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

2The next language pattern should be no more than one or two paragraphs and be focused on a benefit that directly fills the clients need. (Only mention that feature.) If possible, try to use comparisons and metaphors to illustrate your point, as they are far more effective than facts and figures alone. In addition, if you can ethically link the above pattern to a trustworthy person or institution, like a Warren Buffett or J. P. Morgan, then do it. (Also, check to see if your company knows of any high-profile people who have used your product and liked it.) The bottom line is that anytime you can leverage the credibility of a respected person or institution, you should try to bring it into your presentation.

3After you’re done with the pattern, you should say, “You follow me so far?” or “Make sense?” You can only move forward after the prospect says yes; otherwise you’ll break rapport and enter the death zone. But once they agree with you—boom!—you’ve completed one full language pattern.

4Now, repeat steps two and three one more time—and then one more time again, but no more than that, or you’ll run the risk of overwhelming the client. Always remember, you’re framing, not front-loading!

5As you’re transitioning into your close, you should try to create some type of urgency—meaning, why the customer needs to buy now. If you’re in an industry where there’s not a lot of inherent urgency, then try to at least use tonal scarcity to imply urgency. But don’t create false urgency; that’s not okay.

6Moving from the main body to the close, we start with a transitional pattern that explains how simple it is to get the buying process started. (This is your energy in, benefits out equation.)

7Then you directly ask for the order, with no beating around the bush. The reason I’m highlighting this is that after spending the last ten years training sales forces all around the world, I’ve found that the vast majority of salespeople don’t ask for the order very much. Either they dance around it, or they leave it open-ended, as if they’re hoping the prospect will just come right out and say they want to buy it. In point of fact, most studies peg the optimum number of times that a salesperson should ask for the order as somewhere between five and seven times.