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Sleaze Shallowman, the sleaziest worthless sponsor in MLM, says, “Macho closes aren’t for wimps. They are for fearless, sleazy, worthless sponsors who learned closing from door-to-door, used-car salesmen from the 1960s.”
Watch how Sleaze Shallowman hard-closes his prospects, John and Mary.
* * * * * *
John replied, “No Sleaze, I don’t think Mary and I would be interested.”
“Interested in what? I haven’t shown you my business opportunity yet.” Sleaze knew he had to act fast to salvage this appointment.
“Not interested in anything. Mary and I are happy with our jobs and really don’t want to complicate our lives.”
Sleaze was rising to the challenge. “John, I understand how you feel. I felt the same way when this wonderful opportunity was presented to me. However, I considered myself open-minded, so I took 15 minutes to check it out. You do consider yourself open-minded, don’t you?” (The classic feel, felt, found objection killer.)
“Of course I’m open-minded, Sleaze, but I just don’t want to get involved with anything right now. Why not try the Jones or the Smiths down the street?”
“John, that’s just the reason I want to talk to you now. Because you know people like the Jones and Smiths, you need to investigate this opportunity TODAY!” (The sharp angle close.) Boy, what a comeback, thought Sleaze. Sleaze sprained his arm patting himself on the back.
“Sorry, Sleaze. No can do. Mary and I are leaving for our son’s Little League game and you’ll just have to take your opportunity elsewhere.”
“What I am hearing you say is: ‘The opportunity may be interesting, but we can’t fit it in right now.’ Is that right, John?” (The re-framing objection technique.)
“No, Sleaze. Don’t twist my words. What you are hearing me say is: ‘No. That’s final. I’m leaving for my son’s game.'”
“John, the fact that your son’s game is important to you is the very reason you need this opportunity. You do love your family, don’t you?” (The famous Sleaze boomerang close.)
“Listen, Sleaze. You are a jerk. I don’t have time to stand around and argue. Get lost.”
“Okay, John. No problem. Guess I shouldn’t have pushed so hard to show you this opportunity. It’s just that as soon as I came across this opportunity, all I could think of was how it could help you and your family. I know it’s important for your family, but I didn’t mean to be insensitive, especially since you’re in a rush. Tell you what. Let me come back when I won’t be interfering with your son’s game. Would Tuesday at 6PM or Wednesday at 8PM be better?” (Alternate choice close.)
“Sleaze, try enrolling in the School for the Hearing Disabled. Not only do I not want your opportunity, I don’t even want to be associated with you. Got the message?”
“John, I’ll be glad to step aside for you and Mary’s benefit. Maybe I didn’t go about it the right way. I’m sorry if I offended you. But John, please don’t confuse the message with the messenger. Let me leave this information package behind that explains the business opportunity and you can evaluate it on your own time – when I’m not around.”
“If taking the information package gets rid of you, give me the information package.”
“John, I’ll be by Thursday of next week to pick up and discuss the information package.”
“Sleaze, don’t bother picking it up. I’ll mail it to you. Our family is busy on Thursday.”
“Sure John, I understand. When would you be mailing the information package back?”
“I’ll drop it at the post office on my way home on Wednesday.”
“Because of all the trouble I’ve caused you John, let me save you a few dollars’ postage. I’ll meet you at the post office on Wednesday night. You can just give me the information package and I can answer any questions you have at the same time. Fair enough?”
* * * * * *
This is ugly. And, this is how some prospects see us as network marketers. Pushy, only worried about our agenda, and practitioners of stupid closing techniques that were taught 50 years ago.
Network marketers fear closing because it has such a terrible reputation. And with people like Sleaze Shallowman, network marketers avoid closing because we don’t want to repeat his mistakes.
Fortunately, times change. In the last 50 years we have learned more about how the human mind makes decisions. Today, network marketers can use better closing techniques that are non-offensive and non-embarrassing. And now we know that we have been closing our prospects at the wrong time. That helps.
The bottom line? Closing prospects can be fun. We can close prospects under the radar with no rejection. How good is that?
We know this instinctively. That is why we cringe every time we hear some of these objection-handling techniques. So if we are going to do network marketing for a living, now is the time to learn the exact closing skills we need to be effective in today’s world. The penalty for not doing this is sounding like Sleaze Shallowman.
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Pre-Closing for Network Marketing
Instead of selling to customers with facts, features and benefits, let’s talk to prospects in a way they like. We can now get that “yes” decision first, so the rest of our presentation will be easy.
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