BRX Pro Tip: Closing the Sale
Stone Payton: [00:00:01] And we are back with BRX Pro Tips. Stone Payton, Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, I wanted to talk a little bit today about closing the sale, putting a bow on it, and beginning to execute the pilot in our situation. A couple of things that I want to bring to everybody’s attention. When it comes to closing the sale, if you truly are following the discipline of co-authoring the show concept, that typically should be a very natural organic step. But there is a point at which, I like to say, you’ve got to bite them in the neck.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Yeah. And that you have to have an element of your sales process that does that. And then, we use something, I think you came up with the confirming release date as that lever to let the person know that they are making a good decision and puts a deadline on making that decision, and it gives them a face saving out if they choose not to pull the trigger.
Stone Payton: [00:00:56] Well, to me, and I didn’t invent it, that, you know, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being involved with and mentored by some people who are really good at designing, delivering, and selling processes and methodology, and consulting, and training. So, that’s where I got this from. But it is important to have a stake in the ground. And so, you really can very organically on the backside of a truly collaborative conversation where you’ve co-authored a show concept, you can say, “In your opinion, do you feel this is something that you would like to do?”
Stone Payton: [00:01:28] And typically, you’ll get some version of “yes, but I need to check with my partner, my spouse. I need to think it over.” You can make that a perfectly appropriate response. “Understand completely.” I know for me to make that kind of decision, I would definitely need to talk with my business partner. And so, you need to make that “okay. You know, today’s Tuesday, if we were to set up, say, maybe—you think you’d know by next Tuesday? Would that give you enough time to make an informed decision?”
Stone Payton: [00:01:53] And typically, you’ll get an affirmative response in that regard. And then, you can just simply say, “Great. You know what, let’s set your confirmed release date for then, for next Tuesday. Hey, and listen, if you knew before then that you’re definitely going to do this or definitely not going to do this, let me know. If you’re definitely going to do it, we can put some wheels in motion. If you’re definitely not going to do it, then I can open the show concept to make it available to someone else who might benefit from it.”
Stone Payton: [00:02:22] But doing this, of course, gives you some closure and it keeps you from waiting on that phantom phone call the, you know, next week. You’ve got something in the ground, so now, you can swing back around and send the release note, which we’ve talked about before. But that is the way to wrap up that show concept meeting and set yourself up to effectively consistently close that sale out in a professional manner.
Lee Kantor: [00:02:49] Right. I’d like to add one part in between that, during that window of time when you’re asking them to make the decision. Most people have a fear of making a wrong decision. That’s why they’re not going to buy. They’re afraid of making a mistake. So, we like to, during the course of the—between when we say, “Okay, this sounds like a good idea” and the “here’s the confirming release date”. We like to add an element where we have them pull their friends on social media and say, “Hey, do you think that—my company is sponsoring this show, do you know any interesting guests?”.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:20] By having an element where they have control and they can go out and talk about this potential show to their network, number 1, they’re going to get positive response usually because people want to be a guest on shows. Number 2, that’s going to give them that confidence that this is the right decision. Number 3, by announcing it, they’ve almost bought it. Because now, they’ve got to go back if they don’t do it to explain they’re not doing that. And most people don’t like to do that. So, I like to add that element in the middle of it. But it all ends with the confirming release date because that’s how you close the sale.
Stone Payton: [00:03:55] Well, and fundamentally, that’s just good psychological sales mojo that you have your prospective client taking action because the strength of that potential account is really measured by the actions that the prospect is taking, not by the actions that you’re taking. So, yeah, I think that’s a marvelous way to go about this. Happy selling.
