Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness: How to Make Sales Forever

by Jeffrey Gitomer

When others need to “final approve” the deal, besides learning to qualify the buyer better, you must take these five action steps or the sale is in jeopardy… 1. Get the prospect’s personal approval. “Mr. Prospect, if it was just you, and you didn’t need to confer with anyone else, would you buy?”(The prospect will almost always say yes.) Then ask, “Does this mean you’ll recommend our service to the others?” Get the prospect to endorse you and your service to the others, but don’t let him (or anyone) make your pitch for you. 2. Get on the prospect’s team. Begin to talk in terms of “we,” “us,” and “the team.” By getting on the prospect’s team, you can get the prospect on your side of the sale. 3. Arrange a meeting with all deciders. Do it any (ethical) way you have to. 4. Know the prime decider in advance. “Tell me a little bit about the others.” (Write down every characteristic.) Try to get the personality traits of the other deciders. 5. Make your entire presentation again. You only have to do this if you want to make the sale. Otherwise just leave it to the prospect. He thinks he can handle it on his own, and will try his best to convince you of that. If you think you can get around these five steps, think again. (It’s obvious you’re looking for shortcuts or you would have properly qualified the buyer in the first place.)