[ S a l e s F r e a k s ]

Chapter 1 Differences
Chapter 2 Tonality in Sales
Chapter 3 Changing Your State of Mind
Chapter 4 Ten Steps to Sales and Business Success
Chapter 5 Prove You Are a Salesman
Chapter 6 No More Information...Please
Chapter 7 Charting Success
Chapter 8 NLP
Chapter 9 Bad Language
Chapter 10 The Science Behind Persuasion
Chapter 11 Power Statements
Chapter 12 Sales Framing
Chapter 13 Tie-Downs the Salesfreaks Way
Chapter 14 Closing More
Chapter 15 Involvement Questions
Chapter 16 Pitch to Whom?
Chapter 17 Objections
Chapter 18 Who Cares What People Think?
Chapter 19 Sales Training Points
Chapter 20 Loading
Chapter 21 Follow-Ups
Chapter 22 Really AIDA?
Chapter 23 Planning to Prep
Chapter 24 Rebuttals
Chapter 25 Freakish Closing Types
Chapter 26 Sample Pitches
Chapter 27 Managing Success Management
Copyright 2013 Salesfreaks
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Page 3
Ch a p t e r 1
Di f f e r e nc e s
Page 4 Page 5 Page 5
Difference that Creates a Difference:
What really will make a difference that can change a difference, and what does it all mean? I ask myself
these questions daily. And my answer is, It is what you choose to see and do with your resources and
your experience of life.
Now, when I rst began my journey into the realm of sales success, I had no idea of what to expect.
I found myself questioning everything everyone said or did. I questioned how things were done. I
questioned the answers to my questions. I came up with excuses about myself or my environment. I
made my life what it was at the time: misery. I never stepped back to think how it might have been
if I did things differently.
I often wondered how it would feel to wake up as a Bill Gates one day. If I worked hard enough, could
I be like him and have that money and power and wisdom? The answer is fairly simple. If he did it,
then so can I! I mean, why not, right? I worked so hard to attain very little in return and was amazed
at how others got exactly what they set out to get. Watching others work poorly and for just a few
hours a day drives me, though. I know the greats never had that mentality. I know they worked smart
and hard at the same time. I want to follow in the footsteps of those who have more than I have. I
want to follow and then lead! The only setback in my thinking was: where do I start?
I know I had much to learn and much to accomplish, so I asked myself some encouraging and dis-
couraging questions:
Have you given up all of your excuses yet?
Did you learn to conquer your past demons?
Are you focusing on the benefts of any given situation?
Are you using your daily habits as a learning experience to create new habits?
If not, why not? Start taking action now!
I needed to stop settling for what others believe for me! I needed a plan such as a business has. A
life pro-forma. I started to read every book I could that deals with my career. I began to think and act
like I was already there. Nothing was too good for me any longer! Autobiographies and biographies
became my new language and habits for transformation. Steve Jobs, Sam Walton, Anthony Robbins,
Steven Covey, and many more were assets to acquire knowledge from. I mean, they were some of the
most successful people in their realms, were they not? I couldnt do exactly everything they did, but
I could take from them what would work for me.
I started to take blurbs from Anthony Robbins to push me towards my goals. He is an extraordinary
Page 5

Harrison Ford
was told he
was no good
and that he
should quit...
Page 5
individual who can accomplish ultimate feats. I knew that with
his inuence, the rest would be easy. If someone ran a mile in
four minutes, so could I! If someone built a billion dollar com-
pany, then so could I...or anyone else, for that matter. There
are a few people who have done it already. I wanted to have
the enterprise because, although the money would be a facet
I would adore, the power of creating my dream and running a
billion dollar company would mean so much more. The feeling
of winning at gambling is why people do it and why it is so ad-
dicting. Growth was and is a drug to me. The accomplishment
of building a model from scratch and providing others with the
opportunity to succeed was my drug. My buddy Curtis always
uses the famous quote, Help enough people get what they
want, and Mike, you get what you want!
Moving forward, we will discuss in more detail what we mean by walking the steps in the sand as some
have. Warren Buffet followed steps similar to the Rockefellers and look at him now. Harrison Ford
was told he was no good and that he should quit...but look at him now! It took Edison thousands of
tries to invent a light bulb that worked. How many times have you tried to be successful? How many
studies have you conducted on yourself and your inaction? Where could you be today if you had tried
yesterday?
To become a great salesperson you must accept who you are and what you are to become. There are
various phases of the sales process and the salespersons development. To become aware of this pro-
cess we rst need to explain what makes a really skilled closer. Ever since I began using the term closer
for a salesperson, people have asked me why. When one CEO I worked for asked me that question, I
responded honestly, That is what they are. Salespeople are just what you call them. What makes a
closer different?
Many people do not realize their potential or what they really want from life. Others forget their mean-
ing and lose their edge in life due to surrounding circumstances. I know a young individual who believes
he must become what his friends believe to be cool. Nothing ever adds up and this person wonders
why he is not successful. Who cares what other people think? I respect everyone who is abnormal and
not afraid to be different for themselves or for a subculture. I believe we all have innate enthusiasm
and abilities to become anything we want, even though outside forces tend to control our ways like po-
lice. Dont do that. You are gay if you do that. You dress in a suit why? You sound like a salesman,
you sound stupid. Adults are like stupid children! Why do we always tear down awesome thought
patterns?
Page 7 Page 7

Success is
not a 9-to-5
occupation.
Page 6
When I ask people to dress well for work they wont dress up too much because they dont want to
be made fun of. But go to a wedding or expensive restaurant and I guarantee no one will make fun of
you for being well dressed; it would be the other way around, wouldnt it? Why do you think that is?
It is called dressing the part. Since you do not lay concrete or deliver pizza, dont you believe you are
worth a million dollars as owner of your own business? Dress as you believe you are worth. Even more
importantly, you only feel as good as you look. Your motivation comes from your environment, the one
you build. If you believe you work in a huge motivational-entrepreneurial environment, it will become
that. Act as if you work at Wal-Mart and that will become your reality, too.
What drives you? What makes you wake up at 6am to go for a run? Then to work at 8am or 9am?
What drives you to work hard all day? If you say you love your job, you will. If you say, oh shoot I have
to work, then work will just be work; and no one likes to work. I have many ambitions and people
tell me I do too much.lol, why? Because they do too little or enjoy drinking and killing brain cells
instead of building a future? I pursue my career because it is not work to me but enjoyment. I enjoy
building things, ghting, running, singing, writing poetry and music, reading and learning and doing.
I enjoy tons of things and I usually do not stop doing them until 11 or 12pm. They are not work to me
if I enjoy them. Hey, if you enjoy spending all your time drinking and sitting at a bar with a bunch of
good-hearted people, then do it, you are on your own.
My drive is to build a huge company we all can prosper with and not skate by on. Careers are built upon
hard work. Look at Pixar. That company started with an idea of 3D imaging software for computers,
then expanded into animation and revolutionized movies, studios, cartoons and lm as well as satellite
imaging, believe it or not! It has gone from losing a million a year to what it is today. My point is that
anything can be done if you are creative and learn to visualize. Even stones have uses. They are hard to
move, but someone did and built the pyramids, didnt they?
Everyone wants success, but very few chase it. Success is not
a 9-to-5 occupation.
Write down your beliefs and desires and make sure they are
real. Again I ask, what drives you?
Page 7 Page 7
The vision
was not
about the
way that they
did business,
but rather
how to bring
them the
business. I
wanted it all
and knew
how to get it.

Who Am I?
In 2001, I entered the health insurance arena. Now you have to understand
that this is a 700+ billion dollar industry. There are countless companies,
almost 927 of which are agencies, plus insurers. The top insurer is United
Healthcare, with over 32 million customers on their books. Now this is a
residual business, which is the main reason I had moved into it. You see,
coming from a background in import-export and commodities trading, I saw
a huge opportunity.
The opportunity wasnt in becoming an agent, or selling out of my homes
second bedroom. It was to become something bigger, something better. Af-
ter I obtained my insurance license, which only took completing a very simple
40-hour course, my eyes started to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until
they bled with enthusiasm. See, I had noticed a lot of insurance brokers
driving around in their upscale cars, their Mercedes Benzes in Boca Raton,
Florida, and knew I wanted a piece of that pie.
Then I saw others with even more, and I always wondered who they were
and what they did. I gured out that they were the owners, the bigwigs. They
were the owners of small to big rms and the agencies selling the products.
Now these agencies acquired so many customers that they built up this huge
residual the size of the nut that squirrel was after in the movie Ice Age.
This residual was money that they just woke up to every morning! Did they
work for it before? Absolutely they didbut the opportunity was grand. You
see, I had a different vision. The vision was not about the way that they did
business, but rather how to bring them the business. I wanted it all and knew
how to get it.
I spoke to a couple colleagues of mine about GAs (general agents) and MGAs
(managing general agents). I explained to them that there was a bigger op-
portunity than just to have myself in one little room, selling $50-$70 thou-
sand a week annualized volume. Instead, we could have 10, 15, 20, even
hundreds of licensed individuals at one location. It would be just like a stock
brokerage rm in the movie Wall Street, a commodities rm like The Dukes
had, or even a trading frm. Here is something that you can watch, that you
can manage, and even provide the leads. You can provide information and
technology, too that they can use to expand their business and their reve-
Page 8 Page 9 Page 9
nue. So when I saw these individuals dressed in their beautiful Armani suits, driving Maseratis and 7
Series BMWs, I knew that opportunity was bigger than anything I ever dreamed of.
There are no gimmicks to becoming a professional. Theres no place for failing to do the right thing.
Health insurance has been big business since 1929. It is real. It gets free advertising in the news. And
the best part is that President Obama has made it mandatory. People will be penalized for not having
health insurance. Right now 15% of the U.S. population, or more than 46 million individuals, lack
health insurance. And the percentage of people in North America who have private insurance is only
58%. But our market is going to be 100%. Companies are downsizing, the economy is taking a dif-
ferent direction. We are undergoing rapid change.
My background is based in this and much more! I have aided in taking companies public and increas-
ing sales by percentages that can be proven. One of our agencies went from 0 health insurance deals
to over 400 sold in a single day. This had nothing to do with luck, as you will learn as you read on. I
put my staffs through rigorous training and presentations. We created procedures that were ahead of
our time to be the best. After you nish reading about our ways, you, too, will be as much of a sales
assassin as we were and are.
Differences that Make a Huge Difference
The Salespeople
These are the individuals who do just enough to get by. In my opinion, they were the 80% of all my
sales forces from the 80-20 rule: 80% of the staff the salespeople did 20% of the business,
while the other 20% my closers did 80% of the business. They lack the drive to move forward,
listen, learn and motivate themselves. Salespersons refuse to admit they are not as good as others, so
they build a wall and become job hoppers in the complaints department. Salespeople are the guilty
ones who quietly weaken the entire sales force. Fortunately, they can be changed and reformed by
taking them back to high school level and making them realize that sales is like computer technology:
it is ever adapting and evolving! Either you keep up with the pack, or you tell old war stories of what
it was like when milk was 5 cents delivered to your doorstep. Be wary of this type because, just like
the blue crabs in a bucket, they will pull you down with them if you try to climb the ladder of success.
As soon as you hear the words, I am number one, run for the hills!
Page 9 Page 9
They
can lead
them-
selves but
still ben-
et from
that man-
ager of
minds.

The Salesfreaks Closers

These are the warriors of the force. They want the world and need more all
the time. You do not have to push or drive them. Add a little incentive and
they become even better. They drive sales and are willing to learn and adapt
to new technology, habits and ideas. They never act as if they know more
than their leader, even though they might! They can lead themselves but still
benet from that manager of minds. They know the rats who lurk among
them waiting to strike with negativity, but swat them away with positive in-
uence and enthusiasm. They tell you that they have major things to do and
people to see, hands to shake and money to make. 20% of their production
is talent and 80% is drive! I admire these characters; they make up 100% of
my force. Remember that they might not always be the best sales associates
you have, but will outwork the excuse dogs among the salespeople.
There are many more differences between these two types of sale associate,
which we will explore further in the chapters ahead.
I have several top closers who have been with me for years because of their
good t. We have that relationship of understanding and a burning desire to
get more from life. Another salesperson who has been with me for years has
the makings of a closer, although he is victim of the Pygmalion effect outside
of work.
We will discuss this in detail later on; in brief it means, you are what you eat,
who you hang out with and who you follow. If you grow up in the city you
are considered a city boy/gal; if youre from the country then you are labeled
a country boy/gal. If you hang out with a group/clich, you are just that. Rich
or poor, good or evil. Realize that your environment runs your life. This is
how you develop your sales force and how you develop your salespeople into
closers! Change the way you act and think and the people you hang around
with, and become a changed person! Do not tell me a tiger does not lose its
stripes. Oh yes, it does, because it sheds every spring and grows a new coat.
Place a tiger in the winter cold and lets see how it acts and adapts. You can
change yourself and you can change anyone else who wants to change.
There are many topics to cover before we really delve into the realm of sales
Page 11 Page 11

a connection which
can be reorganized
to achieve exact
goals in life.
Page 10
because sales is more than words: it is about emotions and emotional thinking as well.
Something that I, as well as some of my role models, speak about is neuro-linguistic programming
(NLP). This controversial approach to psychotherapy and organizational change is based on a model
of interpersonal communication chiey concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of
behavior and the subjective experiences underlying them and a system of alternative therapy based
on this which seeks to educate those in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change
their patterns of mental and emotional behavior. The co-founders, Richard Bandler and linguist John
Grinder, claimed it would be instrumental in nding ways to help people have better, fuller and richer
lives. They invented (and trademarked) the title to denote their belief in a connection between neu-
rological processes (neuro), language (linguistic) and behavioral patterns learned through experience
(programming) a connection which can be reorganized to achieve exact goals in life.
You think the way you feel and you feel the way you think. I go over this in my daily life almost minute
by minute. You are who you think you are. I was stuck in a bad relationship at one point and realized
I was punishing myself. I never took my own advice. Why was this? It is just like a repeated bad sale.
We continue to pitch those clients we know will go nowhere and we think and believe we can save
the world. The big news is, we cant. You are in control of your own outcomes. Not circumstances, not
others, not your family. It is now time to grow up.
There are a few key factors to realizing what makes you tick. Number one is your belief system. The
questions you must ask yourself include:

