Closing the Deal

What’s your image of selling? Does Willy Lomax, Arthur Miller’s quietly desperate character in Death of a Salesman spring to mind?Perhaps you imagine a sharp-dresser with enthusiastic banter, who’s going to manipulate you into buying inappropriate products?  The truth is more mundane; we are all salespeople; persuading partners to agree to a holiday or cajoling kids to help round the house. Learning good sales techniques will simply help you work more effectively.

That image of the arm-twisting smooth talker is part and parcel of the myth, “a good salesperson can sell anything”. It’s utter rubbish; to sell successfully you must focus on what your customer wants and believe in your product. If you’ve done your market research, you already have some idea of what your editor might want. Your product is your writing, and you know that’s good. All you need to do is to sell it.

Believe in yourself – you can sell

Everyone loves buying from the best salespeople, but what makes them the best? Independence, creativity, imagination, intuition and empathy; responsible for their own success, they’re remunerated on a results basis. This means they need to be self-motivated and self-reliant. Sound like anyone you know?

 Still don’t think you can sell? Even top salespeople need to work on their self-confidence. Here’s how they do it.

Start a scrapbook, with images of what you would like to achieve, who you would like to be. What’s your ideal home? Mine is a remote cottage surrounded by mountains and sea. Paste in a newspaper headline  “Booker prize goes to….” On the cover of your scrapbook, write “all of this is already mine.” 

Have a clear picture of what you want, claims Bruce King in Psycho-selling: double your income from sales in 8 weeks, and your subconscious mind will make it happen for you. He calls this Psycho-dynamic Programming. It can work for you in other situations. Writer’s block? Imagine the perfect ending to your book coming to you in a dream. Picture your elation in the morning. Keep elaborating this mental picture, then go to sleep and see what happens.

You can programme yourself to have a positive mental attitude. Muhammad Ali told himself and everyone he met that he was the greatest, and guess what? That’s what he became. Don’t forget to praise yourself for what you’ve achieved so far – compile a personal record of success and pin it up where you can see it.

Finding your customer.

The first challenge for salespeople is finding prospective customers, or “prospects”. You’ve already identified yours – the features or commissioning editor. You have worked out what you think they would like to buy from you, and you’ve made an initial approach in writing. Unfortunately they have not rushed to the phone to commission you, so you’re going to have to phone them and sell them your idea.

In the sales business we refer to this as “cold calling.” Don’t worry, most salespeople hate doing it too. No one likes rejection, but remember it’s not you as a person who is being turned down. The best way to avoid “no” is never to try at all, give up writing professionally, and keep a diary instead. You’ve got a big advantage over the poor double-glazing tele-salesperson in that no one’s going to think you’re trying to sell something.

Speak to the buyer

You must speak to the person with the power to buy.  If you don’t know who that is, dial the switchboard, ask who is responsible for commissioning, and then hang up. Next time you ring ask for that person using their full name – e.g. John Smith.

Dealing with gatekeepers.

All telesales people have to deal with gatekeepers - receptionists, secretaries or editorial assistants, whose job it is to screen calls. Never antagonise them; they’re potential allies. You may have to talk to them several times, so if they form a positive impression of you, they’re more likely to help you get through. “When will they next be in? When is a good time to make contact?” If this fails because you’ve encountered a well-trained gatekeeper, then go round them. Phone when they’re unlikely to be there - at lunchtime or first thing in the morning.

Good telesales manner

Before you make your sales call, be prepared. Have copies of your synopses in front of you, as well as pen and paper. Once you get hold of the person you need to speak to, announce yourself in full – “this is Caroline Deacon”, clearly and confidently. You have to start by checking that it’s a convenient time to talk. Don’t worry if it’s not, immediately arrange a time to ring back, and next time you speak it will be pre-arranged, which is “warm” (as opposed to a “cold” call)

First impressions are really important in selling. Even though you can’t be seen, you are projecting an image, and the editor will (like all people) buy from someone who sounds like a winner.  It can even help if you look smart. Remember when you’ve felt underdressed for a social occasion? It knocks your confidence. Smile; it makes you sound positive. Standing up and using gestures will make you sound dynamic. Hang a mirror above the phone as a reminder if necessary.

Now that you sound good, make sure that what you say is clear, positive and concise. Hold the phone correctly; if it’s tucked under your chin you will sound muffled. State why you are calling “I’m ringing about the synopsis I sent you last month.” Even if you feel aggrieved that she hasn’t bothered to reply, stay polite and be ready to focus on her situation.  Don’t begin a long ramble which suggests “interrupt me if you dare”- that switches people off.

