The Take Away
I like to ask questions on LinkedIn. It is amazing how many great responses I get! On of my recent questions read, "What lessons have you learned during your time in sales that have made the greatest impact on your life and/or your career?"
Melissa Goerke responded with a technique that I hadn't thought about using in a long time. When used properly, it can make a big impact on your closing ratios!
Melissa Goerke
Commercial Real Estate Manager, Speaker, and Fundraiser
Always remember that you have the cookie. I used to try so hard to sell people on my idea or product, but I found that my biggest successes came when I took away the "cookie". If I had a home buyer who was struggling with coming up in price on their offer I would say "you know what, this isn't the only house in town. Let this one go and we'll go out and find another one that you feel better about." 8 out of 10 times they would begin to argue their reasons for wanting this specific house and they would come up in price!
It also works with ideas. If you are trying to get a person or group to adopt one of your ideas at a meeting and you feel some resistance taking the idea away by saying "ah, maybe it's not such a great idea" can often lead to someone jumping in and arguing your idea for you. That one takes guts, but if you know you are right it's worth going for it.
In my current position, I have a very high end product and people often argue price with me. After a while I point out that they can certainly get a furnished office cheaper. At that point if they have not yet done their homework they will go out to find that cheaper office and become disappointed to find that they cannot replicate all we have to offer at a discount price. If they have done their homework they usually end up telling me that they don't want one of those "other" offices and then we begin more realistic negotiations.
In the end sales is about having guts and feeling strongly enough about your product to know that it is okay to let customers walk away.
Melissa Goerke is a Sales Manager for The Regus Group as well as a blogger, speaker and coach, and most importantly a wife and mother. Her greatest satisfaction comes from sharing her experience to help others achieve their personal best in all areas of their lives. Check out her blog at www.MelissaThinksOutLoud.com
When is it most appropriate and effective to use "The Take Away"?
When is it a mistake to use this technique?
Melissa Goerke responded with a technique that I hadn't thought about using in a long time. When used properly, it can make a big impact on your closing ratios!
Melissa Goerke
Commercial Real Estate Manager, Speaker, and Fundraiser
Always remember that you have the cookie. I used to try so hard to sell people on my idea or product, but I found that my biggest successes came when I took away the "cookie". If I had a home buyer who was struggling with coming up in price on their offer I would say "you know what, this isn't the only house in town. Let this one go and we'll go out and find another one that you feel better about." 8 out of 10 times they would begin to argue their reasons for wanting this specific house and they would come up in price!
It also works with ideas. If you are trying to get a person or group to adopt one of your ideas at a meeting and you feel some resistance taking the idea away by saying "ah, maybe it's not such a great idea" can often lead to someone jumping in and arguing your idea for you. That one takes guts, but if you know you are right it's worth going for it.
In my current position, I have a very high end product and people often argue price with me. After a while I point out that they can certainly get a furnished office cheaper. At that point if they have not yet done their homework they will go out to find that cheaper office and become disappointed to find that they cannot replicate all we have to offer at a discount price. If they have done their homework they usually end up telling me that they don't want one of those "other" offices and then we begin more realistic negotiations.
In the end sales is about having guts and feeling strongly enough about your product to know that it is okay to let customers walk away.
Melissa Goerke is a Sales Manager for The Regus Group as well as a blogger, speaker and coach, and most importantly a wife and mother. Her greatest satisfaction comes from sharing her experience to help others achieve their personal best in all areas of their lives. Check out her blog at www.MelissaThinksOutLoud.com
When is it most appropriate and effective to use "The Take Away"?
When is it a mistake to use this technique?
Way before many of you were born, we used to refer to it as "the puppy dog sale." We applied this concept to selling a new product, the color television. The same concept applies. People were in their homes watching mundane black and white television and we would knock on their door and offer them the chance to test our new color TV product for only three days. We would call them up on the third day and say we would be by to pick up their trial and thanked them for testing it. We were rarely allowed to take away this wonderful product. Cookie, puppy, color TV, a new Beamer, it is all the same. I bet you didn't know that there ever was black and white TV. We made a lot of money with that sales tactic. Thanks, Sandy
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Although this is a fantastic sales technique, you hit upon one key factor: You must be willing to walk away. So many sales people forget that there is a long line of prospects to be found and focus only on the one in front of them. When I was selling large construction equipment, I would have to deal with hagglers daily. The key is, if you are willing to walk away, they know your product is a premium and even if that deal doesn't happen, they will respect you more than the sales person who comes in and dropped their price by 20-30%. Not sticking to your guns normally results in mistrust. They feel that you were trying to swindle them in the first place or you wouldn't have gone in so high. I like that term "puppy dog sale", before my time, but a good term nonetheless.
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Rob, You are correct about being able to walk away. I if you carry that in your arsenal, they sense it and it makes them want to keep you there and figure out a reason to buy. It doesn't always work, but there is always another deal to be made. You just can't leave a puppy with someone to keep for just three days. You would have a fight on your hands taking that puppy back. The same law applied with the color TV. You closed the deal and then asked if any of the neighbors liked the color. They would say "Jim next door loved it" and I would say "I have another set in the truck, want to walk over with me and see if Jim would like to test out that TV?" It worked about 80% of the time. Good Selling....Sandy
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Great post Doyle.
I actually sent this to one of my customers and it led to us having a dialogue very much in line with the comments here.
We were both commenting on the fact that this skill really needs to be backed up by personal conviction, but also support and leadership - too many times I've witnessed sales managers go ballistic because a sales rep has had the audacity to take away an offer. In most cases the sales person had done the right thing, but the sales manager was a manager, not a leader, and unable to accept that the sales person had probably done the right thing.
I would suggest that this strategy will only work if backed by strong leadership and the right sales culture (again, a by-product of strong leadership)
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When I first started in Recruitment 12 years ago a guy I worked with introduced me to the 'Take Away'. This guy had supreme confidence in his own ability and knowing the situation and all the variables. He had a candidate that was looking for £500 a day and his client was only offering £450 this was in the Telecoms sector and the guy was a highly skilled Engineer. My colleague phoned up the candidate and without letting him speak told him that Ericsson had offered £450 per day and that he had turned it down for the Engineer. He then proceeded to tell him he would look for other opportunities and get back to him and put the phone down. He then said to me watch this almost immediately the phone rang and it was the engineer biting his hand off to take the contract. My colleague knew the guy was being greedy so put it in front of him and then took it away. 'beautiful'
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