What do I think about myself today?
Am I happy or am I living someone elses life
wearing their clothes acting the way
my mother or family would act?
Am I a product of my environment?
What could I do to be more authentic?
What could I do to reach my Utopia?
Have I failed to change because I have no goals, dreams,
visions or a dream board of my life to live by?
That last one is far from the case, but your belief system is
limiting your actions. If I told you that you could make one
million dollars in the next two years by doing new things,
would you? If I said that by changing now and believing you
can nd your soul mate or that getting back with that person
was possible, would you take action? Maybe youd rather sit
Page 11

your body
motions which
create what you
think and feel.
Page 11
on the sidelines and let time pass you by? I know people who
do that. Not for me, though. Take action for what you think is
possible and follow your dreams; create new visions and make
them real. Work towards them daily. Chart them out. Do what
you love for you! You are more than what others perceive you
to be; you are an energy driven organism which seeks success
in every aspect of life. Do not do as others say they did. Model
yourself to be better!
Another facet of self-awareness is your mental syntax: the
mental center for your organization of thoughts and process-
es. If you organize your thoughts based on what your parents
think, those thoughts are not real. They are learned from oth-
ers self-gratication. What organizes and structures the way of
thinking you believe to be real today? Is that really your favorite food, or did mom tell you it is? Is that
your favorite shirt, or your girlfriends? Is that your dream house, or your loved ones? This is a big part
of what makes you tick. Figure that out and youll grow enormously. Keep reading and you will soon
see why this is vital to your sales.
The next component is your physiology: your body motions which create what you think and feel. For
example, if your day is not going great, take a look at how you are acting. Are you sitting slouched and
moping, or are you standing straight as if feeling refreshed with excitement? What if you were at a club
and you just sat at a table all night what would you be missing out on? Maybe the person you were
meant to be with, your friend dancing on the podium or jumping off a speaker. Now everyone else has
a happy story and you have a depressed state. Which do you prefer? Think of your own examples and
make a change in your body movements.
Do this exercise for me: Next time you feel tired and worn out, yell out something outlandish. Scream
and create a new state. In a sales environment you must constantly change your state. I make my sales-
people walk around in our phone rooms and vent their emotions even when they think they do not
have to. I will move their seats if they are too comfortable. Change things up and see a new light and
better results. You will never get bored. Move around, because motion creates emotion!
NLP is really about a play-by-play snapshot of our lives present and past. To put it simply: Think back to
childhood for a second. Who taught you to walk, talk, drink, eat, stand, converse, play sports, learn,
pay attention, listen, read, etc.? This is called modeling. You had to see and hear and do as others did.
Do you remember how you learned to speak? The answer is no. You simply did it. No excuses came up!
That is the point of innately learned tasks. I call it the Pygmalion effect. Your environment teaches you
Page 13

developed the model

of possibility and put it
into action
Page 12
how to act. When you grow up in the jungle, you become a jungle animal: primal, erce, aggressive. If
you grow up in a perfect household, taught to do the right things and seeing your parents do the right
things, you will do right, too. If you surround yourself with bad inuences like jailbird Sammy, that is
what you become.
But you can choose not to be the slave of this early programming once you understand it and the dif-
ferences which make a difference. You can choose a new role model for your mental wellbeing.
The richest man in the world did just that. He actually lived life as his role models did. Ate what they
ate, walked as they walked, read what they read, developed their interests and intrigues. He studied
Rockefeller and Morgan incorporated all they knew and linked their best successes to his own. His
name was Adnan Mohamed Khashoggi and I have his book next to my bed . He developed the model
of possibility and put it into action. He created resources others would disregard. He learned what oth-
ers wanted to know.
You can do this, too. Find out who you would like to be, determine an attainable level and strive to-
wards it. No one can stop a person with a clear vision, passion, action and I dont care attitude. When
looking for a role model, really put some thought it so that you dont create a monster. Remember the
story of Frankenstein? Choose wisely how you want to recreate your life, one you believe will deeply
motivate you. Who would this person be? Maybe Bill Gatesmaybe Zig Ziglarmaybe Candy Lightner
of MADD. Do you see the difference between the haves and the have-nots?
My models are people who have great success in their life, who I would love and appreciate following
in order to succeed and surpass. Charlie Eissa, Al Clemins, Peter Musser, Ivan Spinner, Warren Buffet
(worth $42 billion), Paul Allen (worth $22 billion), Carlos Slim Helu (worth $30 billion) and, of course,
Page 13
the man of mystery and change himself, Bill Gates (worth over $50 billion). Why are they my role mod-
els? The answer is very broad and would take days to explain. Simply put, at the end of the day, they
never quit.
Create your models and paint your life and live in their shoes. What makes all of them real is that they
all came from nothing, worked harder than anyone else and told a story to become the best in their
eld. Find a mentor and seek out your destiny. Do not wait any longerdestiny awaits you!
A person who has the knowledge, and learns to express it in action, wins the battle that has not yet
begun. Remember that things do not change, we do.
Page 15
Ch a p t e r 2
Tona l i t y I n S a l e s
Page 15
By reacting
to sound,
you buy
what
somebody
is saying,
not what
he is
selling.

In our journey to becoming Salesfreaks, the rst thing Id like to teach you is
how to use voice uctuation. You see, tonality and verbiage are the makers
of a sale. Yes, we need the meat and potatoes of good information, dont
get me wrong. But without putting that information in the right way, you will
not be able to move anything. And if you do move something, thats called a
laydown. Thats when somebody stopped for gas, was thirsty and bought
the soda no selling necessary. We need to enthrall people again. We need
to entice them to commit to our products or services. We need to draw out a
conversation and close people on what we are speaking about.
In sales, if we dont speak in the right way, no one pays attention. Our whole
sales pitch goes right out the door. More importantly, we must realize that
we are all listening when we are awake, and also when we are sleeping. No
matter what is happening, its proven that we are aware of what is going on.
But there are certain sounds that wake you up and inspire you, for example,
a police siren, re alarm or loud bang. We say, uh oh, move over, slow down,
pull aside, what was that? We are aware!
We react to sounds, and we react to the way people sound. If someone drags
out his words very slowly, as if he had just woken up, do you really want to
buy from him? The answer is NO! YOU DONT! You say, oh my goodness,
get this person away from me. If someone is slurring his speech, you assume
he is drunk. As you can see, we react differently to different tonalities. The to-
nality can signal happiness, sadness, or a speech that is really going nowhere.
By reacting to sound, you buy what somebody is saying, not what he is selling.
Its all about an experience. Gunre makes us jump. Our crying baby makes
us sad. I remember when my newborn daughter kept crying, and I thought,
Whats wrong?! I wish she could tell me. But her tonality communicated to
me that something was wrong.
People, animals and everything in our environment do things to create a re-
action. Your voice will also create a reaction a representation of everything
that we have learned since we were born. We have an instinctive understand-
ing of tones of voice. We say, this guy sounds really excited. Or, that man
Page 17 Page 17

you have to get into

your role: CEO, CFO,
sales associate,
customer service rep or
whatever you may be
Page 16
sounds really depressed, I dont want to be around him. Did you hear her? All she wants to do is
complain. We all say things like this to each other. We all react to tonalities. Just remember, every ac-
tion has a reaction.
Whispers make us eager. If someone says quietly, listen, man, I have a secret for you, you will sud-
denly get quiet so you can hear. Even if nobody is around! Songs give us emotion. Now I like all types of
music. But different types give me different emotions. Country makes me think about the lyrics. Heavy
metal gets me enraged. Salsa makes me want to dance!
In sales, you should adjust your speech pattern to create the mood you want in your audience. Would
you enjoy watching your favorite actor in a Broadway show if she just sat in a chair and said, Romeo,
Romeo, wherefor art thou, Romeo? in a dreary tone? You dont want to listen because she is using
the wrong tonality. What kind of reviews do you think she would get? Actors use tonality and emotion
to sell you on who they are playing. This is called getting inside the role,
As a salesperson, including entrepreneurs like you, you have to get into your role: CEO, CFO, sales asso-
ciate, customer service rep or whatever you may be. It doesnt matter whether youre a computer pro-
grammer or supermarket manager. Whats important is that you portray the part that everyone wants
to see in you. Make everybody want to be around you, because thats how you sell people.
Nobody wants to be around depressed people, except maybe other depressed people so they can com-
plain to each other. But you probably wont sell them anything, except maybe some depression pill. If
thats what you do, go for it!
We all get trapped inside our own minds, believing that
we are doing our best but forgetting that we are the
performers. You have to put on the show. You have
to act out your presentation. Let people understand,
through your movements, words and tone, that you
are an actor. Represent your company in such a way
that they want to come back. Make them want to see
part two and the sequel. Make them want to tell their
friends to go see your movie because you played such a
great role. They want to see your act because you were
so helpful, so genuine, and had so much charisma.
Page 17 Page 17
Tonality
is just
remem-
bering to
say certain
things in a
way that
gets some-
body else
to think,
not just
ourselves

Do we vote for the presidential candidate who speaks in a miserable voice

when he says, you guys got to vote for me Im going to change this economy
around Im telling you I really can? NO!! Youre not! You want somebody
like Bill Clinton or Barak Obama to get you excited with a great speech, cha-
risma and that raw talent that really drives you in. We get enthralled by great
speakers. Think hard about that.
Consider the great leaders throughout history. They are the ones who inspire
others through their words and with their tonally. One way they do that is
by drawing out their words and sounding out each syllable. When the great
Zig Zigler talked about his wife, Big Red, he always drew out the words, Big
Reeeddd.
When you do this, it places emphasis on something you want customers to
buy. It gets them to say, What is that guy talking about? That sounds really
interesting. Bill Clinton draws out his words better than anybody I know to-
day, and Barak Obama does a phenomenal job at it, too, so Ill put them both
up there on the same pedestal.
Tonality is just remembering to say certain things in a way that gets somebody
else to think, not just ourselves. Drawing out your words helps individuals us-
ing props. This is a key aspect to selling in corporate meetings, because most
of the audience are hearing your information for the rst time. Especially when
you mention large numbers, such as protability or losses of the corporation,
you must speak loudly, precisely and clearly. So people will comprehend what
youre telling them, whether good or bad.
Here is another little Tobias exercise for you. Think about the word around
when you use it in a statement. Now, what is the word around? If you loop
your hands around, it means a circle or something like that, correct? So if
you want to emphasize this word, you can add the hand motion. I want you to
write it down and say, arounddddd the room. Now use it in a presentation
context: Mr. Jones, I want you to look arounddddd the room. I want you to
tell me what you see Speak slowly so that he can understand.
Then you could speed it up; or slow it down. Now Mr. Jones when you
looked around the room, did you notice this? When you looked at the sales
gures, did you notice that we sold more of product X than we did of product
Page 18
Y? Now drop your voicenow raise it up! Then back down and all the way around.
When you draw out your words, you get your audience enthralled. They want to listen to you and thats
what will help close a deal. Technically, it has nothing to do with what you saying. People will be cap-
tivated by the way you are speaking to them because it sounds a heck of a lot more intelligent than if
you said in a fast monotone, Hey, Mr. Jones, look around the room, what do you see? Do you see that
we sold more of that product Y than you, uh, know, product X over there?
Mr. Jones: Yeah?
You: OK, greatwell uh...
Theres no tonality. Theres no oooomph behind it. You can make anything sound interesting if you just
draw out your words, and/or put a little emphasis on certain ones. Enunciate, and all of the sudden you
will be in a world of closing. More importantly, go up and down, side to side, all the way around. And
close more business.
Write this exercise down:
Go up and down, side to side and all the way around. Now say it out loud, drawing out the words in-
dicated by their spelling: uppp and down, and alllllllllll the way arounddd and siiiiiiiide to side- upppp
and downnn, side to siiiiiiiide, all the way arounddd. I make all of my salespeople do this.
Go ahead and exaggerate it; youre not really going to speak like that, but it helps you with everyday
language. It helps you enunciate, pronounce words correctly and slow down your delivery to get people
to hang on your every word. Up and down, side to siiiiiiiide and allllllll the way around.
Do this exercise exactly as I did. And all of a sudden your speech patterns will go up and down and side
to side and all the way around. Then people will respond to you differently. Now you have more people
enthralled with your patterns.
This is called progressive pitching. You wouldnt listen to songs or a favorite band if they didnt have
great tonality, would you? If you said yes you would, that just doesnt make sense. For instance, take
ACDC, a big rebel band. People like the way they sing, their great tonality and enthusiasm. Brian John-
son really believes his words, and draws them out while singing. Good singers always do this, and it
makes us think about the words in every song. Now, how do you sing? Do you draw out your words?
Do we remember songs more than presentations? 1000% everybody remembers the chorus to their
favorite song, even though they may mumble the rest of the verse. We remember the chorus because
its catchy, theres a rhythm to it. Develop a rhythm in your voice, and youll start closing people, or at
least get them more interested than they were before.
Why are there different types of musicians: rap, country heavy metal, etc.? Why are there different
Page 19
types of actors: drama, comedy, action/adventure, etc.? Because everybody lls a different role. We
have to nd YOUR edge, YOUR niche.
Why do change your voice when you get angry? Its a different tonality, right? Why do you drop your
voice when youre sharing a secret? Why do you say I love you differently? Why cant you scream, I
LOVE YOU? Theres different tonality, a different way of acting, for each emotion. People use different
tonalities to make others understand them. You can capitalize on this, to become smarter than the rest.
If you use these techniques every day in your relationships, why not use them in your sales calls?
We always try to pretend to be somebody that we are not on a sales call. We seem to smile and speak
with enthusiasm. Its automatic, right? Stop it! Be yourself! Use the correct tonality. We all act different-
ly because, we are in fact all different. And the difference makes the difference. So if you want to be
a driving success, capitalize on it. Realize that its OK; I mean, its really OK to be different. Hone in on
your voice, and learn to draw it out and uctuate it in the right ways.
Do you remember you last big sale? Were you depressed? Or angry? Did you yell at your prospect? I
have a sales guy that still works for me, and still yells at his prospects. Hes one of my top reps, though.
I dont know how he does it, but he has that personality. He doesnt exactly yell; lets just say he over-
talks a lot. So ask yourself:
Do I show sincerity?
Do I empathize?
Do I sound as if you have genuine concern?
Do I smile?
Do I use that salesmans laugh?
If you dont, why not? Why dont you show all these emotions? Showing these emotions makes people
think you are genuine. Im not telling you to go yell at your prospects, or your customers. Im saying
you need to be that real person for them and go in there like my favorite actors, Al Pacino or Robert De
Niro. We all want to be those guys when we walk in to a sales meeting.
Do you remember what you did on your last big sale? How did you capture them? A lot of my friends
sell really big products and make million dollar deals; and theyre successful because they believe in it.
They are so passionate that they have a built-in charisma, tonality and enthusiasm. I want you to nd
that, too.
How you ask determines your customers response. Pay attention, and pay attention again, to how you
speak to loved ones and the responses you receive from them.
Page 21

Get them to believe

the product, and
you, and that
everything is
right for them.
Page 20
Here is another exercise: Talk to people differently. Say things that you never, never, never, never, nev-
er normally would. Reverse conversations at restaurants: instead letting the waiter speak rst, saying,
Hey, how are you?, as soon as the waiter comes to the table, you say, Hey, Mr. Waiter, how are you?
You having a good night? Pretty busy?
Use different tonality. Say different things with happiness, sarcasm, anger, and check out the responses
and differences in service that you receive. Say it with sincerity and a lot of charisma, or maybe even
mimic or mock them. The point I am driving at is that I want you to learn how people react to different
emotions. If you can say I love you ve different ways, you have mastered the concept. I mean, dont
just say it in your head, do it in reality. Tell your signicant other, I really love you honey, I love you so
much, in different ways.
I cant give you the answers; you have to gure out your tonality by yourself. Figure out your niche.
Observe the responses that you get when you speak with anger, and think about how you feel when
people speak with anger towards you. When people talk to you with depression and say, yeah, Im
doing good, how do you act and feel inside? Are you invigorated? Because if youre not, then youre
not being sold. Remember this when you try to inspire people in sales. Get them to believe the product,
and you, and that everything is right for them.
Say I love you with happiness, with sarcasm, with laughter, with anger. How you say it is how it will
be understood and remembered. The same is true in sales. Never, ever back down from enthusiasm.
You will sell more with enthusiasm than without it, period. Those opposed to this idea suffer low bank
accounts.
What words put customers in the mood to buy? There are certain key phrases, such as return on your
investment (ROI), your prot, you cant go wrong, joy, happiness, useful and right. Were going to
get into more of them at a later time, but this overlaps the
subject of tonality. How you say things will dictate your con-
versation. Mr. Jones, your return on investment is going to
be... We always say that with stocks, dont we?
These key words give people a reason to purchase from you.
If youre selling furniture, for instance, you could say, Hey,
Mr. Jones, your return on investment, its not the next year of
being comfortable, its the next ve to ten. Depending upon
how long you like to keep certain things around. If you like
to change your environment more often, you and I can get
into a different discussion. Maybe a dual package for future
use used for buybacks? More importantly, its all about your
Page 21 Page 21
return on investment Mr. Jones; but with this package, its going to last three years, so lets break it
down to the ridiculous. If its a thousand dollars today, Mr. Jones, thats cheap over the next ve years,
because for an extra $200 a year, you will get the couch of your dreams.
Mr. Jones, $200 a year broken down, month by month, how much is that? Lets talk reality, its $20 a
month, or less! $10 a month is 120 a year, right? Come on I mean, you and I can go on and on and
on and think about this but, I mean, the reality is, Mr. Jones, that you need this. With the return on your
investment, you cant go wrong.
Use your tonality to sell someone and break it down to the ridiculous. Your investment, your prot.
Mr. Jones, your prot from this is that you will be fully insured for over two million dollars for every
year that you sign with us on the policy. More importantly, whats the return on it going to be? Well,
your monthly investment will be $100 a month, and youll get two million dollars in return, Mr. Jones.
The things that you say will bring people joy, happiness, usefulness. Help me help you, I got your back,
Mr. Jones, consider me your interactive brochure.
Well go over these phrases more in the Power Statements section. So please stayed tuned, but dont
move on until you fully understand tonality. Understand how to draw out your words, and youre going
to be a thriving success.
Page 23
Ch a p t e r 3
Cha ngi ng
Your S t a t e
of Mi nd
Page 23
Your
environment
dictates your
results and
efforts

Changing your state of mind can change your closing ratio.

I have seen happen it many times.
I trained many people in my former companies with this mind-over-matter ex-
ercise. I asked my staff of closers to think of a negative image that keeps them
from succeeding to the highest degree, then to create a positive image of
themselves as they would be if they were already living their goals. They were
then instructed to bring the positive image over the negative one, covering it
like a tile oor, making it more brilliant, until it smothered the negative one
in essence conquering negative things with positive ones. As that was hap-
pening, they were told to say, money, power or whatever inspired them.
Do this a thousand times, if you must, as I made my closers do every day or at
every moment they felt inferior.
Ask yourself in the morning:,
What am I grateful for in my life? Are you saying,
thank God, its morning or OH GOD, its morning?
What am I happy about today?
What am I excited about today?
Control your focus because what you feel is what you focus on. Use questions
to do this to empower you and put you in a great state of mind before a
sales interview.
What truly drives me and brings about results?
Who do I surround myself with and choose to be around?
Bill Gates of Microsoft hires some of the smartest people
around because he know that to get the best he has
to be surrounded by the best.
How do I choose to think and feel?
If my survival in war depended upon my choice of friends, who would
they be and why? Could I depend on the people Im with right now?
Your environment dictates your results and efforts. Lazy people breed lazy
people; and leaders breed leaders. Its the Pygmalion Effect again!
Here are a few examples of closing techniques that change the customers
state of mind to attain new results. Dont just focus on one technique. Study
Page 24 Page 25
all of them so that they become second nature and you automatically know where to take your sales
conversation. This is where the state of mind come in. Be careful not to kill your sales because you are
not in the mood.
The Quality of Time Close
The Quality of Time Close works by emphasizing
that now is the best time to buy and delaying is not the best thing to do.
When people are procrastinating or giving you the famous I will call you back, emphasize that now
is the best time to buy. All salespeople know that there is never a call back and closers know that the
rst chance is the last chance. Dont give in. Ask more questions to stall the consumer. If you are on
the phone, create a different discussion about the competitor and how their product is effective and
ineffective, because people love to argue.
Invoke seasonal Hollywood effects, such Summer fings, Christmas auroras and other holidays. Remind
the prospect of other short-term reasons, including sales, weather and so on. Find out other personal
reasons why it is good to buy now, such as their partners or loved ones birthday, etc.
People will always say it is not the right time to buy or they want to shop around; so simply say that this
is exactly why they should invest now! You can even do a reversal on never the best time to buy by
showing how this makes now as good a time as any.
You might say:
We only bring these into stock for the 1st quarter.
Right now we have open enrollment, and all of our products are heavily discounted.
We only offer these policies during the start of the year.
Summer is coming. Do you have your familys pool equipment ready?
If you were going to start saving money, when would you want to invest?
Tobias Techniques
When people are procrastinating or dithering over whether they should buy now or later, show them
that delaying will either get them no advantage or may even be to their disadvantage. Make sure you
tie in with their emotions.
Talk about what they will miss by not having it over the coming period.
Such as health, wellness, security and make them feel they will miss out on something.

Most customers
want products
that are free,
perfect and
available now
Page 25
Give examples of people who waited for the best moment,
which never came. Such as the old story about the man in the
boat waiting for his only love to oat by, and she never showed.
You cant wait for the sake of waiting, as it may kill you.
You might say:
If you leave it until next year, youll have one year less to enjoy
it. So by waiting, Mr. Jones, you will not only lose out on an
opportunity to gain, but you will lose out on an opportunity to
gain and prosper over the next year.
The best time to buy is when you need it which Id say is
now, wouldnt you?
Procrastination leads you to the road called nowherewho
wants to be there?
My friend spent his whole life looking for the perfect partner. My friend is also singlestill looking.
It reminds people that lightning can strike. MOVE! It reframes delaying tactics as value-destroying pro-
crastination.
The Triple Lindy Close
Answer questions before the customer even asks. Everyone sometimes need clarication, and loves to
know what others know and have what they have. And they want to know more than one fact about
a subject in order to believe it. Summarize things in three sets of items. We will give you this, that
and the other. It could be features of the product, benets or add-on sweetener items. There are two
ways to do this: they may either be closely related to reinforce a single point, or quite separate to gain
greater coverage. For example, This product is cheaper, more advanced and more reliable than the
competition.
Most customers want products that are free, perfect and available now. This is the classic business
measurement trilogy of cost, quality and time. In my business of health insurance, the product has to
be cheap, be a household name, and cover everything the customer wants. This policy has three ad-
vantages over the others: 1. Less expensive. 2. More benets. 3. Less out of pocket.
If you tell customers three things which give value and reason to buy, you can change minds and lead
to decisions. If you only had one and so did your competition, you would nd yourself on the road to
a town called Nowhere.
Page 27 Page 27

Offering too
many will face
the customer with
a more complex
problem of how to
choose one
Page 26
The Alternative Close
Another closing strategy is to offer more than one clearly dened alternative to the customer. The
number of alternatives should be very few two or three is often quite adequate. Offering too many
will face the customer with a more complex problem of how to choose one. Note that this technique
works well in situations where you are seeking agreement, and not just selling products. For example:
Would you prefer the higher deductible or the lower deductible?
Would you like one round lot or would you prefer to be an avid investor with 4 round lots?
An extra technique which can be effective is to add a slight nod when offering the preferred choice.
This can be accompanied by subtle verbal emphasis on the words.
The Adjournment Close
Do not go for the sale now. Give them time to think. Tell them that they probably need time to consider
the offer you have made. I always teach my guys to do more each call with that close. It is the most
widely known close on TV, the internet and for basic salesman.
Use this when:
You can see that they are not going to decide now.
You have set up enough tension that you are reasonably convinced they will indeed seriously
consider the deal and are likely to come back.
It is likely that, given some more time, they will buy more. For example, they might be at the
edge of a budgetary period and their current funds are low.
The relationship is important to you, and their making a wrong decision now would affect
the chances of making sales in the future.
You do not need to make the sale today. For example, you might have made your quota and
this sale would be just ne for next month.
Combine this with setting up the next meeting, when perhaps
you will be able to solidly close the deal. You might say, This is an
important decision for you and I think you need time to consider
it. Shall we discuss the nitty gritty of this next time you come in?
Or, I can see youre thinking very intelligently about this. Shall I
come back next week to see how you are engaging this then?
In many sales situations, the relationship is very important, as the
salesperson will be going back to the customer withmore sales to
make. It is thus a bad idea to push them into a decision when they
are not ready and may later be unhappy about it.
Page 27 Page 27
I tell my
sales
force to
never
give in
and to
try to the
end

Offering an adjournment can be a nice surprise for the customer, who may be
expecting a harder style of selling, as a car salesman is sometimes character-
ized. This sets up an exchange tension, encouraging them to pay back your
offer of time with later agreeing to the deal.
The Adjournment Close is particularly easy to manage when the salesperson
visits the customer, as opposed to having to hope that they will call back. Ex-
amples would be a jeweler or other high ticket item salesman/woman.
A Value Added Tobias Technique
Close out any objections customers have about price by making sure they can
afford it.
1. Find how much they can afford. Then show that you have a nance plan
that ts their capability to pay.
2. Bring in other factors to reframe the real price, such as lifetime costs.
3. Show the price of not buying for example, the cost of continued owner-
ship of the current mortgage over renancing. Where are the lost opportunity
costs?
4. Strip down what is being sold to the bare minimum. Remove all the options
(and maybe sell them as separate items).
5. Sell them something else they can afford. (Take out the mortgage insur-
ance, for instance.)
6. Your last option: bring your price down to what they are prepared to pay.
You might say:
How much per month can you afford...yes, we can make a deal for that.
The initial price seems high, but by the end of the year you will have re-
couped the costs.
The basic mortgage will be good for you and your family without the strings
that can be more benecial although more confusing.
The maintenance costs on this are very low.
The cost per page of this printer is the lowest in class.
If we can bring the price down to what you say, will you buy today?
And always remember the caveat: do not close people into debt they will not
be able to repay. I tell my sales force to never give in and to try to the end, but
do not price themselves out of a sale.
Page 28 Page 29
The Tobias Affordability Technique
The Affordability Technique works by structuring the monetary aspect of the deal to t into the custom-
ers ability to pay. I cant afford it is often more of an excuse than a real objection. If they really do not
want to buy, you will nd that they will immediately jump onto another objection. I see this everyday
in our call centers.
Act as if the other person has made the decision already. Turn the focus of the conversation towards
the next level of questions, such as how many they want, when they want it delivered, what size they
need, and so on.
You might say:
When shall we deliver it to you by the end of the week or by Tuesday?
What will your friends say when they see it?
Will $100,000 of life be enough for you?
Where will you put it in the living room or the bedroom?
The Assumptive Close
The Assumptive Close works through the assumption principle, where you act as if the customer has
already decided to buy, and the only question left is which one of the options they should choose. Note:
This is one of the most common closes used. Many other closes, such as the Alternative Close, are sec-
ond cousins of the Assumptive Close.
Tobias Techniques
Placate their emotions, or deliberately spur their emotions toward your concepts.
Become a detective and see if they respond more to positive or negative emotions
and act accordingly. (My signicant other does this very well!)
If in doubt, go for positive emotions such as, Obviously you feel you need this to
make your spouse excited. These usually work better.
You might say:
If you took this home now, how would you feel?
Does holding that make you feel good, because most people tell me it makes them own the product x?
People who do not buy this invariably feel bad later, because they regret the bad decisions they made
in the past.

Many foolish
young men,
perhaps
unsurprisingly,
are particularly
susceptible to the
Embarrassment
Close.
Page 29
The Emotion Close
The Emotion Close works because all decisions are based on
emotions. Even if a person goes through a logical thought pro-
cess, the nal step is always emotional.
Tobias Techniques

Maneuver them into a position where not buying
would embarrass them.
Dissuade them from buying cheap (rather than less
expensive) options by pointing out that they are cheap,
low quality, etc., and that more expensive options are
much better value.
Tell stories of cheapskates who make false savings
with the cheap options. I fall victim to this and I teach it!
Sell to the people they are with, so they would have to
disappoint their friends, family, etc., by not buying.
Appeal to their sense of self-importance and affuence.
You might say:
This is the cheapest option. This one, however, is much better value.
Hello, young man, do you like this? ... Well, madam, I think hes made a choice!
Not many people can afford this one.
The Salesfreaks Embarrassment Close
The Salesfreaks Embarrassment Close appeals to such emotions as pride. It uses the alignment principle
to get people to conform their buying actions with their self-image of kindness, afuence, etc. It works
particularly well if the customer is in a social situation where the embarrassment would be particularly
strong, from a group of peers to a person of the opposite sex. Many foolish young men, perhaps unsur-
prisingly, are particularly susceptible to the Embarrassment Close. I know I get embarrassed quickly and
will buy to prevent or restore peoples opinion of me even if I will not see them again.
The Companion Close
Rather than sell directly to the person you are targeting, sell to a person they are with. This can be a
husband, wife, child, friend, grandparent, etc. If there is a father and a daughter, sell to the daughter. If
there is a mother and a son, sell to the son. The role reversal will help you close the business no matter
Page 30
what the product. Start by being friendly with them (the target person wont mind this) then gradually
increase the closing signals.
Put them in the role of authority gure, particularly as they buy into your idea. When they are making
approving noises or say they would like one, start selling to the real target of the sale. Enlist them as the
companion sales assistant. If you do it right. it will be easy close.
You might say:
You seem to like this too, junior.
Which shade is best on your mother?
The Companion Close works because the companion to whom you are selling the idea does not have
to make a nancial or other commitment and so will be more ready to agree with you.
When the real target of the sale sees that the other person has agreed, he is more likely to also agree,
in order to preserve their judgement of their companions intelligence and to maintain harmony in their
relationship.
Ch a p t e r 4
Te n S t e ps t o
S a l e s a nd
Bus i ne s s S uc c e s s
Page 33

Dreams separate
the mediocre
from the elite 1%
Page 32
Salesfreaks Secrets
There are many sales mantras and everyone says they have all the answers to all of the questions and
the secrets to sales. But there is no secret to sales or closing. It is just the willingness to learn and retain
knowledge and the power to convince. No one starts out running ten miles. It takes many miles and
days to weeks to build the muscles that can sustain the pain and drive, doesnt it? The same goes for
sales: you cant just start closing people if you have no sales steam, can you? Start small and build it big
and be sure not to take on too much because experience always wins in the long run.
1) How you think is everything. Your belief system is powerful. Be positive and focus on your outcomes,
not the problems. Beware of negativity because it can kill you. So many people tell me why they cant
do things and very few tell me why they can.
Think back to childhood and remember what you always wanted to be. Maybe it was a nurse, a re-
ghter or a doctor. What made you think differently when you grew up? Are you exactly what you
wanted to be? If not, maybe you learned new things and wanted to be something else. Or maybe you
are settling because you were told to. Your belief system controls those thoughts.
If you want to be the CEO of a billion dollar company, then go get it! If you want to ght res and save
lives, then go do it. Letting your environment or outside sources control you will make you lead a life of
regret. You only get one. Stay away from the naysayers and keep that childhood mentality of the Little
Engine that Could. Think that you can, and you will.
2) Dream big and imagine bigger. I have dreams which
crush dreams from the night before. I never cease to
dream I will save the world one day in my own way. May-
be not by ghting creatures from another planet or dis-
arming nuclear weapons, but by making little changes in
peoples thought patterns that help them become their
very best.
Dreams separate the mediocre from the elite 1%. Decide
upon your dreams and goals. Write them down twice
a day and then a plan to reach them. If you fail to act,
then you fail to receive. If one has big enough dreams,
the steps seem small to live them, and to build the reality
around them.
Page 33 Page 33
Steve Spielberg had huge dreams, and he pretended to be who he imagined he was until it happened.
He carried his lunch in a briefcase and sat in an empty trailer until he got his big break. Sometimes doing
outlandish things is not that crazy, huh? He became one of the greats of the movie era! ET speaks for
itself.
After being denied entrance into traditional lm schools, Spielberg entered California State University in
Long Beach to study English. His professional movie career began the day that he decided to jump off
a Hollywood tour bus at Universal Studios and wander around the back lots. He found an abandoned
janitors closet and turned it into an ofce. After some time, the security guards had seen him so often
that they would wave him through the gates, no questions asked. He would, however, dress the part,
looking quite professional in his Bar Mitzvah suit and tie (not a T-shirt and jeans) so he wouldnt look
so much like a kid.
Dream big and it could happen to you.
3) Talking the talk is one thing and making moves is another. Take massive action. Faith in oneself with-
out work is useless. You must take action to make your dreams become real. Action is the conrmation
of reality. Lets put it this way: if you just sat at the starting line during a foot race, you would most likely
lose, right? Some people say how fast they are, but never prove it. The sad part is that they might just
be faster than you and others and never get to show it. Get up and stop the game of procrastination.
4) Learn, read and train to expand your skills. Absorb everything you can, go to workshops, listen to
tapes, invest in your mind. Just remember, you cant become a bodybuilder by going to the gym once
and expecting to wake up looking like Arnold Schwazenegger. It takes time to train your body to re-
spond and grow and it takes the right nutrition and rest to become great. If you are willing to put forth
the effort then the results will follow. If you just read a few chapters or if you do just enough to get by,
you will never have more than just enough. Stop settling! There is a huge world around us to learn and
explore.
If you want to drive your sales career through the roof and make double what you do right now, then
keep reading and learning and do not stop until you are complete. Too many salespeople from my past
would read two chapters of a sales book and say they got it all the same salespeople who are still
making the same amount of money and complaining about the same things!
5) Be persistent and work consistently throughout your day. Some say success is a marathon, not a
sprint. I can agree; but think you can also sprint the marathonwin faster and create a new record and
keep going, as you never know how much more you can accomplish. Great feats were not achieved
Page 34 Page 35
until someone pushed the envelope! Think of the man who tested the parachute. Who would have
guessed it would work? It takes guts to do things others will not, but it does produce extraordinary
results.
6) Analyze the details. How many times do we just jump on things without thinking them through? Be
decisive and get all the facts. Measure your efforts and make adjustments based on those facts. Learn
from them, measure their effectiveness and create solutions, instead of focusing on problems. If some-
one tells you it wont work, they might be right. Listen to what they did and do something different.
The differences make the difference in how you see things.
7) Focus your time and money and avoid scattering them in too many directions. I see so many people
try to make ten things work at once; it simply will not work. Focus on one effort and make it successful
and then make number two successful. Do not try to balance different things unless one is complete.
Think of it this way: if you read a book while watching TV, one or the other will win. Dont drive and
text at the same time, or you could wind up texting a good lawyer!
8) Innovate; be different. Dont be afraid to move away from the herd. Remember that herds get
slaughtered. When you run with sheep, the wolves will attack you! Many people make a regular, ordi-
nary income and lead an ordinary lifestyle, because they settled for the safety of the herd.
Look at different parts of town and decide which one you want to live in. It is possible if you work hard
enough for it. I am sure the best salesperson in your company is doing things differently than you are,
unless you are that closer already! Think about the next level and how you get there, starting now!
Take a different road to work. Introduce yourself to strangers and make yourself known. Tell people you
are in the business of closing and they will ask what that is! Be different and innovate your life in every
way possible. Run backwards and work out at the beach. Eat different things and do the opposite for
a day it may inspire you. You know what you need to do!
9) Communicate effectively and listen to others. Understand that different things motivate different
people. Not everyone cares about the same things in life. Some like money, some love power, and
some love just being alive. Decide what your force is and communicate it and take action with it. If you
are motivated by taking vacations, then set a time and place and work for it. If you like to eat (like my
team!), then set a goal for a new cuisine to eat and experience every week. Having something to look
forward to is the point.
Page 35
I will
never
blame
my lifes
faults on
anyone
else but
myself

