"If You Can't Close, You Can't Sell"

Since my first workday as "The Closing Machine" is right around the corner, I spent tonight reading a book that I've had on my shelf for awhile, Secrets of Closing Sales by Charles B. Roth and Roy Alexander. I only got through about 50 pages so far, but I underlined some of the passages that popped out at me. Nothing groundbreaking or earth-shattering so far, but I think it was a worthwhile read if only to get me in the right frame of mind.

All you have to do is to circulate, see the people, tell your story, be pleasant-and always be in there trying to close the sale.

Learn how to close and the world is yours.

You must earn the right to ask for the order! But then you must ask!

The close is everything.

Closing is the pinnacle of selling achievement...It's a science you can learn.

The close is the simplest, most obvious step of the sale.

You must be willing to miss in order to hit.

The top secret of closing: be willng to try to close all sales.

The plain truth: a salesperson who cannot go out and close sales (which seldom close themselves), who cannot make up customers' minds for them, who cannot overcome their procrastination, and who cannot bring in orders isn't a salesperson at all. He or she is a business visitor or a conversationalist.

Great closers always try one more time to close.

There's one other essential you need: the desire to close-a desire so strong everything in your life is insignificant in comparison.

High aim is what breaks sales records.

Winners are clearly defined, risk takers reap huge rewards, success requires grit and perseverance.

Never say no to a customer. Everything is negotiable.

Know your competitor's product better than you competitor does.

Think it through...work up the courage. You'll usually find a way.

There is nothing wrong in using a little pressure. Often it works.

Think, live, and act closing each hour of the day. Soon closing will be part of your persona and part of your life.

Try early. Don't be afraid to be turned down.

If you want success, copy from success.

There's more to closing sales than showing wares.

Expect success from morning till day-end.

Communicate by everything you do or say that you will close every sale.

Big Changes

I realize that in order for me to truly become a "Closing Machine," I need to make some significant lifestyle changes. There are only 20 business days left in March, which is not much time at all in the sales game. I'm going to need to do a few things, fast.

During work hours:

During 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday I need to resolve to cut out a few of my bad habits:

• No more eating out for lunch.

It's costing me too much money. Money that I am not making up for with sales. If I'm going to eat out everyday I'm going to have to earn. I can't reward myself each day for something I do not deserve.

• Get off my ass and make more cold calls.

Too often has the weather or any number of other excuses stopped me from completing as many cold calls as I know I can. I'm making a commitment to get at least 60 business cards a day, and cold call after 5pm a minimum of one day a week.

• Cut down on driving time.

My territory is huge and I put a considerable number of miles on my car. I'm averaging about 3000 miles a month traveling between 3 cities, each about an hour apart from each other. I need to stay in one area each day without exception. I can't afford the gas and I'm running my new car into the ground already.

• Be more productive with my time while I'm in the car.

Music, talk radio, and the like are not helping me become a better salesperson. For the significant amount of time each day that I am in the car I need to be listening to sales and business-related audio books. I've listened in the past and they really pumped me up. I don't know why I stopped, but as of right now that is the only thing that I will allow to come out of the car speakers.

After work hours:

I can't stop working even after 5pm, and the following steps should help me in life no matter what I'm doing:

• Get organized.

My office is a mess of papers and business cards scattered around. If I had to find something in a pinch I'd be out of luck. I write notes and important pieces of information on scrap papers which easily get lost in the shuffle. I have several leather daily planners which I haven't even opened up. Each day I am going to commit myself to writing a To-Do List. I need to keep my office clean so that I actually want to spend time in there.

• Exercise.

In several of the previous jobs I held I expended a great deal of physical energy each day. At least with my current job I still get out and move about as part of job, but it's definitely not enough. I figure that forcing myself to do both weight training and aerobics each day with only help me have more energy during the sometimes long workday. If I'm truly going to become "The Closing Machine," I need to look the part.

• No TV.

Like most people probably do, I waste too much time watching pointless crap on TV. It's not helping me in any way other than killing time that I can never get back. From now on I will only watch the television if I am doing something productive, like exercising, at the same time. And only then will I limit myself to 1 hour day at the max.

• Read more.

I have a huge assortment of books on selling that have been collecting dust ever since I bought them. Every time I started to read sales books in the past it always encouraged and motivated me. The pressures of the job and dread of reading a long book have kept me away from them when I needed to read them most. I'm going to set aside at least one hour each day to read, and make myself realize that I am only becoming a better person for it.

"The Closing Machine"

From this moment forward I am no longer John. I am John, "The Closing Machine."

I need to close some deals and make some money - and plain old 'John' just wasn't making the cut. My activity levels were decent (with room for major improvement) in most areas of the sales process - the phones, cold calling, prospecting, appointments, etc - but no matter how many proposals I presented, I wasn't closing anything. The clients would just sit on the quote for weeks without making any decision, or just end up doing business elsewhere at the last moment - even after an appointment to sign paperwork had been set. The old John was great at showing businesses that they had a need for his product, but just couldn't close any of them himself.

John "The Closing Machine" needs to have a different attitude. He needs to stop being such a "nice" guy to decision makers (because we know what place nice guys finish). He needs to bump up his activity levels and hit the streets harder. He needs to recoup some of his $56,000 revenue deficit from the first two months of the year and have an awesome March.

I know I can be a great salesman. And I see the potential for earning lots of money where I'm at. But I need to have a total attitude adjustment and start closing some deals real soon or I will most likely be out of a job.

This purpose of this site is to document what steps I'm taking to close some deals. I have several hot prospects already this month that I know are closeable. I also need to find new business so that April and beyond will be successful too. I will be posting any relevant tips and information on closing that I come across in books and on the web on the site as well.

I'd appreciate any advice and support. Please leave comments or email me at closingmachine@gmail.com.