chapter 29 reasons and excuses for buying sell on the tangible close on the intangible in overcoming objections it is often necessary to offer the tangible as the reason for buying but emphasize the intangible as the excuse for buying for example you might be selling a beautiful lot on a lake an outstanding retirement home or even one of the vacation packages known as a time share each one of them definitely offers something tangible which prospective buyers can put their hands on or sink their teeth into however if the lot on the lake or Golf Course is typical it will sell for many thousands of dollars from a purely logical point of view to spend that many dollars on a parcel of land which is restricted to put it kindly is not really the logical thing to do the lot is tangible so there's the reason for buying but if you're going to get the sale you need to switch it to the intangible so they also have an excuse for buying example in addition to your own beautiful lot Mr Prospect you're getting this marvelous Springfed Lake which is well stocked with face and bream you have the full-time use of the golf course as well as the peaceful nature trails to either walk or cycle on as your wishes dictate perhaps best of all is the fact that you have the quiet Serenity of being in an area with people who also desire the quietness of a semi-isolated area such as this the restfulness and activity at your pace away from the heat smog noise congestion and confusion which you encounter in the city will add joy peace and relaxing fun to your life the deserve it close you have now taken it from the tangible and moved it into the intangible more appropriately you have taken a tangible base the property itself and given the prospect what they really want in the package you've given them a reason for buying beautiful Lake lot real property and an excuse for buying gracious living less stress it's Etc you closed the sale by saying all of your life Mr Prospect you have worked and put much into the world and into the future don't you think you now deserve to start enjoying some of the fruits of all those years of Labor and effort you owe it to yourself to do this if I'm reading your wife correctly she is giving her permission I'm certainly giving my permission all that's necessary is for you to give yourself permission to enjoy what you've worked for all of your life what about it Mr Prospect you do like the property and you do enjoy both golfing and fishing don't you can you really think of any reason you should deny yourself the realization of this dream that you've worked for all of your life remember they're scared as you talk with your prospect whether they're buying the lot on the lake the retirement home the time share or anything else you need to remember four basic things first they need the reassurance that it's all right for them to take the step that what they're buying is fairly priced that you represent a legitimate organization and that your integrity is solid the second thing you need to remember is that every Prospect almost regardless of what they're buying in an area which could be defined as non-essential or even luxury has the haunting fear that they're paying an inflated price and what they're getting is not worth the asking price you can partially put their fears to rest by having solid evidence of comparative pricing But ultimately their fears will be put to rest primarily because of their confidence in you as a person you are the bridge over which the prospect must cross if they are to move from fearful Prospect to confident fire number three you must remember that your prospect sense of fairness is involved you are the expert they are the innocent lamb perhaps they have been taken advantage of in the past and they certainly do not want it to happen again number four you must remember your prospect is not only buying for themselves but also is buying with other people in mind they're concerned about what what others will think this is true regardless of the image they attempt to project they're concerned about what their family friends fellow employees and neighbors think that's one of the reasons little phrases like you will be the Envy of the neighborhood your family will be proud of you for making this move and your fellow workers will be delighted to see you're finally going to give yourself a treat are so effective just remember that there will be some who will kid them about the purchase and you need to arm them with things to say or you might end up with a cancellation remember Prospect buys future enjoyment to tie these things down just remember the prospect does not buy what the product is they buy the future enjoyment of what you're selling regardless of the product remember also that they don't buy the house on the lot they buy the shade of the trees in the yard the warmth of the fireplace in the cold winter months they buy the coldness of the evening on the lake the exhilaration of the downhill skiing experience with their family the joy of their motorboat on the lake the luxury of the dip in the heated pool again all of these are the intangibles made possible by the tangible property that they're buying a team of professionals the morning before I spoke at one of AO Smith harvestor national conventions I had the privilege of spending several hours with one of the real Professionals in the world of selling Carl K Clayton I had previously spent