Listen to others along the way, take the time to understand personal moti-
vations and feed on that. If your clients want service, then shut up about the
benets and talk about what you can do to improve service and get a better
understanding with them. Be sure to communicate about what drives them
and not you!
10) Take responsibility for the outcome. I hear too many salespeople tell others
why they blew the big deal. The blame game is famous, but we must admit
faults and act to correct them. If you lose a race, next time simply run faster. I
ght MMA as a hobby and enjoy it enormously, although when I lose, I do not
make excuses that I slipped on the mat or was too tired, etc. I have to chalk
it up to experience and learn from it. I take full responsibility if I win or lose.
Lets face, it there are no victims. Take full, complete and 100% responsibility
for everything that happens in your world. If you want to blame the world for
your misfortune-that is by choice only. There is always someone else driving
forward on the expressway so do not blame them if you crash.
Get the car xed and get going! If the car cant be xed, then buy a new one.
Solutions to problems, no matter how complex, can be found if you look hard
enough. I will never blame my lifes faults on anyone else but myself because
I can always x them once I nd out what they are, period.
Page 37
Ch a p t e r 5
P r ov e You
Ar e a S a l e s ma n
Page 37
People
get into
sales
because
the
income
potential
is unlim-
ited

Ask anyone in sales if he considers himself a professional and the response is

an immediate YES. The gift of gab is just not enough, though. The attitude
is right, but being a salesperson and a being closer are two different things.
Let me challenge you: if you were in court, in front of a judge as if your life
depended on it, could you produce the evidence you need to prove youre a
professional salesperson or a closer?
Being in sales and being a professional closer are miles apart. People get into
sales because the income potential is unlimited. The problem is, they dont
understand that to achieve their desired income, hard work at their knowl-
edge base of selling skills is a never-ending process. Daily effort is required to
be among the best. When it comes down to it, could you produce proof of
results and habits?
What do you have to show your willingness of drive, perseverance
and skills? Maybe this book?
What books about selling, negotiating, positive attitude and psychol
ogy do you own? Which ones can you fully explain, report on and
teach? I ask my salespeople daily what they learned and only my closers
have the answers. The others tell me how much they are going to do.
If you visit my ofces you will see learning materials everywhere includ
ing CDs, DVDs and books for my team.
Do you have sales MP3s from your iPhone and car that you could grab
now? Could you fully explain what you took from them and could you
show you have listened to them with focus and retained their value? I
know I can!
How many famous sales lectures have you attended or maybe
even given? Do you have the ticket stubs? Maybe it was a BIG TONY
event to walk on re, or a Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy or Steven Covey sem
inar. If not, why not? I am sure you have been to some of these, but are
you paying attention
and living what you learned?
Do you have clients, a manager or a superior who could attest to your
abilities?
What about certifcates from completed sales training programs on
your wall?
Page 39

Closing is about
doing more than
others, not the
same things.
Page 38
Maybe a county college management course, maybe an online course.
I force successful recruits at my rm to do all the above.
What magazines and newsletters do you subscribe to that focus on sales, management
and sales techniques? Could you report on what they taught you?
Did you ever win a contest? Some sales award you won for being the frst, best, highest some
thing which favors your abilities for being a closer?
How much evidence do you have? If the answer is not enough to reprieve me, develop a written
program for yourself, and follow it. I just went to court for a bad investment in 2012 and I know that
if you do not have the evidence, you are out of luck.
Read, watch and listen. No, its not look out for the locomotive, its the best way to learn new selling
techniques. Read books, watch DVDs and listen to CDs or MP3s. If youre serious about the game of
selling, you have no choice but to learn if you want to earn.
Closing is about doing more than others, not the same things. Albert Einstein said that the denition
of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. TV, music and movies
all change with the times and get better and better. Shouldnt you?
Learn something new about sales or your attitude every day. Pop a training or motivational CD into your
car player or at the ofce before you start your day, instead of listening to the same old news talk radio.
Try to feed your brain new knowledge that will help make you a closer.
Do you want to become an expert in sales/closing?
Learning one new technique per day = 220 new
techniques per year. If you sell for ve years youll
have over 1,000 techniques at your disposal. Not
too shabby in my eyes! New techniques means new
sales which could be a lot more money as well. Mul-
tiply that one. In my business, one more sale per day
means hundreds of thousands per year in developing
residuals.
Its amazing what you can do if you just do some-
thing small every day. Small daily increments make
the difference! If you just dedicate 15 to 30 minutes
a day to learning something new about closing and
Page 39 Page 39
achieving a positive attitude, at the end of ve years you will be a master closer and have a great atti-
tude about your new extraordinary life.
Once you start the learning process, dont stop. If once you gain a little knowledge, you begin to think and
talk like you know everything, you develop the kind of attitude that is destined to fail. That is a salesper-
son.you are becoming a closer. Continuing education should breed continuing humility. Look at knowl-
edgeable people with positive attitudes: they are almost always humble. There is always something new or
different, as I learn from my team of closers daily! They are the best at what they do.
Sales is an art form and you must develop your own closing style from mine or others that you admire.
You must put on a production like a smash Broadway play not a documentary. Entice the consumer
with your voice and personality Help the consumer rationalize to head off procrastination. Overcome
indecision. It all starts with questions; and the questions you ask will determine the responses you get.
Your event plus your response equals your outcome.
A solid closer will act like this, working diligently and pressing towards success every day. He will focus
on a deal an hour and make sure he attains it. He will seek new avenues of success if failures seems
near, and revamp his style to meet extraordinary challenges. He is master of his own destiny!
Page 41
Ch a p t e r 6
No Mor e
I nf or ma t i on. . .
P l e a s e
Page 41
Dont
mistake
Send me
infomation
for a
legitimate
sign of
interest

Stop the insanity!

You are not Google. Please stop sending unnecessary information. One of the
best stalling techniques used by prospects (or more usually, non-prospects) is,
Send me information on that. And they use it for a good reason. It works. Ev-
ery day this phrase chases sales reps off the phone at my agency, and sends them
scrambling to the Google search, tossing stfuls of shiny brochures into oversized
envelopes, convinced (mistakenly) that Ive got a hot one here. Perhaps youve
fallen victim to this yourself. In my early days I know I did as well.
But this bomb of anticipation quickly explodes when the sales rep calls back,
as I did, and hears, Uh, I didnt have a chance to read that yet. And the cycle
continues.
Dont mistake Send me information for a legitimate sign of interest yet.
And dont be tricked into thinking a brochure does your selling. Dont even be
so presumptuous as to believe they will read your literature. Printed materials
can be a ne complement to your sales effort. Emphasis on the word com-
plement. YOU still need to generate interest to the point where they deserve
literature. Otherwise youre wasting valuable selling time.
A woman called me this morning to pitch me on an annuity product to sell to
my clients. I expressed interest to see where the call would go. She asked me if
I sold life insurance as my primary product and I told her no. She then without
further ado said, please hold mind you, this is a sales call then came
back to tell me, Im sorry, we only deal with agencies that offer Life as their
primary product.
I laughed and said, OK, but we produce over $177 million in health.
She replied, Yes, but we are looking for life agencies.
I said, If you asked how much we produce in life as a secondary, then you
would be blown away that we produce more than the average or even the
top agencies you are callinghave a good day! I hung up because the sales
call sucked.
Page 42 Page 43
When you get the usual send me information request, be certain the person is a legitimate buyer,
and not someone trying to get rid of you. Its better to get the no now, rather than later, after youve
already invested lots of your precious time. If you hear the request early in the call, I suggest you respond
with, Ill be happy to send something that summarizes what we discussed. Let me ask you, though, if
you like what you see, Im assuming well be able to get our program started right away, right?

Be careful of your image, you can be a superhero or a super nothing.
Its mind boggling how many people give more thought to what theyll wear than to how they sound
to others. Try an experiment. On your next few telephone calls pull out a piece of paper and make tally
marks in two columns: desirable and undesirable, describing the total image you form based on
what the other person says, and how he or she says it. When you analyze it, its crazy that so many
people complain about their personal appearance, but ignore the way they portray themselves on the
phone. And that can be fatal to tele-professionals like myself or maybe even you.
The best way to improve the way you sound is to listen to yourself on a recording; this is why I require
my sales force to listen to their calls. Every top performer in all other skill professions does this. I know
many athletes, actors, singers, dancers and professional speakers who review their performances on
tape in order to improve. Tone is everything, as stated previously in our tonality section. We all need to
become the best at what we do and in order to do so we must listen to our aws. I would never step
into a ght with someone I have never seen before; their style might surprise me.
Another fatal mistake is not knowing what to do after the call. I cringe when I see sales forces grind out
call after call, putting their ngers in speed dial mode, pounding the keyboard immediately after dis-
connecting the previous call. They waste learning opportunities. Thats why there are grizzled, veteran
salespeople who have placed thousands of calls in their lifetime, but have no real experience to speak
of. They dont REFLECT on what they have done. Learning doesnt take place while youre engaged
in an activity. It takes place afterward, when you dwell on it. Just as when youre reading a book, you
retain more when you pause to reect on, and react to, what you just experienced. You have to nd
out why you sell and/or dont sell. Do this and master sales. At the end of every call you place, simply
ask yourself two questions:
1. What did I like about this call?
2. What would I have done differently on this call?
No time to perform this activity after your calls? Think again. You cant afford NOT to. My salesmen still
dont do it every time. Just remember, if you fail to look both ways when crossing the street, you may
get away with it once, but one day you will get hit.

To get to your
buyers, all you
need to do is
help fronters
do their job
Page 43
Success on the phone does not mean dominating the con-
versation. Oh sure, youve likely heard such wisdom about
listening before. It makes sense. But based on national av-
erages, few people actually practice it. Listening experts say
that most of us listen with only 30% to 50% efciency. I
dont know what causes salespeople to turn on the verbal
waterfall once they get a moment of opportunity to speak.
The fact is, the other persons desire to listen to you is in
inverse proportion to the amount of speaking you do. Talk
a lot, and their interest wanes. As does their desire to partici-
pate in the conversation. They get bored. Plus, the more you
talk, the greater the possibility is that youll mention things
they can object to.
Everyone knows how to listen so its not your ability thats the problem. The key is selling yourself on
WHY you need to listen. Its the same with any activity. If your desire to do something is strong enough,
youll get it done. Therefore, when you nd yourself taking a mental vacation during calls, ask yourself
a question: Why do I need to listen to this person?
The answer tends to snap you back to the proper perspective as you answer, Because what this person
says he will tell me exactly what I need to say in order to help customers buy, thus putting more money
in my pocket.
Ive heard sales reps refer to the screener as the bulldog, the iron gated rep, the rejectionist and other
equally unattering monikers. No wonder these callers have difculty getting to buyers. They experi-
ence exactly what they expect: resistance, frustrating, penetrating questions and downright humilia-
tion. Thats because the callers use strong-arm tactics to try to go through, around, above or under the
screener. Basic psychology tells you that the more someone is pushed, the harder they resist.
To get to your buyers, all you need to do is help fronters do their job, which is to protect the buyers time
so that only callers with something of value are allowed to spend time with the boss. Therefore, you
need to be sure you have an involvement statement prepared in response to, Whats this in reference
to? Its here that you sell the fronter on putting you through. And you thought you were calling to
qualify them? The screener is qualifying YOU! And based on your involvement statement, the screener
will decide whether or not you warrant an audience with the buyer. So, be ready to explain results and
benets that you bring to the table. Do NOT say, I represent x and I want to talk to him/her about it.
That normally elicits a response like, Were happy with who were buying from.
Page 45

Dont be guilty
of nonexistent
or inadequate
questioning
Page 44
Instead, say something like, I have some great ideas that have helped countless people in your position
cut down on their insurance expenses while generating more benets. Id like to ask you a few ques-
tions to see if this would make sense for you to take a look at.
When youre prospecting, ask questions before you get to the decision maker or nal closer so youre
better prepared when you do ultimately reach him or her. Every piece of pre-information you need on
calls could potentially be gathered from others in your prospects organization. Computer systems,
screeners, assistants, and others in the decision makers department, people who actually USE what you
sell: all can provide valuable insight and information that gains instant respect and poise, and creates
interest in the mind of the buyer. Sell them on why you are the right choice.
You could say, You probably work closely with Joseph, is that right?
Then begin your questioning: So Im better prepared when I speak with Joe, there is some information
you could help me with rst.
Dont be guilty of nonexistent or inadequate questioning. If a doctor writes a prescription without prop-
er diagnosis, it could be grounds for malpractice if the recommendation is faulty. When salespeople
suggest treatment without diagnosis (which happens all the time) there might not be legal mechanism
in place for malpractice (although it might not be a bad idea), but it is usually disastrous for the caller.
He loses credibility in the listeners mind, since the caller adversely rambles on about what he wants
to sell, not what the listener might be interested in buying. Therefore the prospect/customer channels
energy into thinking of reasons why he should get the caller off the phone, instead of participating in
a meaningful conversation. Ultimately, prospects and customers bring up objections as a result of poor
questioning.
Map out a questioning strategy before the call. Instead of
having a list of features and benets you want to present,
take all of your benets and write them, one beneath anoth-
er, down the left-hand side of a piece of paper. Then draw
two columns down the page to the right of the words like
a George Washington close. Label the rst column hurt/
heal wounds. Then for each benet write out what need or
problem the corresponding benet satises. Label the second
column questions to ask. For each need or problem, write
a question that would determine whether that situation ex-
ists for your prospect. Use these questions during your call.
Lets say a business offers overnight processing on orders re-
Page 45 Page 45
ceived by 11:59 P.M., while all the other competitors cut off their ordering time at 12:00 noon. The
hurt and healing process would be that the prospect often has last minute, next day orders that their
existing vendor isnt able to meet, causing inconveniences and maybe even lost business. Only in a sit-
uation like this would the processing time be a main buying motivator.
For other prospects, it might be a nice to know feature that the prospect might be able to take ad-
vantage of in the future if he needed it, or worse, the prospect might think, I never get in a situation
where I need something that quickly. I dont care about that feature at all. Maybe thats why their price
is higher.
You need to be aware of when presenting what you think is a benet could actually create an objection.
My company sells insurance through our call centers and you have to realize that immediate processing
is necessary to the sale although you have to state why and why not.
Make sure you dont present what you think is a benet until youve conrmed it by asking the corre-
sponding questions. Here are some examples:
How quickly do you usually make a decision to purchase healthcare?
Do you ever need next-day delivery on orders placed late in the day?
What do you do in situations like that?
What happens when you need it the next day, but have to wait two days? What kind of inconvenience
would that be for your company?
We all can see that, in this situation, if the questions uncover the need and the problem, then the ben-
et you discuss would truly be of value to the customer.
Good preparation is key. Imagine an airline pilot getting on the intercom just after takeoff and saying,
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for ying with us today. Were going to y somewhere, Im just not
sure exactly where, but I hope its the right place. Absurd, right? Now consider another scenario. A
sales rep meaning you plops down in the chair, ips on the laptop, and at the same time dials the
rst number. If youd ask him whats to be accomplished on the call, youd hear a vague response about
a sale, appointment, lead and so on. But that caller wouldnt be able to tell you any more about how
he planned on getting there than the hypothetical pilot could about reaching his destination. Does that
make sense? If you do not know what you are going to say, you may use too many llers and appear
to the prospect like a dull light bulb.
Page 46 Page 47
Poor preparation ensures an all-over-the-place, ugly, rambling call. Its like a ship with no rudder. On
the other hand, you can and should choreograph your call before you place it. Make sure you have a
guideline to follow.
The most important step in a successful call is setting your Primary Objective. I dene this as looking
at where you are, and determining where you want to be at the end of the call. More specically, ask
yourself what you want to do at the end of the call, and what should the prospect do at the end of the
call. The objective must involve ACTION. If nobodys doing anything, youre no better off after the call
than you were before. And after youve set your objective according to this denition, you simply ll
in the blanks with what needs to happen for you to travel from point A to point Z. Youll realize what
information you need, and the information youll want to present based on those wants and needs.
Before I go into my departments and deliver sales training initiatives, I always ask managers in which ar-
eas they feel their reps need the most assistance. When they say, Overcoming objections, Im in for a
lot of work on all scales. Thats because more objections are caused by sales reps than by any other fac-
tor. I listen to call after call from my sales teams and they are usually the same and it drives sales away.
People object when reps dont question effectively, when they talk too much, and basically present
benets the person isnt excited about. Then when objections are voiced, these same reps feel as if they
need to access their generic objections and respond with a slick, prepared objection rebuttal which
will instantly win over the prospect. I am all for knowing generic rebuttals and I teach them. But come
on. Stop the insanity and stop making them come up. The best way to deal with objections is to prevent
them from arising in the rst place. Ensure that you have a t with good information and know what
the customer is looking for before making a call.
When objections do arise, the only professional way to address them is to dig out the reasons behind
them. Only then can you begin to understand an objection, and perhaps answer it. Coming up is a
whole section addressing this, but rst the reason for it must make sense to you.
Maybe there isnt an answer for every real objection, despite what some sales gurus preach like reli-
gion. But they are not in every business or situation, are they? Personally, my favorite response to an
objection is, I see. Well, lets talk about that. This lets the person know I wont pounce on him for his
beliefs, but I do intend to sincerely discuss it with him. I suggest you do the same, and then question
to gure out why your prospects said what they did. This is a painless, non-adversarial way to deal with
objections.
Why are you so afraid? Why are you reluctant to get commitment? This is the activity that takes the
least amount of skill to execute, yet is the hardest for many salespeople to actually perform. It is asking
for the sale or asking for commitment to take action. Even if prospects are leaning in your favor, they
Page 47
Always
avoid
using
opening
statments
that build
walls
between
you and
your
clients.

