took a big deal from you yesterday and I feel a little guilty about it.
" "How did you know it was me?" "Please, I didn't just fall off a turnip truck.
" "Okay, you have a deal.
" "There are two other conditions, however, if I am to share this information with you.
" "And what are they?" "One: You have to agree to take me out for dinner occasionally.
And no business during dinner, just fun.
" "That doesn't sound like a condition; but, okay, it's a deal.
" Hmm, maybe I'm not the only one feeling an attraction here.
"And the second?" "Once I have shared the entire concept with you, all bets are off and all business is, once again, fair game for both of us.
What do you say?" "Fair enough; you're on, lady, so let's get started.
" We agreed to meet sometime next week and to have dinner next Saturday night.
"Bye, Jessica, see you next week.
" "See you then.
I'm looking forward to it and, by the way, bring an open mind with you - I'm going to rock your world.
Oh, and you might want to check out a great website before we meet, just to begin to familiarize yourself with some of the language.
It will make our time together move more efficiently.
The website is called WorldsBestSalesTrainingProgram.
com.
" This was going to be one of the longest weeks of my life waiting for my first lesson.
But I had a sale to close, so I put Jessica out of my mind for the time being and got down to business.
But the thought kept stirring around in my mind, could I change? Could I embrace this new technology with complete openness or was I too set in my ways with all of the sales stuff I had learned over the years that was firmly planted in my consciousness? Was I too comfortable with these time-honored techniques and approaches? Could this new technology really create the career breakthrough I had been searching for all these years?
Since we last met and agreed to purchase your software, we have had an interesting conversation with one of your competitors and have decided to do business with them, instead.
" "Was it their price or something else?" "Not price, really; it was more a combination of concerns and nothing really specific.
" "Well, Dan, how can I compete without specifics?" "Mark, we don't expect you to compete; the decision has been made and is final.
Maybe the next time we have a need for your products and services, the outcome will be different, but there are no guarantees.
We appreciate all of your effort, time and professionalism and we certainly value your knowledge and expertise.
" "What could I have done differently to win your business?" "As I said, you did nothing wrong.
This other company just explained the outcomes we would receive a little better than you did.
" "May I ask how?" "We can't put our finger on it.
They didn't seem more knowledgeable or professional and they didn't work harder to get our business.
It was just the way they handled us and the buying process.
They made it simpler.
" "Was there a particular sales representative that you worked with?" "You are not going to like our answer because their sales representative is very new to sales and to the business; in fact, we will be the first sale for this person.
" "You mean I lost your business to a beginner?" "Well, a rookie might be a better term, but it was handled with the finesse of a veteran.
Overall, the buying process was effortless for us.
" "Were his prices better than ours?" "It was never about price, although you believed from the beginning that price would be our biggest concern and the ultimate deal breaker.
For us, it was always only about effective solutions to our problems.
Now, I have another meeting to attend so I'll have to end this meeting with you.
Please keep in touch, though; you never know when our circumstances will change.
Thank you again for all of your time, effort and help; we certainly appreciate it and we always like to have options.
" "Before I leave, can I ask you one quick question?" "Sure.
" "What was the name of the salesperson you worked with; I would like to know how I can compete against him in the future.
" "It wasn't a him, Mark, it was a her, and her name is Jessica Reynolds.
" As I left the office, I was dumbfounded.
I couldn't believe that I was shot down by a rookie salesperson, let alone a female one.
I have never been gender prejudiced, but I have been at this selling game for many years and I have proven my value by winning several sales contests for my company and, last year, I was the number one sales representative.
Where did I go wrong? I hate losing sales when I have worked so hard and put in so much time and resources.
I had never lost a sale to a rookie yet.
Though this was a first for me, it was going to be the last time.
I will do whatever is necessary to avoid this embarrassment again.
My mind was whirling with questions: How did she take this business away from me at the last minute? Did she offer a lower price? Was she more knowledgeable? Was their product better? In the back of my mind, I was even asking myself another question, though unwilling to admit that I could be thinking such a thing: Did she get the business because she really was better in some way? I had to find out who this woman was and how she scarfed this business out from under me; but first, I needed to think.
I needed answers and I needed them fast.
I called my next appointment to let them know that something had come up and we would need to reschedule it for later in the week.
I had research to do and I needed to do it quickly before it was too late, before she took any more business right out from under me.
I had several pending large proposals that I felt, up until a few minutes ago, were in the bag and ready to close, but so was the deal I just lost.
Now I wasn't so sure.
I've got to get moving.
Okay, lady, whoever you are; I'm on to you, and you better watch your back.
I'm not losing any more business to you without a fight.
I decided to stop at a local coffee shop that had free Wi-Fi.
I needed a caffeine jolt and to do some quick searches to see if I could find out more about this rookie, Ms.
Reynolds, and her company.
As I waited in line for my coffee, I noticed a woman sitting at a nearby table.
She was probably in her mid-thirties like me, attractive, but not drop-dead gorgeous; she looked very relaxed and focused.
I liked what I saw.
Her briefcase bore the logo ConnHour Software.
As I peered over her shoulder without her noticing, I was shocked to see that she was reading the website home page of one of my biggest and what I thought was my most secure prospects and she was taking notes.
Would this prospect bite the dust like the last one? I suddenly felt a wave of panic overtake me.
I saw all of my business going up in flames right before my eyes and I wasn't sure how to stop it.
My antenna went straight up and my defenses were on high alert.
What was I supposed to do? Should I confront her? Come up with some excuse to interrupt her? Just then, I noticed she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.
Attractive, professional looking, intelligent and obviously on her way to success, why wasn't she married? Not interested? Still looking? Well, she could just as easily have asked the same questions about me.
Then I got an idea.
I asked the clerk for the number for their café and then stepped off into the corner, out of earshot, called them on my cell phone and asked for Jessica Reynolds.
As the clerk approached her, he said she had a phone call.
I was right.
This is the scoundrel that is taking my business away from me while I sit by in a ridiculous stupor wondering what to do about it.
I immediately hung up without talking to her, walked back and sat down behind her.
Now what? Should I play detective or make a subtle pass at her? Think fast, I told myself.
She was starting to log off and I was running out of time.
It's now or never, I thought.
"Hi, my name is Mark Andrews.
I work for a software company and I see you work for a software company, too.
" "Yes, I'm new in sales with them; Jessica Reynolds is my name.
" "Nice to meet you, Jessica; have you got a few minutes for another cup of coffee? It's on me, and I'd love to talk with you for a little while; maybe we can help each other out professionally in some way.
Besides, it's always a good business practice to know both your competitors and those people who could be potential advocates for you in your career.
" After I had blurted out this childish and transparent introduction, I realized how I must have sounded.
There's no way she's going to agree to a short chat with someone as obvious as me.
I mean, how stupid am I, anyway? You'd think I was just out of high school and on the make.
"Sure, why not? I've got some time before my next appointment.
" I didn't know it at the time, but this woman was about to become my hero, mentor, teacher and, possibly, even something more - but only time would tell about the last one.
Despite myself, I was attracted to her and I could sense that there was some small interest on her part as well, but first things first.
Stay focused, Mark; you've got to find out what this woman is up to.
Our conversation lasted about twenty minutes and, as we talked, it became apparent that she had some revolutionary new sales training that I had never heard of.
It was called MasterStream.
I wanted to know more, I wanted to know everything.
And I wanted to know it now.
I never let on during our talk that she had just taken a huge sale from me because I didn't want to lose the opportunity to gain as much trust and information about and from her by creating too much stress in our new relationship.
There would be plenty of time to 'fess up later.
Little did I know that she was on to me before I even knew it.
My ruse had failed to work.
First lesson learned.
When in doubt, honesty is always the best policy.
At the end, we exchanged business cards and agreed to meet for lunch the next day.
"Mark, I'll tell you more about MasterStream tomorrow, but I have an appointment to get to and I have to run.
I've got a sale to close before my competitor is on to me," she said with a combined smile and smirk.
She left me wondering, was another of my good prospects going to bite the dust with this new MasterStream program before I could do anything to save it? I sat there for a few more minutes thinking: I have read every sales book written.
I have attended more sales seminars than I can count and I have spent thousands of hours honing my sales approaches and techniques on prospecting, presentations, closing and much more, and along comes Ms.
Jessica and, with hardly any experience and only one process, is taking business out from under a seasoned, successful veteran right before my eyes.
How is she doing this, taking my business away with apparently little or no effort whatsoever? Lunch tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
If she had some new secret weapon, I wanted it and I wanted it now.
The next day, I arrived at the restaurant first.
As I waited, I reviewed my schedule for my afternoon appointments to see if I could reschedule them if it became necessary because of needing more time with her than I had planned.
As I was thinking about how our lunch would go and how to begin to probe Jessica for information, a thought occurred to me: I'll just treat this as a typical sales presentation and start by asking lots of open-ended questions until I have the answers I want.
Boy, was I in for a big surprise.
Jessica approached the booth I was in with this big smile and engaging personality.
I was starting to like this lady and this could present problems with my probing approach and even more later.
Focus, Mark.
"Hi, Mark, great to see you.
I've been looking forward to our lunch since we met yesterday.
