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

Now, when it comes time to ask for the order, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the closer you’ve gotten your prospect to a 10, the better chance you have of closing them. On the other hand, the farther away your prospect is from a 10, the worse chance you have of closing them. From a practical standpoint, if your prospect is anywhere below a 5, you have basically no chance of closing them. The reason for this has to do with something called positive intent, which serves as the very foundation from which all human beings make their decisions.

In other words, human beings don’t buy things that they think will make their lives worse; they buy things that they think will make their lives better. However, the operative word here is think. You see, just because someone has positive intent doesn’t necessarily mean that the resulting decisions will end up having a positive impact on them. In fact, with many people, it often doesn’t. Their lives are punctuated by a series of self-defeating decisions. However, even these “serial bad decision-makers” believe their decisions were good when they made them. That’s the definition of positive intent.

In consequence, when you ask for the order, if your prospect thinks that your product is shit then you have absolutely no chance of closing them. Conversely, if they think the opposite is true—that your product is the best thing since sliced bread—then you have an excellent chance of closing them.

It’s basic logic, right?

So, let me ask you this:

Let’s say you’ve just made an absolutely kick-ass sales presentation to a financially qualified prospect who needs your product, wants your product, and who’s also been feeling a bit of pain as a result of an unfulfilled need that your product perfectly meets. In addition, let’s also say that your sales presentation was so “on target” that when you asked your prospect for the order, they were at a 10 on the certainty scale, and damn sure of it. My question is, will the prospect buy from you, yes or no?

The obvious answer is yes, isn’t it?

Before you answer the question, I want you to know that I’ve laid out this same scenario to audiences all over the world and posed that very same question. When I ask the people in the audience to raise their hands if they think a prospect will buy from them under those circumstances, every hand in the room goes flying up.

It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, how large the audience is, or how much sales experience they have. Unless they’ve been taught the Straight Line System, their hands always go up.

And that’s when I deliver the punch line.

I say, “Really? Well, guess what? You’re all wrong. The correct answer is maybe. Maybe they will, and maybe they won’t.” You see, I was purposely being a bit coy with you before, and I left out one crucial point from that scenario I laid out.

What if the prospect doesn’t trust you?

For instance, let’s say that, during your sales presentation, you accidentally said something or did something that rubbed the prospect the wrong way, to the point where they no longer trusted you. What are the chances of them buying from you then?

I’ll tell you what they are: Zero! Nothing! Zilch!

Plain and simple, if your prospect doesn’t trust you, then there’s absolutely no way they are going to buy from you. And, again, I don’t care how certain they are about your product; they still won’t buy from you. In fact, if they’re that intent on purchasing your product, then they simply find someone else who sells the same thing—a salesperson they trust—and they will buy it from that salesperson instead. It’s as simple as that.

So, that’s what makes up the second of the Three Tens:

You!

THE THREE TENS

1 The product, idea, or concept

2 You, trust and connect with you

3

For example, do they think you’re a likable, trustworthy person, who is not only an expert in your field but also prides yourself on putting your customer’s needs first and making sure that if any problems arise you’ll be right there on the spot to resolve them?

That would be a 10 on the certainty scale.

Or do they think you’re an unlikable “snake in the grass,” a stone-cold novice who’ll stick the knife in their back the moment they turn it from you, because all you care about is extracting the maximum amount of commission out of the deal and then moving on to the next target as quickly as possible?

That would be a 1 on the certainty scale.

And in between those two extremes you have all the varying degrees of certainty as you move up and down the scale.