might not volunteer the action you want unless you make it easy by inviting
them to do business with you. Ive seen a lot of money left on the table, and
hours wasted on unproductive follow-up calls, the result of not asking for the
business, or at least asking for some commitment from the prospect.
I have one rep who loves to talk and talk but never asks and then swears
up and down after each call. Because he thinks sales is about talking? Most
people in sales think that Uncle Larry at the BBQ is a good salesman because
he is funny and talks a lot. You are wrong! Just settle down and ask more.
Salesfreaks suggest that you build the asking habit. Theres no secret or magic
here. No hocus-pocus phrase that guarantees theyll say yes to your offer. Just
ask and you may get the sale or some form of commitment.
Very simply, if you want to get different results, you have to change your
routine. Go from coffee to tea. If youre not asking for commitment or for
the sale as often as you should, you need to analyze why, and then make the
change. If you get weird looks because you are screaming in the library, then
change your ways.
If your problem is rejection sensitivity, modify the way you look at rejection.
Dont look at noes as rejection; look at them as learning experiences that
move you closer to a yes because without a no, yes would not exist. Get out
of your sales comfort zone and ask for more of what you want. Better tables
in restaurants, deals on cars, whatever, just do it: ask!
And on the phone, ask for the sale more often. When someone says theyll
talk it over, ask if theyre going to recommend it. If they try to put you off by
saying theyll think about it and call you later, ask them what the chances
are theyll buy. Sure, youll get more noes. But the positive answers will save
you time, and result in more business. Plus, it will build the closing behavior.
Did you know that if you do not ask more than ve times you will lose 80%
of your sales?
Always avoid using opening statements that build walls between you and your
clients. Within the rst seven seconds, you create emotions in your prospects.
Unfortunately, most callers create sales resistance because they think everyone
is the same. And that results in what they perceive as morale-killing rejection,
along with an early exit from the phone call. They start with an uninspiring
line like, Hello, this is Michael and I am with company X. Is Chris there? The
Page 49

Introduce yourself
and organization
creatively and tout a
mission statement.
Page 48
listener justiably thinks, So what? Why should I listen? What was so creative about that?
Here is another horrid opener: I sent you a brochure and was wondering if you got it. So what if they
did? What are they supposed to say? Oh yes! Glad you called. I was just sitting here thinking that I
should buy from you! You cannot let materials or ridiculous thoughts lead you to believing you can
get a sale this way.
What should you say during an opening to generate interest? Heres the simple three-step success formula.
1.) Introduce yourself and organization creatively and tout a mission statement.
2.) More importantly, state an interest-stimulating benet that appeals to their desire to gain, or avoid
loss, like pain and a solution.
3.) Get them involved in a conversation. Remember, you want to do more listening than talking. Tell
them that in order to deliver the potential benet you alluded to, you need to get information.
Salesfreaks thought #1: Im Mike Tobias with Ten Count Promotions INC. We specialize in working
with online retailers such as (name big players) in lowering overall advertising expenses while generat-
ing more web trafc. Ive got a few ideas Id like to discuss to see if this would be of any value to you
and your company...
Salesfreaks thought #2: This is Mike Tobias with Salesfreaks. The reason Im calling is that theres the
possibility we might be able to help you cut down on your expenses for the exact printer cartridges
youre now spending all that money on. To determine this, Id like to nd out what youre using...
If you asked questions of the screener, as discussed above,
and received good information, you could use that in your
opener to personalize it even more. Lorraine, Im Mike To-
bias with TCP. I understand that your company is now look-
ing at upgrading your current network systems from Micro
7. We have a process that has worked well for other rms
like yours and, depending on your requirements, it might be
something that would t in nicely with your system...
Page 49 Page 49
Your calls to regular customers must have a grabbing opener also. Every time you call, without excep-
tion, have a value added proposition. Thats anything that allows them to feel theyve gained by simply
being around you. It can be good news, useful information, notication of a sale, ideas you have...
anything they will perceive as useful. Valentina, its Mike with TCP. How are you? I was looking over
what youve been buying from us over the past two years, and Ive got an idea here for a program that
might just make your job a little easier and more effective.
You could also use, I heard some fascinating information, and you came to mind as a professional who
could really prot from it...
In meetings with my sales team I tell them that the ultimate test of having a superb opener is to put
yourself in the position of the person hearing your statement. Ask yourself if you would want to hear
more if you were the buyer. Would you set aside whatever you were doing and willingly participate in
the call? If not, go back to the drawing board before you fail the quiz with a real prospect. And, be
sure your opener says as much as possible, with as few words as possible. Only by appealing to their
desire to gain, or fear of losing something, will you cause them to spend productive time with you, and
eventually buy from you. You can be anyone you want to be if you truly believe you can.
Ch a p t e r 6
Cha r t i ng S uc c e s s
Page 51
Making mistakes is what we do we are human. Mistakes are those valuable reminders that you do
not know it all. And as such, they provide winning opportunities to learn. Mistakes are a sure sign that
youre making progress, that you are putting forth effort and having an inuence over yourself and
others. They are certainly no cause for shame. I know many great ghters at American Top Team that
lose and win; they have a 50/50 shot. You cannot get upset at the losses but must look towards the
wins. The greatest achievements require you to work your way through the greatest errors and misun-
derstandings. How many times did it take Edison to create the light bulb, and what if he gave up before
it was invented? What if you gave up on your life and your ambitions?
Mistakes are not to be feared. The same actions that cause you to make a mistake also put you in a
position to correct it. When youre willing to accept the possibility of mistakes, youre able to follow the
best opportunities.
When you become experienced at handling mistakes, youll be going forward. We do not take the
time or effort to realize what is going on in our surroundings, and with our life. We pay no attention to
the warning signs because we think it is not our problem. We nally see the warning signs and signals
when things get rough.
When do we realize that we need to change diets? When we wake up one day and realize that none of
our clothes t us any more, maybe? When do we stop eating chocolate and go to the dentist? When
our white teeth have cavities or stains, and are rotting in our mouth? When do we get down on our
knees and ask for help? When we realize that were going to die tomorrow.
The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our power is when the whole world is crashing and
falling apart. We feel this way because we think it is not easy to change. The problem is that change
becomes more painful when we ignore it.
It is inevitable that change will happen, like it or not. At one point or another, we all will experience
turning points in our life; and we all will eventually unlock our power. Not because the world says so,
not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realize its for our own good. My girlfriends
have caused me pain because I allowed them to. We have choices and those choices will dictate our
lives and our sales. You have to have a clear head to close business. Stop letting people upset you, or
tear you apart. They are not worth it. Let them think they have won, and never stop being nice. You
never know when the other side just has emotional despair. Sales is full of it.
Page 53

I am an important
person and I
should be treated
accordingly!
Page 52
Excited and positive people dont just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you dont have to feel a
tremendous heat before realizing the need for self-improvement. Unlocking your power means unlock-
ing yourself from the ultimate ghter cage of the belief that its just the way things are. It is such a
lame frame of mind for people who fear and ght change.
Instead of posting your story around for everyone to remember, as when I went through a recent sepa-
ration, have the spirit to show people, I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!
Do not let people talk badly about you or cause you harm or pain.
Instead of your story dictating your life without your opinions controlling it, you should dictate your
story and become an author of your life.
I know this chapter is off the subject of sales, but you have to believe these things in order to succeed.
Self-improvement may not be your ideal word, but if you look at things from a different point of view,
you might have a greater chance of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the years until you
have fully improved.
It takes three sessions per week at the gym you cannot get big or t after one day! This will result in
a healthier life. So would reading books instead of looking at TV. Just as you work out your body, you
have to shape your mind, too!
When you enjoy the whole process of unlocking your self-improvement power, youll realize that youre
starting to take things lightly and become excited over life and sales. If you meet a depressed salesman
selling happy pills, well, do not buy them!
Life is a journey and we all end up in the same place: the
grave. So enjoy the journey, enjoy the sights, you only get to
spend this life once. Spend it well, and leave a place better
than it was when you arrived.
It is fair to say that no one is perfect, and there is always room
for improvement. We all have S.W.O.T.: strengths, weakness-
es, opportunities and threats in which we can improve. Suc-
cessful and excited people continuously seek growth and de-
velopment opportunities because they know that improving
oneself is a key factor to improving life.
Page 53 Page 53
If you are unhappy with certain aspects of your life, then reinvent it! If you are not where you want to
be, if you are stressed, depressed or uncertain about your life direction, self-development is your rst
step towards positive and productive change. Success comes not just from avoiding all mistakes, but
from gaining knowledge to nd a positive way forward with the mistakes no matter what may happen.
With each mistake, move on, get wisdom from it, and become even more effective than you were be-
fore. I know it is hard, like leaving your current relationship, as you feel the pain of thinking about it,
but you have to.
Ch a p t e r 7
P a r t B
Page 55
Let us start off with a fantastic science lesson, called the sales frogs principle, that I learned from one
of my sales mentors. Mr. Spinner explained to me that we are products of our environment and when
I had trouble understanding, he mentioned a formula which simplied things and my bad relationships
for me.
If you try placing a frog (subject 1) in a pot of hot water, what do you will believe happen? Subject 1
jumps out, right? Why do you think this is true? It is because subject 1 is not able to tolerate sudden
change in his/her environment, in this case the waters temperature. Then try another frog (subject 2):
place it in a pot of lukewarm water, then turn the stove on. Wait until the water reaches the boiling
point. Subject 2 will stay in the water until it begins to boil, and then it will try to jump out. (If it is not
too late, of course!) Why is this true? It is because second frog did not notice that its environment was
making a gradual change.
People are like Subject 2 in general, or at least I am, and I run my companies this way. We learn our
lessons and take action only when we experience pain. We act like our parents and our friends. You
are who you hang out with!
Normally we go through life blind to the principles of self-development that will let us see real change
right away. I know I am blind and still learning to avoid obvious pitfalls. I know I had bad relationships
and sales and it was a product of how I introduced them into my environment.
To summarize what weve covered in this chapter:
1. First set real goals for yourself.
2. Commit your goals to paper, and dont ignore them.
3. Expect to be successful.
4. Ask for what you want and nothing less.
5. Be decisive.
6. Accept responsibility for your life and your actions.
7. Proactively seek opportunities to learn and grow before mistakes are made.
8. Learn from key experiences.
9. Seek the lesson in any failures, mistakes, and setbacks.
10. Look for the bad and then the good in every situation. Now erase the bad.
11. Seek feedback from all around you, not just yourself.
12. Accept constructive criticism; sometimes it might help.
13. Learn to adapt to changes in business and life.
14. Find ways to effectively manage stress.
15. Balance work, personal and family life. Rebalance them whenever necessary.
16. Learn to work effectively with little or no supervision or direction.
17. Meet obligations and commitments.
18. Know yourself and know why you act as you do.
19. Follow and trust your intuition.
20. Be condent.
21. Be persistent and never, never, never give up.
Page 57
Ch a p t e r 7
P a r t C

Manipulators
use statistics to
paint a picture
Page 57
Ch a p t e r 7
P a r t C
At some point in our lives we have all run across manipulative peo-
ple. Perhaps it was a friend, aunt or uncle, salesperson, employee,
supervisor, customer. For me, it was a few bad businessmen. Perhaps
we did not even recognize that they manipulated the facts or situa-
tion to their benet, or perhaps we did see it, but were lost with no
hope of reinventing their behavior.
The end result for the manipulator can be varied. Some see manipu-
lation as a way to get what they want in a crooked way in life. They
feel that by controlling other peoples thoughts and actions they can
also control the lifeline. They look at manipulation as a way to deect attention from their own down-
falls.
These people have aws in their own abilities or failed to properly nish tasks for which they were re-
sponsible. Some people tend to manipulate the situation by calling attention to problems in other areas
so that the troubles in their areas are overlooked. Still others are factual manipulators, rst seeking to
understand then to be understood. We most likely have similar friends or co-workers. You also see this
in many movies and stories.
Manipulators use statistics to paint a picture or arrive at a conclusion they may believe is good, but know
is way off. In certain cases they are passive and unaware of their error until it is pointed out to them, but
by that time they have committed to the incorrect conclusion and will defend it rather than to admit the
mistake.
In his book, In Sheeps Clothing, Dr. George Simon states that all of us have used manipulation at some
point in our lives. But he insists that that does not make us all manipulators. He defnes manipulators as
those who habitually and aggressively manipulate. According to Simon, The tactics of deceit, manipu-
lation and control are a steady diet for the covert-aggressive personality. Its the way they prefer to deal
with others and to get the things they want in life.
The best way to work with manipulators is to recognize their behavior and deal with it. Robert Bacal,
author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Dealing with Difcult People, says the critical message is, It isnt
going to happen with me. Manipulators choose who they control and you have to position yourself
away from the goal of their behavior through the proper actions early in their arcade version of reality.
How is this going to help you close? The point is, if you do not see manipulators as evil-doers, or if you
cannot become a good guy manipulator, you will not survive in the sales game. Learn how to become a
master of this concept and turn away from the devious.
Page 59
Ch a p t e r 8
NL P
Page 59
if a person
commits
an act
motivated
by greed,
jealousy and
hatred, then
those bad
thoughts
will have
the effect
of causing
pain and
suffering