How is your day going?" "Fine, thanks for asking, and yours?" "Just closed another deal.
I am on a roll.
My first month in sales, and I'm five for five.
" "Wow, that's tremendous; you must be proud of yourself.
" "Well, I can't take all of the credit.
It's this powerful system I learned while I was in between jobs; it deserves most of the credit.
" "Tell me about it.
" "Well, when I was first hired into this sales position - my first, by the way - I was given a binder filled with all sorts of typical sales stuff; you know, probing questions, presentation materials, features and benefits, objection handling techniques and closes.
When I told my manager that I didn't need the binder, he looked at me with a grim expression.
"He said, 'Jessica, we have honed this selling system with years of research, the best advice from some of the most famous sales trainers and consultants in the country, and it works.
I must insist that you follow this system.
'" "What did you say to him?" "I just told him that if I don't become your top sales representative in less than one month, doing it my way, you can keep all of my commissions and I'll memorize every page in the binder.
" "Kind of arrogant, don't you think?" "Not really.
I have that much confidence in the MasterStream Method.
It just works and it is magic - and I don't mean that in any mystical sense of the word.
" "Okay," I said a little sarcastically, I'm afraid.
But I was determined to get to the bottom of that lost sale, so I added, "Tell me more about this so-called Method.
" "Let's order first, okay? I'm famished.
" During lunch, we exchanged small talk, just personal getting-to-know-you stuff like favorite hobbies, where we were from, etc.
; just light stuff, really.
But as the conversation progressed, I could feel the tension growing in our relationship.
There was something about this woman that made me feel I was gradually falling into this deep chasm and enjoying every minute of it, but fearing it at the same time.
"MasterStream is not really new.
It's a blending of some of the best psychology, research on human behavior and creative thinking going back thousands of years.
It was developed by a man called T.
Falcon Napier, who I think is a genius.
"Anyway, the basic premise behind MasterStream is the effective management of the prospect's tension.
The basic tenant of the entire process is: Pay attention to tension.
" She went on for about twenty minutes explaining how the Method works and its application to sales and, I have to admit, I was astounded, amazed and blown away.
I had never seen anything like this in all my years of studying and practicing sales techniques, systems and processes.
You name it, I've studied it.
Not that the techniques I learned were wrong, mind you.
Yes, some made more sense than others, and some were more ethical than others, but none of them came even close to what little I had learned about MasterStream in these two short meetings with Jessica.
This was the next evolution or next generation that brought the best of the best together from centuries of wisdom, with the addition of T's insight and creativity and .
.
.
bam, there it was, right before my eyes: a truly revolutionary selling process that would skyrocket my sales success faster than I could ever have imagined.
"Jessica, it's getting late, and we both have appointments.
Can we talk again about this MasterStream? I want to know all there is.
" "Mark, it will take time to cover it effectively.
It's not just some simple new fad, but a process and psychological technology that you need to learn, comprehend and integrate systematically.
It's really a completely new way of looking at the entire sales process.
We have to take one step at a time.
I'll make you a deal.
" "Shoot.
" "While I am sharing this technology with you, we will agree that neither of us will go after any of the current prospects we are presently working on.
I know I took a big deal from you yesterday and I feel a little guilty about it.
" "How did you know it was me?" "Please, I didn't just fall off a turnip truck.
" "Okay, you have a deal.
" "There are two other conditions, however, if I am to share this information with you.
" "And what are they?" "One: You have to agree to take me out for dinner occasionally.
And no business during dinner, just fun.
" "That doesn't sound like a condition; but, okay, it's a deal.
" Hmm, maybe I'm not the only one feeling an attraction here.
"And the second?" "Once I have shared the entire concept with you, all bets are off and all business is, once again, fair game for both of us.
What do you say?" "Fair enough; you're on, lady, so let's get started.
" We agreed to meet sometime next week and to have dinner next Saturday night.
"Bye, Jessica, see you next week.
" "See you then.
I'm looking forward to it and, by the way, bring an open mind with you - I'm going to rock your world.
Oh, and you might want to check out a great website before we meet, just to begin to familiarize yourself with some of the language.
It will make our time together move more efficiently.
The website is called WorldsBestSalesTrainingProgram.
com.
" This was going to be one of the longest weeks of my life waiting for my first lesson.
But I had a sale to close, so I put Jessica out of my mind for the time being and got down to business.
But the thought kept stirring around in my mind, could I change? Could I embrace this new technology with complete openness or was I too set in my ways with all of the sales stuff I had learned over the years that was firmly planted in my consciousness? Was I too comfortable with these time-honored techniques and approaches? Could this new technology really create the career breakthrough I had been searching for all these years?