It’s incredible but true that people buy for emotional reasons, not logical ones. Your editor is going to buy from you because you sound good, she thinks she can trust you to deliver, and because you sell your idea. Forget any notion that editors plan out schedules calmly and logically; like everyone else in life they’re probably operating by the seat of the pants method, commissioning ideas last minute, and if you ring at the right time, it’ll be you that gets the work.

She will however know what she doesn’t want and have a good idea of what she might like. You need to find out what this is, and to do this you must listen. You have two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion. Good listening on the phone is not easy. You must focus, try to understand their situation, and take notes as necessary.  Minimal responses are useful to show that you are listening “umm… go on… yes”. Repeat what they say to show understanding and to clarify. The more understanding you demonstrate to your prospect, the more likely she’ll buy.

It is tempting in a sales situation to jump in.  Don’t. Avoid finishing people’s sentences for them and don’t jump to conclusions. No one likes to be ignored or interrupted. Be aware of these reasons for ineffective listening:

• Assuming you know what’s going to be said
• Planning what to say when its your turn

Overcoming objections.

Once you have reminded the editor about your proposal (remember she may have 200 a week, so you’ll need to spell it out again) there are two possible outcomes. Firstly she says, “ooh yes please” (unlikely) or she will give you an objection – a reason not to buy. Every salesperson encounters objections. That’s fine; you must view them as opportunities. It means your prospect is listening and is interested. Without objections, there is rarely interest.

You must acknowledge and accept objections, rather than arguing with or dismissing them. Sometimes they’re based on a misunderstanding, so all you need to do is to clarify. It is better to say something like, “Perhaps I did not make that clear, actually what I meant was….” rather than telling the editor “no that’s not right…”

Often you can minimise an objection by repeating it in your own words, perhaps in the form of a question.

“I’m not sure flagellation is right for our magazine.”

“You don’t think it is quite right…?” 

“Yes… we really need an article about….”

Bingo – she has told you what you need to offer instead.

Isolating the objection can also work.

“I don’t think readers would enjoy 5,000 words about robins’ nests.”

 “So you think robins’ nests are interesting, but perhaps they don’t merit 5,000 words?”

Again you’ve sold it – either she’ll tell you just how many words she does want, or she will go on

“Well not just robins’ nest – that’s a bit narrow”

 So you can offer to cover sparrows’ nests as well.

What about the “we’ll get back to you.” or “I’ll think it over…” objection?

“Of course you will need time to think it over. I understand. Just so I get it clear in my mind, which points exactly are you thinking over?”

She will then tell you her objection to your work, which you can then clarify. If she persists in “thinking it over” don’t worry, just ask how long she will need to think about it, and arrange to ring back the day after she has made her decision.

Buying signals

Look out for buying signals. She is imagining how the piece would work in her publication. Perhaps she starts asking . Good salespeople treat anything apart from a dial tone as a buying signal, but you may not yet feel brazen enough for that. Once you’ve got a buying signal – relax. You’re there. All you have to do now is:

Close the deal

This is where many would be super salesmen die just short of the finishing line. They don’t ask for the business. There is no real magic in closing – on its own it will not create a sale; everything else you’ve done during the call is just as important. However, closing is necessary because people dislike change, and not buying is easier than buying. Closing helps your prospect take that final step to doing what they were really going to do anyway.

Tried and tested methods of closing:

The step-by-step close. This leads your prospect little by little

“Is your email address……?”

“Yes”

“Do you like copy by email?”

“Yes”

All you need now is to confirm “I’ll send it to you by email by January 20th….. Thank you very much”

The either/or close.

“Do you want it for the January or February issue?”

 What can she answer, but to buy?

Doorknob close.

This one is fun; the close you do as you are being shown the metaphorical door.

“I understand that you’re not going to commission this, could you just tell me, for the record, what was wrong with my idea?”

She will then give you her objection, you can clear it up and then you’re back into a sale!

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of silence. Really crucial. When you’ve asked a closing question, shut up. If you don’t speak, she will, and if you have pitched your close correctly, it will feel easier for her to say yes than no.

It only remains to state the obvious, that you need to be sure to follow through and provide what you have promised!  Once you have a few sales under your belt it gets easier. The more work you have in the pipeline, the more confident you will get, and so the more people will want to buy from you. It’s therefore an excellent strategy to always have more synopses sitting on editors’ desks than you have time to write – which in sales talk means always have more leads than you can ever follow up.

Some books that may help:

Patrick Forsyth Successful Telephone Selling in a week Hodder & Stoughton £6.99 ISBN 0-340-73026-9 1998

Bruce King Psycho-selling BBC books. £12.99 ISBN 0-563-36770-9

© Caroline Deacon
– first appeared in Mslexia spring/summer 01