What Is NLP?
Youve probably heard of this often, and asked yourself, Is this stuff for real,
and how will it help me close or make money? You research sales and read
articles on it and hear it from top trainers, but do they even know the reality
behind it?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is nothing but the study of human excellence.
It is an art just as sales is. It teaches you to be the very best. It can change your
life once and for all. Neuro refers to your nervous system: the mental bridge
of senses through which you feel, taste, hear, see and smell. Linguistic refers
to your ability to use language, gestures and habits that reveal your thinking
and beliefs. Programming refers to the way you can program your thoughts
and behavior, much as a personal computer is programmed to do design over
spreadsheets.
The term NLP was invented by linguist John Grinder and mathematician, psy-
chologist and computer expert Richard Bandler. The team studied three psy-
chotherapists who were as extraordinary in their grasp of their work as Mi-
chael Jordan was in basketball, and developed this method which is widely
used in business, sports and self-improvement. NLP aids you in creating a
successful tomorrow for yourself. It can erase the negative thinking that is
tying you down like a steel rope to a bridge.
If you cant discover the reasons why youre not where everyone else is, work
on understanding the following facts.
The law of cause and effect states that if a person commits an act motivated
by greed, jealousy and hatred, then those bad thoughts will have the effect of
causing pain and suffering. Many illnesses and diseases are the effect of bad
thoughts. If youre at low production levels, thats a bad thought. Cause
effectno business!
Just as a wheel follows the rotation of the drive shaft, suffering and pain fol-
lows a person with negative thoughts. Everyone has power over their minds.
Your life falls apart because you have no power over mind. Once your mind
is out of control, your body begins to deteriorate. The mind is capable of pro-
ducing soothing moments, tranquility, joy, happiness and war.
Page 60 Page 61
If you want to have a healthy body you need a healthy mind. A great man named Tom Johanson, in
his book Release your Inner Power, says that all habits, behaviors and illness are the direct result of
prevailing disharmony between the mind and the soul. You have the power to rectify the disturbing
forces. I am not a big guru on this mind and soul thing but I get the point it makes. Prescriptions can
only control the effect, but they cant heal the main cause of the illness or issue.
NLP helps you to control your mind and change all your negative thinking, habits, behaviors, phobias
and obsessions. Dr Harry Alder says NLP can be defned as the art and science of personal excellence.
NLP helps you to get what you want, take action immediately and change any behavior that is holding
you back.
I know that when I am in a bad mood I do stupid or bad things I later regret. I get so angry sometimes
that I break things around me because I am frustrated. You all do it too, I just tell it like it is. I will
throw my headset or maybe a notepad across the room. They show these scenes in movies, so I know
it is just not me!
The rst step is to nd out what you want to change. It may be a bad habit, behavior, bad thought,
procrastination, horrid attitude or whatever. These excuses are like bags on the oor blocking your
path to who and where you should be. Two young professionals who work for me are like that: they
leave a lot of baggage on the oor and forget to pick it up. Instead of complaining about them, take
control and just start doing.
Next, establish a communication with that part of you which needs to change. It is very simple. Put
yourself in a relaxed state what we call it the alpha state. Every time I have that bad customer on
the line, I breathe lightly and think of things I enjoy to put myself in that state. Relax every portion of
your body, your muscles and focus on the breath. If any other thoughts interrupt just ignore them,
dont worry. Thoughts are always going to be there. Did you know that an average person has 60,000
thoughts a day? And if you are intelligent its a lot more. Most of them are the same thoughts you had
yesterday; or a bad day brings a new one. Think about that argument with a friend or a spouse it
stays with you doesnt it? From the time you are born until the time you die, you will have thoughts.
But you can alter them any time. That is how NLP works for you.
Take a moment and listen carefully to your self talk. Ask why that particular behavior is given
so much importance. What is the ultimate goal of the behavior? What benets has that behavior
achieved? See the positive and negative. Now visualize in the screen of your mind what was it like
before that particular behavior started. Were you happy, relaxed, calm and serene? If so, observe how
your situation changed. If you were nervous, anxious, frightened and depressed, compare that with
your present state of mind.
Page 61 Page 61
Salesfreaks Afrmation
I will not try but I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, anger, fear, doubt and anxiety. I will develop love
for all around me because a negative attitude towards others can never bring me closer to my ultimate
success. I will always stay in the direction of my dreams, visions and goals.
Now, if you are in sales, scream, Money! With tonality, please.
Page 63
Ch a p t e r 9
Ba d L a ngua ge
Page 63
Become
knowledge-
able about
what to say
and what
not to say
in all sales
conversations

Every word has a positive or negative connotation. Become knowledgeable

about what to say and what not to say in all sales conversations. Be aware of
the words that can be taken the wrong way or considered evil in the custom-
ers eyes.
Never use the following words:
Cost price-triggers. These elicit the response,
I want to shop around. Instead, use the total
amount or investment.
Down payment. Instead, use initial investment.
Monthly payment. It takes them to bill time.
Instead, use investment.
Contract. This ugly word leads to dates, locks,
attorneys, legalities. Instead, use paperwork/form.
Sell/sold. The instinctive response is, I am not buying!!!
Instead, get them involved with acquire.
Deal reminds them of bad deals, scams, lost savings.
Instead, use opportunity/transaction.
Sign for the money. Instead, use I need your OK/authorization.
Ch a p t e r 1 0
T he S c i e nc e
Be hi nd t he
P e r s ua s i on
Page 65
My staff is always coming to me with anecdotes about customers who will not buy due to poor lead
quality, or maybe market conditions, or even maybe it is raining outside. You cannot believe that the
problem is anything other than you no matter what the market condition.
Persuasion is the process of getting your prospects/customers to actively associate their most innate
feelings or mindsets with your product or service. The second part of persuasion is to get them to as-
sociate not buying with pain and regret. Take our insurance policy, for example. We sell based on our
clients emotions and how making the coverage wrong decision will affect them. If they are not emo-
tional people, we form a logical reason like money and investment options for them. If someone is on
the ledge, you must push him off, create a few more wounds in the meat with a hammer and sharp
knife and that will ultimately create more desire. We tap into to their sense of self-preservation. What
works might be emotional reasons to purchase immediately. And then if that is not enough we add
logical reasons through a special pitch designed to motivate reasoning.
My top rep tells me all the time that he reads every sales book and they all say different things, so what
should he do? I acknowledge to him that we all have differing opinions, for example, about cars or
houses. But everyone can be made to feel the pain of not owning something. No matter what it may
look like or feel like, you can draw them into the realm of sales success by opening the wounds and
creating the desire to buy. Ready ,aim, re or re, aim, run. It is difcult to close somebody without
instigating a great deal of hurt, want or desire. So make sure you know what you are pitching and why.
The Salesfreaks Process of Selling
Learn and understand prospects motivation. People do not buy needs they buy wants. Through ev-
ery need they want something. If the need is a car, they may want good gas mileage, or maybe luxury.
Behind each need there is the particular want you need to close on.
After you discover the want behind the need, rattle their cage like the police do when they pull you over
on the highway. When you mangify their pain of not owning your product to fulll their need, you are
golden. My rep, Connor, does this beautifully when he continually pitches what if scenarios concern-
ing peoples health. He doesnt pitch the person; instead, he uses their loved ones and gives examples
of other clients situations. He creates the rattle which is encouragement. Its your job to be a doctor
and to treat the patients pain. If someone needs heart surgery, then perform the operation. Show your
potential clients how to stitch up their uneasiness by using your product to fulll their needs. The Sales-
freaks Science of Persuasion is the act and process of getting your customers to clearly associate their
most intense feelings of need and want with your product or service.
The rst act of persuasion is to persuade yourself and to know your boundaries. This doesnt mean giv-
ing yourself a rah rah session. You must know yourself and reinvent your presentation. No matter what
Page 66
stage of your sales career youve reached, you can use the tools, strategies and insights that will help
you create the difference that will make the difference in your life. If you do not believe you can, you
wont. If you believe you wont, consider the 5 Ps: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
If you want to date a supermodel, then do it! You have to ask and ask and ask again. Why not? Some-
one else is going to! Do not waste your time with something you do not want or are happy with. Stop
settling for the middle of the road. Capture your dreams, aspirations, imaginations. Do more than be-
fore and you will achieve more. Change history, change your life, change your perceptions. Do it now.
Take action! Read a book off the bestseller list, off the shelf who cares, just do something I believe
you can accomplish anything! I know many people, as well as myself, who did not follow this advice.
Trust me when I say that trying to mend a rope with re does not work out in the end.
Ch a p t e r 1 1
P owe r
S t a t e me nt s
Page 69 Page 69

A sale always
burrows all the
way into the
bedrock of our
common language
Page 68
There are certain words that govern sales every day. They govern our memory. They allow us to remem-
ber certain aspects of certain situations and circumstances. As mentioned in the chapter about tonality,
its not only how you say things, its also the things you say that will be remembered. Most of us only
remember a fraction of what we hear. That small fraction makes up a language called sales jargon.
Sales jargon is powerful phrases like:
What we need to do...
Hundreds of people in your situation...
You cant afford not to...
In my professional opinion...
If I were you...
You should do this.
Most us dont remember the meat and the potatoes of a conversation. We only take in what I like to
call highlights, which are power statements. Power statements invented by Salesfreaks really help us
dictate the way a sale can and will be made. A sale always burrows all the way into the bedrock of our
common language. What I mean is that people remember the action, not the dull moments. People
remember what they want to hear.
Now, what do people really want to hear? Well, they want to save money. They want to hear that their
neighbors have done it. They want to hear compliments. They want to hear that youre good at what
you do. They want to hear your recommendations. This brings us into power statements.
What are the power words we tend to lean on? What are those certain words that people hear and
remember? What will captivate them? What will sell and close them?
There are basic commonalities between all sales profession-
als and all industries. Its a basic language which we all speak,
which becomes innate. From birth, we have strong feelings
of aggression. Take a lion cub, for instance. It innately it
knows it must stalk prey for food. In the same way, we in-
nately know that certain language will dictate to us what to
do in a given situation.
If your mother and father scream at you, youre going to raise
an offensive or defensive barrier, right? But if they speak to
Page 69 Page 69
Power
state-
ments
are big
fat state-
ments or
claims

you nicely, you lean in more. This is what we learn through experience, which
is different from what we already know innately when we are born. This is the
difference between tonality and power statements.
Statements used as closures include:
This is what you need to know
Im the best at what I do
Most people usually choose...
These are the power words in our conversations, and in our sales presenta-
tions. When I teach other sales professionals and entrepreneurs what power
statements are, everyone already knows them, but they dont know how to
use them.
Power statements are big fat statements or claims. They are what will really
stick out in a consumers eyes. Lets take selling a car, for instance. What does
somebody really want to hear? Do you think it is, Hey, Im probably going to
overcharge you, and, uh, you know, youre probably going to be quite upset
and wonder why your payments are so high at the end of the month? Thats
what people want to know, but cant know, can they?
Car salesmen know how to use certain words, like:
I can get you a deal. If you work with me, Ill go speak to my manager, and
lets see how were going to work with you.
Lets see how we can lower your payment.
Would you like leather seats or cloth seats? I, myself, would appreciate hav-
ing leather seats more. Actually, most people usually choose the leather.
When you talk as if its the hottest product in the market, then it will be for
your situation. This is why you must love what you sell. People want to hear
that what they are purchasing is what everybody else is going to purchase. Its
what you yourself purchase. Thats what power statements are. We use them
in both everyday conversations and marketing.
Not everything, a salesperson says is heard. Why? It is because we ignore
things that we really dont care about. Power statements are what the con-
sumer wants to hear. They trigger the train of thought you want: that nothing
is better than your product.
Page 70 Page 71
Salespeople try many ways to get through to the their customers, but all they really need to say is, Hey
listen, if you work with me, Im going to get you a good deal. Because thats all the customer really
wants to hear.
Customer: Hey, am I going to pay more for leather seats?
Salesperson: Well, you probably are going to invest more for leather, but this is what most intelligent
buyers usually choose because
People just want to know that they are not making the wrong decision. They want to know that others
before them have made the same decision that you are encouraging them to make. They want to hear
that you yourself would make that same decision as well.
Few things can be remembered in great detail, but many things will be remembered in fragments.
Take the statement, this is hottest selling product in the market today. Now if thats a true statement,
kudos to you, but everything you say should be that powerful. Take the line, Here is what it is going
to do for you, Mrs. Jones. Thats what people will remember.
In my own eld of health and life insurance , Im considered a master by many agencies and carriers that
have done business with me. The reason is that I know a ton about closing and prospecting for health
insurance. I know what consumers want and need. They want to know: Will the insurer cover me in
my time of need? Will it protect my nancial assets? Is this a reputable entity? And one last thing
Are you good at what you do? Can I trust you?
Now ask yourself what power statements you use.
Mr. Jones, trust me. I have your back.
Most people in your situation usually choose this.
The reason why is it the hottest selling product in the market today is...
If I were you, I would take this because most of the people in your zip code, with your height, weight,
build and, of course health go with this product.
Hands down, it is going to be there for you.
Mr. Jones, God forbid, you wind up in a hospital, guess whats going to happen? You are going to be
covered. We got your back Mr. Jones. Trust me.
Kill people with power statements. Dont kill them with product knowledge, because no one likes a
know-it-all.

We in sales
have to be like
Michael J. Fox
in his show
Spin City.
Page 71
You can say, Mr. Jones, you will have a $35 co-pay at doctors
and $10,000 deductible at the hospital. When you go to the
hospital you get 80/20 co-insurance, which will take an addi-
tional $2000 out of your pocket. With a $10,000 out-of-pock-
et max, that will be $12,000 dollars out of your pocket. Your
monthly premium will be $300. So, at the end of the year you
will have paid $3600 dollars in premium and $12,000 in medical
before the insurance kicks in. Mr. Jones thats why the insurance
is going to work for you!
Who would buy that, seriously? They will think that sounds hor-
rible. We in sales have to be like Michael J. Fox in his show Spin
City. We have to kill people with fragmentations of thought.
Mr. Jones, trust me when I say, if you had a million dollar bill at the hospital, and this insurance policy
took care of that bill, youd appreciate it and be ecstatic, am I right?
See things that are going to highlight your product in the mind of the consumer. Take real estate, for
instance. If youre selling a house, dont tell people, Hey listen, yeah, the house, you know, its in an
area where they got bad schools, and the house needs a little bit of work, so, uh, you know, dont think
youre buying into something that is going to be move-in ready! You are going to have to do a lot to
x it.
What kind of real estate agent would that make you? And, trust me, Ive dealt with salespeople and I
tried to tell them not to say this kind of thing. Be honest with your customers, but dont drive the sale
away.
A good real estate agent would say, Hey, Mike, I got a great investment opportunity for you. Now in
this area, I want to tell you, they are working on the schools, public activities and recreation parks and
this is an opportunity for the future. Its a phenomenal investment, in my opinion. If you invest in this,
you put a few dollars in, I can almost guarantee that you can probably make some type of return. And
you, youre more suitable for the market because you know exactly what you are looking for. This is the
kind of house that you described to me. So tell me your thoughts. This agent doesnt put the facts in
a negative way, but still states the obvious.
Page 73

