Baseline Selling
How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know About the Game of Baseball
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Rule of Triple Elimination
When a prospect says she wishes to think it over, use my Rule of Triple Elimination and make the following three assumptions:
Prospect: I’ll need to think about this.
You: Obviously, I failed to convince you that this was the best solution for your problem.
Prospect: No, quite the contrary. I think this is a very appropriate solution.
You: Then I must have misunderstood your budget.
Prospect: No, this was well within our budget.
You: Well, if it’s an appropriate solution and it doesn’t stretch your budget, the only thing left is me. You must not be comfortable with me.
Prospect: Actually, I like you a lot.
You: Well I don’t get it. If you like me, like the solution and it didn’t stretch your budget, why aren’t you letting me help you?
The Rule of Triple Elimination gives you three opportunities to eliminate the indecision. It also prompts your prospect to say aloud that she likes the solution, price, and you. Hopefully, that’s all she’ll need to do in order to realize that there isn’t anything left to think about. Do you remember the Habit Quotient from chapter 9? If your prospect has a Habit Quotient of two, the second attempt should be enough to get her closed. But what if your prospect’s Habit Quotient is three? We continue.
You: It sounds like there isn’t anything we can do to get this wrapped up today.
Prospect: That’s right. I always need to think about it.
You: I understand. It’s a habit.
Prospect: That’s right.
You: Can you explain what you do when you think it over?
Prospect: I’ll review your proposal and make a decision.
You: Can we compromise?
Prospect: Perhaps.
You: What if I go outside while you think it over and you can call me back in when you’re ready?
Those of you with need for approval are already getting uncomfortable, because you are scared that your prospect will become upset with you. I explained in chapter 3 how to overcome that, and you can’t let it get in the way now.
Those of you with a tendency to think things over will also feel uncomfortable. You will empathize with the prospect and fail to understand how thinking it over will be a problem for you.
What happens if the third attempt fails to get your prospect closed? What if her Habit Quotient is four? Ask your prospect the following: "I have a question. We both know that you need my help. Let’s just pretend for a minute that you had actually said yes to me today. What is it about saying yes that would have scared you?"
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About the Book
Baseline Selling - How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know About the Game of Baseball, will dramatically change the way we approach the sales process, replacing the gratuitous complexity advocated by today’s sales “experts” with an elegant and very effective simplicity.
Studies have shown that the selling techniques of the last two decades have had very little impact on most of the sales population—less than 75 percent of all salespeople, to be exact. Why? Because of the complexity, learning curve and difficulty in applying the concepts in these systems.
In response to the urgent need for a flexible, innovative process that will enable people to grasp the essential skills necessary to close a sale in any situation, Baseline Selling reemphasizes the fundamentals of selling in a fresh, memorable way that modern sales professionals can relate to and utilize, and above all, one that complements and enriches advanced sales methodologies.
Salespeople who read this book and put its wisdom to work will succeed at acquiring more opportunities as they learn to get appointments more easily. They will excel at creating opportunities with prospects who are “not interested”. They’ll sell at higher margins by using the “Rule of Ratios”. Their closing percentages will improve dramatically as they implement the simple Inoffensive Close”. Salespeople selling commodities, struggling to differentiate themselves, will love “Commodity Busters” and every salesperson will be able to shorten their sell cycle by “Taking a Lead”. Quite simply, Baseline Selling introduces a way for salespeople to visualize and touch all the “sales bases” without over-complicating the process.
About the Author
Dave Kurlan is the founder of the Objective Management Group, Inc., the leading developer of sales assessment tools, headquartered in
A regularly featured Conference attraction, Dave was a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine’s Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference, and DCI’s Sales Management Conference. Internationally known for his groundbreaking work in evaluating sales people, he is the developer of The Dave Kurlan Sales Force Profile, a tool for evaluating the people, systems and strategies in sales organizations. Dave is the co-developer of Sales mind, software that helps salespeople overcome their weaknesses, and SalesTrack, an accountability application for sales managers. He has been featured on radio, television and in print, including Inc. Magazine, Selling Power, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He has written two books on sales: Mindless Selling and his newest book, Baseline Selling - How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He has written STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring strong salespeople and he is the author of Understanding the Sales Force, a popular web log (BLOG). He is featured on Inc. Magazine’s video How to Increase Sales and Profits by 1000%.