Separating The Men From the Boys

Tom got his first sales job 15 years ago in the Midwest. He would go door to door getting leads to sell heating and cooling systems. Then in the evening he would return with his senior salesman to present and close the deal. One evening Tom and John (the closer), a short skinny man called upon the home of the Clark's. They met with Mr & Mrs Clark and John gave his typical flawless presentation, at the end of which he asked for the order. Mrs Clark then left the room to make a pot of coffee and her husband an enormously tall and muscular man, explained that he didn't want to make a decision now and needed a few weeks to think it over. Tom thought John had lost his mind when he turned to him and said aloud “This is where we separate the men from the boys!” “What do you mean?” barked Mr Clark. Then John the closer turned to him and said “You may not like this Mr Clark but I believe a boy becomes a man, not at puberty, not at the legal age of 18, but when he is able to demonstrate his ability to make a decision when he has all the facts in front of him.” Mr Clark turned red and started trembling and walked out of the room without a word. Tom then tried to get John to make a beeline for the front door while they still had the chance, but the small man sat down and started filling out the sales contract. “What's the address here” he calmly asked Tom as if nothing had happened. Before Tom could answer, the hulk of a man came back into the room. “John” he said “I've thought about what you said and you're right. It's what we need and we're going to go ahead and place an order with your company.” He signed the contract, gave them a check and they thanked him for for the order. John walked out the door with a smile and a confused Tom right behind him. Have I ever tried this close? Well yes, but I was no where near as blunt to basically call a gigantic man a little boy because of his inability to decide in an instant. Decisions can be a very difficult thing for many people, but if you know they need your product or service it's up to you find out what's really keeping them from saying yes. Sometimes all you have to do is ask. While we are on the topic of decisions you might want to read or reread the chapter on decision in Napoleon Hill's, Think and Grow Rich. Here are a couple of quotes from the chapter. He states: “Analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure disclosed the fact that lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 31 major causes of failure.” and “People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have a habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.” Hill's book isn't a sales book but it will definitely get your mind more focused on your goals.