Act stupid. Never

be smarter than a
prospect.
Page 72
One very powerful statement is, more importantly. In a sales conversation, use it instead of um,
uh or huh those horrible negative words that deter sales. Used correctly, this phrase makes it
look like you really are thinking; while continually saying um, uh makes you sound unintelligent
Saying and more importantly gives you time to collect your thoughts without using the annoying
ller words.
Another power statement you can use in similar circumstances is, I hope that makes sense.
Power statements are the highlights we remember, not the uff. Take, for example, the sentence, The
stove is steaming hot! What we remember and take from that sentence is our picture of steam coming
off this stove, and the feeling of that heat. We develop pictures of things we hear and create feelings
for them as well. But if somebody says, Dont touch the stove, its hot, the only thing well remember
is, Stoves hot. That is the power statement in the sentence.
Remember that in all areas of your sales platform. If you have a phenomenal product that is coming out
into the market, tell people that this it is the hottest. Encourage them to want to purchase this product.
Dont deter them with ugly sales jargon and telling them everything about the product from A to Z. No
one really cares. I never read a product brochure I look at the charts and pictures.
Think about it. When you purchase anything online, do you ever read that disclaimer? Most likely, no,
you just check the yes button to make it look like you did. But thats jargon. In sales, when you give
people information they didnt ask for, you are wasting your time and scaring them off. If they dont
ask about it, you can assume they dont care about it.
Have the answers ready in case they ask, but dumb it down to the ridiculous. The KISS (Keep It Simple,
Stupid) principle is still today a sales reality. Act stupid. Never be smarter than a prospect. When you are,
people wont want to buy it from you because they dont
trust you. Everybody wants to feel that they got the best of
the deal and not that you are outsmarting them. So dumb
your pitch down, dumb everything down and throw power
statements at your prospects.
Mr. Jones more importantly, Im here for you. Consider me
your liaison to this industry. Mr. Jones, trust me when I say
no one knows more about this product than I do. Mr. Jones,
what are your concerns, because you seem like a knowledge-
able individual, and I want to address them for you.
Page 73 Page 73
Hey, Mr. Jones, in my opinion, I suggest that we do this. Now Mr. Jones will begin to trust you be-
cause youre being real with him. Youre not talking at him, youre talking with him.
Power statements are all around us: on TV, billboards and the internet. They are the keys to inuence.
And remember, its also how you say the power statements, as discussed in the chapter on tonality.
Thats the best way to represent yourself and your product to the client.
There are tens and even hundreds of thousands of power statements, but this is how they all work. We
all remember blowing our candles on a special birthday; the look on a friends face at a surprise party;
our wedding day; or our kids rst words. It could be winning the big event, our graduation or inaugu-
ration speech. We take the same mental snapshots. Its like the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You
Get) principle for computers. What you hear is what you get in sales. The customer takes a picture of
you and your representation of the product. If you dont look good, the product doesnt look good. If
you dont sound good, the product denitely doesnt sound good.
Formulate a correct vision and outlook for the client. You want that light bulb and cloud of smoke to go
over his head, as in the cartoons, and make him imagine himself using your product or service. Make
him want to own your product through power statements the keywords. We remember our kids
rst word, Daddy/mommy. Thats a power statement to us, that we will remember forever, because
its a special event that had meaning to it. People will remember free health insurance, for instance,
even if they dont remember the rest of the sentence.
Mr. Jones, you had heart attack, youre uninsurable. Whats the power word in the sentence? Un-
insurable. That is an example of a negative power word.
Instead, say, Mr. Jones, since we cant really qualify you for that product due to your pre-existing con-
ditions, Im sure we can qualify you for some special programs developed for people in your situation.
As a matter of fact, most people in your situation usually go with this because it gives them the added
value and protection that they may need now and for years to come. There are different ways of
phrasing things, to help people remember and give it a different contextual value. More importantly,
phrases build value for your customers.
Page 74 Page 75
Here are some phrases you can use when you wish to control conversations or infuence decisions in
your direction:
Mr. Jones, as an intelligent individual I, suggest that we do this.
Mr. Jones, as an intelligent individual, youve been through this many times in the past, am I right in
saying that? So, if you were me and I were you, we would probably both make the right decision and
thats going with this product, am I right? Because we know there are no other products that can com-
pare. We know this is going to give you the best value for the dollar. Why am I telling you that? Because
its obvious to me that youre knowledgeable, You already know that. Youve done your research. More
importantly, let me ask you ,Mr. Jones.
Using power statements makes people believe in themselves. Youre giving them the power of inuence.
You can you use power statements online the same way. They have to stand out like neon signs on a
bar. They should be on the front of your website, highlighting the hottest selling product in the market.
Top-rated
Most people choose...
All of our valued clients go with this.
When build your website or blog, remember that people are buying your power statements. They want
to know what youve accomplished. They dont care about the rest. They dont care about your strug-
gles. They dont care about anything except whats in it for them. We are a greedy breed.
We all ask, How is this stock going to make me rich? Recently friend named Ron called me and said,
Michael, Ive got a great IPO coming out. I cant tell you the symbol yet but, I guarantee you its going
to make you a lot of money in my opinion.
I said, Perfect, cant wait to talk to you about it. When can we talk?
The point is, I thought the opportunity was phenomenal without even hearing about the company or
anything. I was sold just on Rons power statement. All I needed to hear was that I would make money.
A great investment.
The return on your investment.
Mr. Jones, your monthly premium will be only
Mr. Jones, grab a voided check and bring it to the phone and Ill hold. Mr. Jones, here is what wehave to do.
Michael, here is what we should do to get into the new IPO.
Michael, if you want to make money, listen to me.
Hold my hand; consider me your liaison to the industry.
Page 75
Compliment
a client
before you
proceed to
the sales
pitch

Michael, more importantly I noticed your business...

Heres what we need to do.
Youre an entrepreneur. Youre a salesman. Youre that one percent of the
population who want more out of life. And you will do things that other peo-
ple wont. Because you want to get to a different level. Michael Jordan went
to practice before anyone else and stayed after the gym closed. This was a
guy that got kicked off his high school basketball team and the coach said
to him, You just dont have it, kid. Thats the same guy who owns the bas-
ketball team today, and has shoes and clothes named after him: Air Jordans.
This was the guy who never gave up on his dreams; and dont you do it either.
Remember that life is a big power statement, and you can either use it, abuse
it, or lose it period.
Compliment a client before you proceed to the sales pitch. This gains his trust
as well as his support in your favor. If someone calls you intelligent, how does
that make you feel? Do you feel, Who is this guy and what is he up to? Or
do you say, Oh, thank you? Would you ever say, Im not intelligent, how
dare you say that to me, I dont know anything about this?
When you compliment and then proceed, you put people into a buyers state
of mind. A good, outstanding, positive state in your eyes and the prospects.
Compare these two statements: Honey, youre looking absolutely stunning
today or Honey, you look atrocious in that dress. Ones a power statement
and ones not. The rst is a complimentary statement. The other one is, Wow,
man, you just ruined your night with that comment, funny as it might be.
How would you feel if somebody said, You know what, somebody as intelli-
gent as yourself obviously understands?
You are obviously reading this section on power statements because youre
a smarter individual than most of the common salespeople. You know you
dont want to be in the other 80%; you want to be among the elite. You want
to be the top seller in the industry. You want to take your product to market
and understand the conceptual value that it can bring to an individual. You
want to understand your industry and the marketplace. You want to under-
stand how to make money. Am I right?
Page 77

No ones going
to work harder for
you, trust me
when I say that.
Page 76
Power statements are reality. Fluff doesnt sell anymore. You have to sell yourself. Sell all the words that
come out of your mouth. Sell words that people will remember, paint a picture that tells a story. It all
depends on how you paint the picture.
Health insurance is essential in every household.
More importantly, do me a favor.
The phenomenal aspect of this program is that you are actually going to understand how to use pow-
er statements in everyday language.
Most people usually choose...
Mr. Jones, most people usually go with this, because it gives them a better return on their investment.
Now, Ive seen the others, but a lot of people call me up to ask for this product by name.
Trust me, Mr. Jones, I have your back. No ones going to work harder for your business than I am. Mr.
Jones, I work the hours of 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday all the way through Friday, for you, Mr.
Jones.
No ones going to work harder for you, trust me when I say that.
More importantly, no one has my training and/or resources, Mr. Jones.
Now, when you ask me a question, if I dont know the answer, Im the kind of guy thats going to walk right
over to my sales manager and/or the CEO of my company to get you the correct information.
Mr. Jones, I go above and beyond for all my clients, because every single one of them is valued.
Whether they have a thousand dollars or 100 thousand dollars with me, everybody is of equal value.
Nobody will give you more attention or more support, Mr. Jones, than you will receive from myself.
Now, heres what we have to do from here.
All of the above are power statements. Think about which ones will be good for your industry, then
get to know them and use them. Write down 20 power statements on your products and services. I sell
products and services and so do you. What makes your
product stand out from everybody elses? What makes
you different? The difference in the end is always going
to make the difference. More importantly, why do you
need to hear things like, I am the best at what I do?
What kind of feelings do they give you?
If you told a prospect, Im okay with what I do. Im the mid-
dle tier salesperson in my organization, how would that
close him or convince him to do business with you? Who
wants to deal with the middle guy, or the lower guy?
Page 77 Page 77
Who would you rather receive a call from: a junior associate at Citibank from an ofce in Oklahoma, or
Citibanks VP of Sales in NY? Which of them do you think will give you better information? You really
dont know, but you assume it will be the VP because of the title and the power behind the title. You
assume that whoever has that status has more information to help us.
Im the best at what I do Mr. Jones, so hands down, theres nobody else better.
Let me ask you a quick question, Mr. Jones.
This is the hottest selling product in the market.
I tend to hear that a lot, Mr. Jones.
Agree with people, and dont disagree with them. If they say, I heard about your company on the
Better Business Bureau and it read this, Take some time and respond, Mr. Jones, I tend to hear that
often, and the reason is that the BBB only hears from angry customers. They never look at the other
hundreds of thousands of people who are completely happy and satised. If you just looked at plane
crashes instead of how many land safely per day, you would never y either. And a lot of those com-
plaints are always cleared up and rectied, but the BBB never hears about the solutions. Mr. Jones, lets
do this. You are an intelligent person, and you seem pretty knowledgeable on this. [Ask for money us-
ing power statements.] Your monthly investment, or your return on investment will be If you invested
in this today, your low monthly premium will be...
Whenever you say to somebody, A phenomenal aspect of this program is... you should state the
return on their investment. Mrs. Jones the most exciting part about this product will be the return on
your money. You will be able to have this product now and for years to come. Now, Mrs. Jones, when
we break that down to the ridiculous, its a small investment for a huge return, am I right in saying
that?
Whenever I ask for money, I always say, Please, grab a voided check. If you put the word void in
front of it, that creates a power statement for the customer. It says, Hey, listen, Im not trying to take
your money right now. Other ways to say it are: I want you to detail and highlight your nancial re-
cords and Ill hold. or Please grab a voided check and bring it to the phone.
People will do it because youve put it subtly for them. But when you slam somebody lwith, Grab a
check for me and well get this taken care of, all of a sudden, they feel the money coming out of their
pockets. People dont like to spend their money.
Page 78
No matter what business youre in investments, real estate or whatever you have to say, Lets
detail and highlight your nancial records at this time. When you do this, it creates e a professional at-
mosphere. Instead of saying, Hey, I need your money right now, go get me a check, Visa, MasterCard,
whichever one you want, that is negative and gives a bad impression.
Dont use that old alternative of choice close. It only works if it is part of the assumptive close. Here
youre wording things differently with the correct tonality until the customer gets it.
Hey, listen, youre making a sound investment with me. This isnt a fy-by-night organization, this is
real, Mr. Jones, so grab a voided check, lets detail and highlight your nancial records.
Another power word to use when you ask for money is only. Mrs. Jones, the premium on this prod-
uct is only going to be... Mrs. Jones, this is the lowest premium with the highest value.
Avoid words like cost and price. Do not say, This is only going to cost you 59 dollars a month.
That gets the customer thinking about the negative word that negative power statement that im-
plies money is going out of his pocket and nothing is returning to him. Thats not a good power state-
ment for your prospects.
Instead, say:
Mrs. Jones, your premium is only going to be 59 dollars a month with a return on investment of a
value of X. If you invest in this today, this will probably last you with ease of use the next ve years.
Now, Mr. Jones, that purchase may be a substantial deal, although the investment is not. Let me ex-
plain why. For 10,000 dollars, Mr. Jones, you want to know what your terms going to be? Happiness,
Mr. Jones. Youre going to be able to drive a car anywhere you want, experience life the way you want
it. So, if you settle for something thats not right, thats not what you ultimately wanted, you will never
get it back.
Oh, Mr. Jones youre going to regret your decision and its hard to roll back on those decisions. Dont
let things get ugly and prevent them before they happen. More importantly, lets go ahead and do this,
because people in your situation usually make the right choice and that is X.
All power statements. Its your turn to make the money, utilizing your new techniques. What power
statements can I use in my business, you ask? In addition to the examples given above, here are over
a hundred I make my team know and use daily.

Page 79
1.) I know you do not need life insurance, but someone else does.
2.) Many people choose the most comprehensive plan because the benets may be needed one day.
After all, this is why we all purchase health insurance.
3.) It is not a question of no, but a question of when.
4.) Most people are using their personal checking electronically to prevent their policy from lapsing.
5.) Obviously it is a matter of trust, am I right?
6.) This is how business is done.
7.) This is the most easily processed way of doing business.
8.) I will have you completely situated with the top carrier available in your area.
9.) What makes my company different is that after the sale we still value our relationship with our cus-
tomers/clients.
10.) Please do not make me take the blame for what others may have proposed to you.
11.) If I do not tell you the facts, my job is on the line, my livelihood. I am not willing to
jeopardize that, Mr. Jones, for one policy. I want to assist you to earn your trust and gain referrals to
grow my business.
12.) There is only one way to the top and that is up. There are no shortcuts in life, Mr. Jones; thats why
I want to be honest with you now.
13.) I work very closely with the director of sales at TOBIAS INC and attend one-on-one training to make
sure I am the best and at my peak everyday. I assure you that is the service you will acquire by going
with me.
14.) Mr. Jones, big thinkers focus on small things attention to detail. I am the detail that most agents
lack. A lot of agents try to earn your business by giving you false hope. Let me be honest with you
without the uff and give you what you need.
15.) Hey, even though no one wants to think about it, they have to have life insurance; there is no rea-
son not to carry it This is also why we need health insurance you just never know what can happen.
16.) I am sure you know some people who have had cancer, heart attacks, or another critical condition,
am I right?
17.) Have you put any thought into a good life insurance product lately?
Page 80
18.) Did you know life insurance has come down as much as 30% in recent years?
When did youpurchase?
19.) Did you know..
20.) Most people tend to think and do
21.) If I were in your position
22.) I certainly understand and appreciate thatlet me ask you...
23.) The reason I say that is because.and what it means to you is, and what it really
means to you is,
24.) If I were you, Id
25.) Most people usually choose
26.) If I could provide you with a lower premium, is that something you would like?
27.) Do you know most people tend to say the same thing?
28.) Let me ask you a quick question.
29.) I understand how you feel.
30.) If I were in your shoes...
31.) Most people would go with this
32.) Did you know that insurance is essential in every household?
33.) If your daughter were in the hospital, would price be a consideration then?
34.) If you think about thinking about it, it rarely gets you anywhere but where you do not want to be.
35.) The right choice is the one we just discussed.
36.) I know what you are thinking and if I were you
37.) Trust me, because I have your back.
38.) I know insurance and I truly believe this is the right plan for you!
39.) I am your liaison to the ABC industry.
40.) No one knows this industry better than I do.
Page 81
41.) Most people add an accidental benet to protect their families from nancial distress.
42.) I know you already know this, but I would go with the
43.) I am here to keep you as a client for life!
44.) When it comes to care, you have me as your agent.
45.) I enjoy what I do because I get to work with people like you.
46.) Many agents do not know what I know.
47.) I do not want to put you in a plan I think you should be in, I want to put you in a
plan that actually works.
48.) I believe this is the best choice for you.
49.) I am the best at what I do.
50.) I am good at what I do .
51.) When your policy arrives...
52.) Take advantage of my experience.
53.) Let me help you.
54.) An intelligent person such as yourself would agree.
55.) A phenomenal aspect of this program
56.) I help hundreds of people in your same situation.
57.) We are the top producing agency.
58.) In my opinion...
59.) As a licensed agent...
60.) Youre a knowledgeable person.
61.) You obviously know what you want.
62.) I am your company liaison.
63.) I know insurance, trust me.
64.) A leading in-house agency.
Page 82
65.) A person of your intelligence...
66.) More importantly...
67.) What we need to do...
68.) You cant afford not to.
69.) Going with me means youre dealing with the best.
70.) Very simply...
71.) This is how it works.
72.) Basically what we will do...
73.) Essentially...
74.) No one has my resources or training.
75.) We are the only agency with in-house underwriting.
76.) Our patent pending system called ABC Co.
77.) I am married to our relationship.
78.) Give me your condence and trust me.
79.) We have an elite team of advisors.
80.) You already know what it entailsnow let me explain the approval process.
81.) No one understands your needs better.
82.) Youre lucky to have me on the phone.
83.) I know how to assess needs.
84.) Health insurance is essential in every household.
85.) Now the most important thing...
86.) The real question is, how do I attain this, right?
87.) You should go with me because no other agent knows what I know.
88.) Local agents do not have my resources or abilities.
Page 83
89.) I work for a publicly traded company, here to serve your needs.
90.) Your monthly investment...
91.) Do me a favor and grab a voided check to detail your nancial records.
92.) We have thousands of satised clients who were in your same situation.
93.) We can help.
94.) I want to partner with you and your family to secure your future.
95.) It is not a question of information but a question of trust. Let me ask you...
96.) I love what I do I help people make the right decisions.
97.) Believe me when I say no one will work harder for you.
98.) I have hundreds of people working alongside of me, willing to help you with any
concerns or questions.
99.) I am trying to cultivate a solid understanding of this product and process for you.
100.) Let me be honest with you.
101.) I do not want to use sales lingo, but I do want to speak to you as a friend.
102.) I am married to our future relationship, not the company.
103.) I do not sell anyone anything; I try to create an investment with a peace of mind return.
104.) I would never use defamation against a company or competitor; its not professional/right..
105.) Thats why you have me on the phone to help.
106.) I am your interactive brochure.
107.) Let me guide you through the process of insurance.
108.) I eat, sleep and breathe health insurance.
109.) Place your condence in me and you will not go wrong.
110.) No one knows more than I do about
111.) Makes perfect sense, right?
Page 84
112.) When you use this card at your pharmacy...
113.) How does your name appear on your license with or without your middle initial?
114.) I agree with you, Mr. Jones. If I could move a 58 billion dollar company to change a
process for you, I would.
115.) The only way they work is by their standards my hands are tied here.
116.) Below the memo portion of that check there is a 9 digit sequence. And the next set of digits...
117.) Consider thinking about thinking. It gets you nowhere, right?
118.) As one professional to another...
119.) I am from the enrollment division of TOBIAS INC.
120.) I am a senior managing agent.
121.) I realize I can get ahead of myself, but let me be frank.
Ch a p t e r 1 2
S a l e s
F r a mi ng
Page 87

