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

1First, you’re sharp as a tack. If they don’t think that you’re sharp as a tack, you’re wasting their time. You must come across as someone who’s totally on the ball, a born problem-solver who is definitely worth listening to because you can help them achieve their goals. In essence, you have to sound and act like someone who can help the prospect fulfill their needs and desires. You can accomplish this by demonstrating mental speed and agility, fast decision-making, and a unique pace of delivery that immediately impresses the prospect and builds trust.

However, to achieve lasting success, you must actually become an “expert in your field,” so that you do, indeed, know what you’re talking about. In other words, you can’t just talk the talk; you also have to walk the walk. So while you’re busy “acting as if,” you’re working at lightning speed to learn everything there is to know about your industry and the products you’re selling, so you truly do become an expert.

2Second, you’re enthusiastic as hell. This sends a subliminal message to your prospect, telling them that you must have something great to offer. You must sound upbeat, enthusiastic, and full of energy, and be a positive influence in their lives. One of things that I had to learn the hard way was that just because you can sell someone something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.

Today, I have a strong belief in sales as an honorable profession, and I’ll only operate in sales situations where I have an unyielding and passionate belief in the value of the product or service I’m offering to prospects. I need to genuinely believe in that value before I sell a product or service, and then I’ll describe it passionately. I also have to have a firm belief in the company that the product and I represent. This is what allows me to act enthusiastically in any sales situation.

3Third, you’re an expert in your field—an authority figure and a force to be reckoned with. From the time they’re old enough to walk, people are taught to respect and listen to authority figures. In sales situations, I convince the prospect that I am a highly competent, ultraknowledgeable professional by coming off as a world-class expert in my field, right out of the gate. Not only does this allow me to instantly gain the prospect’s respect, but it also causes them to defer to me and basically hand over control of the sale.

To demonstrate this authority, I translate features of the service or product into benefits and value for the prospect, while using technical industry lingo that I’ve taken the time to simplify—allowing the prospect to easily grasp what appear to be very complex statements. I’ll also add value by offering a unique perspective during the sales conversation, demonstrating extensive knowledge and understanding of the market, industry, product, prospect, and competitors.

Remember, the biggest misconception among new salespeople is that they feel like they have to wait a certain amount of time until they can brand themselves as an expert. That’s a load of crap! You need to be “acting as if” from the very start, while you educate yourself as fast possible, to close the knowledge gap.

Show Them You’re Worth Listening To

When you immediately establish these three things, they roll up into one simple fact in the prospect’s mind, namely that you’re a person worth listening to. In other words, it makes sense for them to take time out of their busy day, because someone who’s as sharp as you and enthusiastic as you, and who’s achieved your level of expertise, is going to:

1 Get to the point quickly

2 Not waste the prospect’s time

3 Have a solution to their problem

4 Be an asset to them over the long-term

In addition, once the prospect has come to this positive conclusion about you, their brain will instantly extrapolate your value to its logical end, which is:

You can help them achieve their goals.

You can help get them what they want in life.

It could be a core need they’re looking to fulfill; it could be a simple want or desire; it could be to gain control over a certain aspect of their life; or, at the highest level, it could be to alleviate a pain they’re feeling.

And, again, because the human brain is so naturally adept at this, it takes less than four short seconds for your prospect to rip you apart, analyze each piece of you, and then put you back together based on how you were perceived.

If you’re perceived the right way—that you’re sharp as a tack, enthusiastic as hell, and an expert in your field—then the prospect will defer to you and let you take control of the sale.