Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success

“Now, when you’re on the straight line—meaning, directly on it—that’s where you’re doing all the talking. And all these little arrows here: the reason they’re all pointing down the line, to the close”—I began tapping the tip of my marker on each arrow, as I continued speaking, starting with the very first arrow, just after the open, and moving quickly to the right, all the way down to the close—“is because with every single word you say there’s one specific goal in mind, and that’s to move the prospect down the straight line towards the close; that’s it. There are no free words, no time for stupid statements, and no time to go off to Pluto and talk about the price of tea in China.

“That shit is for novices.” My obvious contempt for novices dripped off the very word. “When you’re speaking, it’s directed. It’s powerful. Your words have meaning behind them; and the meaning is to create massive certainty in the mind of your prospect as you move him down the straight line, from the open to the close.” I pointed to the arrows again. “That’s why every one of these arrows is compact, and tight, and right on the line—and they’re all pointed straight towards the close.

“So, again, that’s what’s happening when you’re directly on the straight line. You’re the one doing all the talking, and your client is listening. And when you’re off the straight line, but still inside the boundaries, right here and here”—I point to the spaces—“it’s the prospect who’s doing the talking, and you’re doing the listening.

“And, by the way, this is where some really great stuff happens—when you’re actually off the straight line, right in those spaces. In fact, there’s not one, but two absolutely crucial things happening here.

“First, you’re developing immediate, massive rapport, on both a conscious and unconscious level; and second, you’re gathering massive intelligence, which up until tonight, I used to refer to as qualifying. But, starting right now, I want you to wipe that word out of your mind forever, because it doesn’t even come close to describing what we need to accomplish here.

“You see, with the Straight Line, you need to gather intelligence—and I mean massive intelligence—which goes far beyond trying to figure out whether or not a prospect is financially qualified.

“When you gather intelligence from a prospect, you’re doing all of the following things:

“First, you’re identifying their needs—and not just their core need but also any secondary needs or ‘problems’ they might have.

“Second, you’re identifying any core beliefs they might have that could impact the sale, such as not feeling comfortable working over the phone or with making quick decisions, and also not trusting salespeople in general.

“Third, you want to find out about any past experiences they’ve had with similar products, both good and bad, and how they feel about the salespeople they bought them from.

“Fourth, you want to identify their values—meaning, what things are most important to them? Are they looking for growth or income, or do they want to set themselves up for retirement, or to give their profits to a certain charity, or a religious institution? It can even be that the prospect is an action junkie and they’re in it for the thrills.

“Fifth, you want to identify their financial standards, insofar as what level of wealth and spending ability they need to have to feel good about themselves.

“Sixth, where their pain lies—meaning, what’s keeping them up at night? What’s that one single financial worry that sits at the very base of their skull and weighs them down, like an anchor?

“You see, at the end of the day, it’s knowing your prospect’s pain and, if necessary, amplifying that pain; if they’re currently in denial, that’s going to help you close the tougher sales.

“And seventh, you need to identify where they stand financially, in terms of how much money they have in the market right now, how liquid they are, how much money they typically invest into an idea they like, and how much they are liquid for overall.

“So, getting back to the Straight Line:

“When you’re off the line, you’re looking to (a) continue building on the rapport that you already have, and (b) use that rapport to help you gather the more invasive intelligence, like how liquid the prospect currently is.

“And at the same time, you’re always making sure that the encounter stays within the boundaries, as you continue the process of moving the sale down the Straight Line, towards the close.

“Essentially, those are the three basic tenets of the front half of the Straight Line:

1 You must take immediate of control the sale.