time with him in our born to win seminar but that morning I learned a new side of Carl as he shared all the exciting information about their Harvest door structure and what it did for the farmer it actually is a system which farmers use as a storage unit but which has some decided advantages over The oldfashioned Silo this unit enables the farmer to store the grain before it is completely dried the farmer gathers the grain from the field when the moisture content is 25 to 30% they load the structure with grain from the top of the Harvester unit the unit has a pair of lungs at the top this simply means that during expansion and contraction all the air is out of the unit and the farmer is able to dramatically reduce spoilage with the moisture in the grain the livestock will eat less grain which they are able to digest more completely this saves from 10 to 15% on the grain while increasing the meat productivity 10 to 15% it truly is a remarkable concept which is a big Dollar Saver for the farmer the reason excuse close another tremendous benefit to the farmer is the fact that by using this system they do not have to bail their hay they simply gather it and put it into this harvestore system I mention only one of their products the farmer knows that having to bail hay has run more young men off the farm than any other single reason in the presentation to the farmer the harvestor salesperson can give them some exciting data number one on the average the unit will pay for itself and reduce losses and increased productivity in 7 years or less number two the farmer has to work considerably less with the harvestor system than with other systems whereby the farmer has to bail the hay or gather the grain after it has dried out or have it artificially dried which is expensive and causes shrinkage to sum it up they're able to sell the unit because the reason they give the farmer which they give to their Banker for the necessary financing is that the unit literally is coste effective and will save all that money Mone the reason the farmer uses is the financial one Carl told me the real excuse most Farmers by is they've talked to harvestor customers who testify that the work saved gives them more free time and they can even take vacations best of all the children they are raising will be far more likely to stay on the farm because it makes for a much easier and more modern operation as I say give a person a reason for buying and they might buy give them an excuse for buying and they might buy give them a a reason and an excuse for buying then make it easy for them to buy and chances are substantially increased they will buy the tough as are the teachers over the years I suppose I have spent as much time on a sales call as most salespeople it's not that I'm stubborn or hard-headed though I confess to a degree of that nor is it entirely due to the fact I'm that persistent though I'm guilty of that too it's not because I'm so competitive that I just hate to miss a sale though the redhead would agree with that particular statement there is at least one other reason I have stayed on some calls as long as I have and that simply is because the tougher the prospect the better the teacher the more objections they give me which I overcome the better able I am to handle the next sales interview the more roadblocks that are placed in front of me the sharper I hone my skills I feel this firing line training has enabled me to uncover some great sales truths which I now share with you I needed lots of teaching from the the toughest in order to be able to write this book you too need lots of teaching from the toughest if you are to grow and mature into the kind of salesperson you are capable of being Howard banel points out that often a prospect will start with an adamant I won't even consider it rejection however their next objection is weaker and subsequent objections grow progressively weaker when the salesperson senses the prospect's will is weakening they are encouraged and their own resolve grows stronger I want to say again that I'm not talking about winning a contest and imposing the salesperson's will or merchandise upon the prospect I established in the beginning that the professional really believes they render a service and do the prospect a favor when they sell in my own case I can emphatically state that the major reason I made every legitimate effort to sell anybody anything was because I sincerely felt I was morally obligated to sell the prospect a product which was good for them there is one specific point however when I throw in the towel and withdraw my efforts to close that point is when the prospect makes it clear after seeing the benefits that they have no interest and cannot or will not buy until that point I am going to make an honest effort to close the sale as I've already indicated I do this with Pleasant persuasiveness which I will deal with again later on in the book as you move into the additional closes which I share with you do so in a natural manner the close is part of the process just as the hands and arms are a part of you you should move into the clothes smoothly naturally and above all else without any hesitation you do this as you attempt to impart a sense of urgency for Action Now on the part of the prospect with that in mind we attempt to so thoroughly cover these areas of selling throughout this book that think it over is change to sign me [Music] up