A couple weeks ago, I got a message from copywriter Theo Seeds about my new 10 Commandments book (“thought it was excellent”).
Theo shared a real-life sales story related to one of the commandments in the book, Commandment IX:
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I have a story you might find interesting about “committing to the bit.” When I was 18 I spent a summer selling pest control door to door in New Jersey for a company called Aptive. When I first got there, one of the VP’s of Sales of the company, Kyle Neilsen, was in Jersey doing trainings for the salespeople who had been there a few weeks already.
Here’s one thing he said. “I love when I see a house with anthills in the yard. What I do is I knock on the door, and then as soon as they answer, I say ‘lemme show you something,’ make a ‘come with me’ motion with my hand, and then turn around and start walking towards the anthills. Either they follow me outside and I make the sale, or they don’t follow me outside and I just keep walking towards the next house.”
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Persuasion wizard Dean Jackson calls this filtering for “cooperative and friendly” prospects. It’s one of the five stars of Dean’s “five star prospects” classification.
About those five-star prospects, Dean says:
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Nothing you do will turn someone into one if they’re not already. You can’t create them. You can only DISCOVER them. The only difference is… some prospects are ready right away while others need more time to show their “true feathers.” And that’s where your record-keeping helps.
Once you get into this mindset, this understanding that you can’t turn someone into a 5-star prospect… That gives you freedom and takes away all the stress. You don’t have to spend all your energy convincing someone in the hope they convert anymore. All you need to do is patiently educate and motivate them regularly…
… and wait till they become ready to take the next step.
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If what Dean says makes sense to you, I have something to show you. Come with me: