Be Bold: Earn the Right? Poppycock!

An excerpt from “Be Bold and Win the Sale” by Jeff Shore
Available from McGraw-Hill Business in January 2014

Remember that there is a constant psychological battle waging in your head at all times. The motivating force says, “This is a good time to ask them to buy.” A competing voice—the comfort addict—says, “Remember what you learned in training: you must earn the right to ask for the sales.”

On this point I am the anti-trainer. I am the only sales expert I know of who does not claim to have come up with the saying, “You must earn the right to ask for the sale.” I don’t know who coined that phrase, but I believe we should deep-six it for good! What a stupid thing to say. (Oh, yes. I am well aware that quite a few people are not going to like me for this one!) I mean, it sounds authoritative and all, but I believe it is the statement of a comfort addict. Let me explain.

I want to be clear that I do not disagree with the premise that the right to ask for the sale is earned. But I struggle with the idea that we use this as a gut-check while we are deep into a buying discussion with a customer. When one voice says, “It’s time to ask for the sale,” you need not wait to hear another say, “You must earn the right.” Waiting for that internal exchange will cause you to give up on the closing approximately one hundred percent of the time.

Here is my advice: when the voice in your head suggests that it is time to ask for the sale, TRUST THE VOICE! The voice is right. The voice knows what it is doing. The voice must be heeded.

I would have you think of this another way. By the time the voice says it’s time to ask for the sale…you have already earned the right!  Seriously, when was the last time you heard that suggestive voice…during the greeting? Never! The voice knows what it is saying, and it knows when it is saying it. Trust the voice!

But let me take this one layer deeper. (I want to see if I can totally blow your mind here.) That voice, the one that tells you to ask for the sale, is not talking to you; it is talking to your customer!

The voice is saying that your customer desperately needs you to ask him or her to purchase. Does that require boldness on your part? Absolutely, but it is a humble boldness, a servant-like boldness, a boldness that demands that you act in your customer’s best interest.

Some see closing as being disrespectful. I would suggest that the most disrespectful thing you can do is to force your buyer to come back to you, hat-in-hand, and ask permission to buy your product. Talk about uncomfortable! I would suggest you have a service-oriented obligation to save your customer from that discomfort.

If you change your mindset, you will change your world. Equip yourself with timely, powerful tools to conquer your inner discomfort, win more sales and create amazing results for your customers and yourself: sign up for my weekly, FREE, instructional/motivational video, The Shore Thing, at jeffshore.com.

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About the Author:

Jeff Shore is a highly sought-after sales expert, speaker, author and executive coach whose innovative BE BOLD methodology teaches you how to change your mindset and change your world. His latest book, “Be Bold and Win the Sale: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Boost Your Performance,” (McGraw-Hill) was published in January, 2014. Learn more at jeffshore.com and follow Jeff on Twitter and ‘like’ his page on Facebook.