We use certain
words that give
proof to all of our
statements
Page 86
Speech patterns are the most effective tool in sales. Our pattern of speech will develop the customers
mindset to pursue our product or service. We encompass our power statements. We encompass all of
our big fat claims. We encompass all of our knowledge about our product and the company. We use
our tonality in order to enthrall our clients and prospects, while the sales framework justies and gives
reasons for people to make that purchase.
Everybody in or outside of sales uses some sort of framing technique. We use justication and
give reasons why we either like something or dislike it. We use certain words that give proof to all of
our statements. Thats exactly what framing is dened as.
This lesson will bring your sales closing rates at least 10 to 20 percent above your current level, even if
you only use it a fraction of the time. Using power statements, tonality and formulating into framing is
putting it all on the sales line. Without framing, you will not have the sale.
We all need permission to probe. We all need to give proofs and justify why a client should believe us,
our product and/or service, and why it can benet them. We need to get them on our side
So what is sales framing? It is giving evidence to support a claim, such as one of the big power state-
ments covered in the previous chapter. So we cant just state, I am the best at what I do, with no
reasoning or justication to back it up. We have to give recent proof, and then give justication behind
that proof. We then have to ask for clarity from our prospect in return.
Framing is about explaining any sales statement, such as, Im the best at what I do or My company
is best suited for you because... If we dont give a reason for a statement, its just a statement. Its
like a catchy headline of a newspaper. You have to read the article after seeing it, right? You cant just
read, City in Trouble and walk away! It makes you won-
der, Why? Whats the reasoning? Tell me whats going on.
Wheres the evidence? What does this mean to me? What
does it really mean to me? Whats going to happen?
These are questions that all of your prospects and clients, all
around you, are asking. Everyone is saying, Well, why do I
want this? Why do I want to buy from you? Youre going to
tell them why through framing.
Framing is all around you and I am sure you are asking who
really uses it. The answer is: important people like presidents.
If you ever watch CSPAN, or just a presidential address, you
Page 87 Page 87
will see that President Obama, President Clinton (who is one of the best framers ever), all politicians use
a framework because it gets us on their page. It helps us to understand where they are coming from. It
helps us to become the average person who has no disbelief in their statements. We believe the clarity
of their power statement. So if the president said, I am the best at what I do, he would also say, The
reason why is because of X, and what does it mean to you? What does it really mean to you? Why are
you asking me? He asks your permission to get on his side. This has also been done by a number of
sales speakers out there.
This is really important because its is what will help you get from 0 to 100. Without using framing with
your customers, they wont have an understanding of your product. You cant just read a brochure to a
prospect and hope that he likes it. You cant just say, Did you like my presentation?
This is why you should...
You should go with my product because of XYZ.
What its going to do for you is XYZ.
What its really going to do for you is YZX. Now my purpose is to explain the product to let you be-
come a valued client.
Do you mind if I ask? and then proceed.
The rst step to the framing technique is power statements, covered in the previous chapter. I am the
best at what I do. Let me be your company liaison. Let me be your interactive brochure. Most people
in your situation...
Step 2 is to follow the power statements with the word because. Then insert a justication or two.
The third step is to ask for permission to proceed. If you dont use your power statements, you dont
use your justication, if you dont give your reasons, if you dont go for permission to probe well,
you dont have anything left.
Lets go over it in detail.
Why do you have to explain a power statement? If I just told you, I am the best at what I do and left
it at that, youd say, I hear this all the time. Why are you the best at what you do? I never heard of you
before. What can you do for me? Whats in it for me? What did you do for me lately? What can you
do for me now?
Make a bold statement, and make it memorable. Make it really, really bold. I am the best at what I do.
The reason I say that is because most of the people in your situation who ask me if I can save them up
to 40% on their current health insurance, I have been able to help.
You can use any power statement you want.
Page 88 Page 89
Ms. Jones, most people in your situation usually go with plan X. The reason I say that is because
With my sales leadership courses, you will become a 1000% better closer than if you had never
taken a course before. The reason I say that is because I have seen salespeople I trained use all of my
techniques and close 1000% more than they did before.
Now thats a strong, bold statement Ms. Jones. But I have the evidence to support it. One of my
trainees was a busboy when he started out with me. He transformed himself into a qualifer, fronter,
and then licensed agent. He is now one of my top closers, going from 0 a week to an average of 10 a
week using my closing techniques. Sometimes in an exceptional week he will sell upwards of 20 health
insurance policies.
This is the second phase of our process of hammering that frame around our picture our framework
using the word because. We have to use it because people need reasons! People need justica-
tion. People want to believe. They want reasons to believe. So give them statements of fact. You cant
just say, This house is haunted. People would say, Really? Why is that?
We usually answer a question with because. If a customer asks, Why do most people choose this?,
you say, Because it has... and then give more reasons to support it.
Because is a word we all love to use. If youre waiting for a cab, and a pregnant lady comes along,
she can say, Do you mind if I catch the cab, because I need to get across town and Im currently preg-
nant. Do you mind helping me? Most people will say yes. When you give a reason or justication with
your big bold statement, people will believe what you are saying.
Mrs. Jones, hands down, I am the best at what I do. The reason is my years of training and countless
leadership courses. Mrs. Jones, I have taken multiple companies public and helped them go from 0 to
millions of dollars in submitted premiums. More importantly, my job is to help you, Mrs. Jones.
Mrs. Jones, consider me your interactive brochure. Most brochures will show you a family holding
hands, roller-skating down a street using our product. That brochure will not answer your questions.
The reason is that its not me. I am here to tell you the good, the bad and the indifferent, Mrs. Jones,
because I want you to keep a product will work for you, not against you. Does that make sense?

This phase is a moving target, so be careful. Make sure your reason is a benet for the client. Show
proof, and show evidence. Make it seem reasonable, and let it paint the picture.
Now, Mrs. Jones, the reason I say this, and what it really means to you, is that Im going to be here in
your time of need. The brochure, it wont answer your phone call. I will. The brochure only shows you
Page 89
And
making
the right
decision
is based
on the
real facts.

the pretty pictures; I am going to show you the bad ones, too. Because, Mrs.
Jones, lets face it, nothing is all good. But there can be more good than bad. I
am here to tell you about both sides. Mrs. Jones, I want you to make the right
decision. And making the right decision is based on the real facts.
More importantly, what it means to you, Mrs. Jones, is that I can at least
double your current level of production because I can guarantee that you are
not asking for the sale more than ve times. Am I right in saying that?
A lot of us get scared, we get skittish, and thats OK. What it really means
to you is that I am going to develop you into the sales assassin you always
wanted to be. The one whos not afraid ask ve times in one call or one sit-
ting. How is that going to elevate you, Mrs. Jones? If you ask for the money
more, you will get more responses, more, yesses. Why? Simply because you
asked. Were going to get rid of that fear of rejection. Were going to teach
you the tonality, the framework, and how to tout yourself and your company.
Mrs. Jones, we are going to teach you how to make more money. Does that
make sense?
Reasons must be benets to the customer.
What it really means to you is...
What this product will really do for you is
For maximum effectiveness, give three reasons. This is the power of three used
in the porcupine close, which will be covered in the last chapter. Give one fact,
and the customer will think, Alright I get it, the guy is good. Give two more
reasons, and you add more justication to it.
What it means to you by going with me is X and what it really means to you
is that I will be able to make you more money, and by purchasing our product,
its going to make your life easier.
Going with the upgraded leather interior for this car means that you are
going to be more comfortable over time. Mrs. Jones, would you rather spend
an extra couple hundred dollars to be happier over the next two years? Think
about it. We only live a very short time, and in that time we only get to own
a few cars. Now, is the $100 worth the investment? Will you spend a lifetime
unhappy with this option? Would you rather be upset and always say, I wish I
had made the right decision? Make sure when you make a decision, the facts
are fresh in your mind, Mrs. Jones. What it really means to you is just purely,
Page 91

You have to close

them. Always ask
for that permission.
Page 90
youre going to be happier. You and I both know it. Most people in your situation would make the same
decision. Heres what we have to do
Reasons must be supported by evidence the proof of what you claim. In building a sales framework,
you must justify everything. Evidence will make sense to the clients.

Step 3 is to probe the clients about buying and answer buying questions. You have to close them. Al-
ways ask for that permission.
Now, Ms. Jones, I am so condent that you can help your business close more with these techniques
that I am going to ask you a quick question. Do you mind if I ask?
Mrs. Jones, my purpose at this time is to ask you a few simple questions.
My purpose at this time is to ask you a few simple questions, and to get a few simple answers.
Mrs. Jones, my purpose at this time, is to get your answers to a few simple questions.
Mrs. Jones, my purpose at this time is to go ahead and to get everything out to you. In order to do
that, I want to enter an effective date. Is the rst or the second date more appropriate for you? Which
one would work better for you, Mrs. Jones? The third or the fourth?
My purpose at this time is to get a better start date for you and your family.
Mr. CEO, my purpose at this time is just to get your opinion based upon what you have seen in the
marketplace compared to what we just went over. Do you mind if I ask you a question?
Now you have permission to probe and then you move on.
You can use sales framework in anything. America, my purpose at this time is to let you all know why
we need to be in the Middle East. Our purpose as a nation is to know and understand why we are going
through XYZ.
You must remember to close. Everybody needs to
be closed right away on what they just heard. You
cant wait or waste time on that. You cant wait to
close on the meanings and the justications that
you just went over boldly with your client. Sales
framing, once again, is all power statements. You
have to claim it. Big, bad, ugly, beautiful or whatev-
er you want to put there - just justify it. Give your
reasons, which are benets: what it really means to
your clients.
Page 91 Page 91
You as a sales framework closer will greatly understand this as you develop power statements for your
product, business, website, real estate, insurance, furniture or whatever your business may be. Wheth-
er youre a high-line executive or you sell for yourself, you must understand what your customers are
looking for. Put yourself in their position, and ask yourself, Is this what I want to hear? And what
meaning and justication do I need in order to get closed on something like this? Only then will you
become a true sales professional. Combine this with all of the other techniques and you will crush your
competition.
Ch a p t e r 1 3
T i e - Downs
T he S a l e s f r e a k s Wa y
Page 93
There are many sales trainers, videos and books telling you that they know the most about tie-downs.
They know that tie-downs will always bring you to the bank, will close a sale. Well, you know, its just
not true. To create a sale, tie-downs are combined with your framework, your tonality, all the sales
closings and approaches.
Tie-downs are so effective and so common in everyday language that we just dont recognize them.
Every time an individual says right? to you, he is tying you down unconsciously. He is looking for
clarication, afrmation, an agreement frame.
Place your agreement frames in such a way that you are slowly motivating customers and persuading
them to make the decision youre encouraging them to make. We all know that decision is going to be
the right one ultimately, dont we? Use a variety of tie-downs, so that you dont sound redundant, too
cheesy or slick, or like youre using too many pressure tactics.
My rep, Connor, said to me the other day, Hey, Mike, I fnally get the tie-down thing and it actually
works! Salespeople are always surprised when a technique works. It is like putting gas in a car, you
need both to work.

There are four types of closing tie-downs:
1.) Standard
2.) Inverted
3.) Internal
4.) Tag-on
Standard Tie-down
This is the second most commonly used type. Have you ever noticed such phrases as Have you? or
Am I right? or Wouldnt you agree? at the end of sentences? To have an effective sales pitch, you
must get the customer to agree with you, but in such a manner that you dont seem devious or like the
cliche car salesman who is perceived as trying to pressure customers into a deal.
The standard tie-down is used at the end of the sentence.
Of course they do, dont they?
Sometimes we lose the attention of our customers, am I right?
We have to bring them back into the conversation, does that make sense?
Page 95

When you
utilize tie
downs in your
pitch it can be
more effective
in closing
Page 94
Never use a standard tie-down more than twice. Thats because it has become so deafening to a con-
sumers ear. He will realize that youre trying to close him. So be very, very quiet with it, and do not
over-use it! Although it is the best one, you have to be very subtle, like a mouse stealing cheese.
Examples of two tie-downs inside the sales framework:
Salesman: Choosing the upgraded version will make more sense, am I right? Customer: Yes. Sales-
man: I am, arent I?
Salesman: Hey, choosing a higher deductible would make sense, am I right? Of course I am, arent I?
Obviously you would like to use more tie downs for a more effective presentation, wouldnt you? You
would, right?
When you utilize tie downs in your pitch it can be more effective in closing, cant it? It can, right?
You should start using the power of tie downs, shouldnt you? You should, right?
Mike: Sales is about using tie-downs, isnt it? You: Yes it is, Mike. Mike: It is, right?
Reafrm the answer you just received. Tie it down and tag it on, and then people will follow your lead.
Just remember that and you will be a tie-down king or queen. Thats your tool for success today so
please do not move on until you actually get it. Do not just read it, seek to understand it.
Inverted Tie-Down
This is the opposite of a standard tie-down. Here, the questioning phrase is placed at the beginning of
a sentence.
Isnt it true that using inverted tie-downs will bring your closing rates
up?
Wouldnt it make sense to use more inverted tie-downs in your sales
pitch?
Isnt it true that sales pitches work better with inverted tie-downs
work than they do without them?
Wouldnt you feel more comfortable using tie-downs in the begin-
ning of your sentences?
Couldnt you see yourself using inverted tie-downs?
Havent you seen inverted tie downs structured into a pitch before?
More importantly, wouldnt you agree that its the best choice?
Havent you seen the new product line?
Cant you imagine yourself in a new car?
Ms. Jones, couldnt you imagine yourself driving down A1A in that
LeBaron convertible?
Page 95 Page 95
People answer these questions in their heads and express answers through agreement frames. They will
say, Yeah, of course, that makes sense, I understand that. People will usually say yes to things that
they arent used to, or that they really dont know because its an agreement frame. They feel obligated
to say yes.
Wouldnt you agree that the best choice is XYZ?
You wouldnt agree that going to the doctor and paying full price is better than a $50 copay, would
you, Ms. Jones? Does that make any sense? It doesnt, does it.
Internal Tie-Down
This type of tie-down is found in the middle of a sentence. Internal tie-downs help formulate a congru-
ent pitch in style and technique.
You can still use the same questioning phrases, like: havent she, havent they, isnt it true, wouldnt,
couldnt, shouldnt, havent.
When you go to the Doctor, couldnt you see yourself using this benet?
I mean, after something happens, isnt that when we all wish we had made the right decision?
Note that the tie-down phrases are right in the middle.
Mrs. Jones, when you go to the doctor and you have a $35 co-pay, wouldnt it make more sense
then nish the sentence.
Ms. Jones, when you purchase this car, couldnt you see yourself driving down A1A?
Now nish the close. Finish the sentence in such a way that it requires a yes response and then tag
on another tie-down. Internal tie-downs wont be used as much as inverted or standard ones, but will
be used simplistically to probe for a close.
When you use tie-downs, wouldnt it make sense to use internal incorporated with standard tie-
downs?
When you pitch your clients, couldnt you see yourself using more internal-tie downs within the
framework of a conversation?
Thats exactly how you use internal tie downs.
When you mix up your pitch with different styles, dont you think it can be more effective for the
customer to understand?
If you use tie-downs in the middle of a sentence, wouldnt it help you close more customers?
When utilizing techniques such as tie-downs, couldnt they help you close more business?
Page 96 Page 97
Tag-on
The tag-on is the most commonly used techniques in sales. And it is my favorite. A tag-on is a tie-down
after a statement or reaction from the customer. It gets an agreement frame, and reects commitment
and condence.
You: Whats your favorite color? Friend: Red. You: It is, right?
Whenever you ask a question and the customer responds, say, It is, right? or whatever would be the
correct words to use in the situation. A statement and then a question is all you need. All youre doing
is tagging it on.
Salesman: Ms. Jones, you want copays within your program, isnt that right? Customer: Yes!Sales-
man: It is, isnt it?
Standard tie-downs, and then a tag-on. A tag-on is getting an agreement frame or receiving an answer
and then tying them down again. Tag on all of your tie-downs to be a more efcient and more produc-
tive closer.
Salesman: Ms. Jones, would you prefer leather interior, or would you rather choose a cloth material?
Ms. Jones: Leather. Salesman: You do, right? Excellent!
Salesman: Ms Jones, would you rather go look at the $500,000 house or the $600,000 house? Ms.
Jones: The $600,000 house. Salesman: You would, correct?
Many people and sales professional use tag-ons without knowing what they are really doing or being
aware of it. You must pay close attention to tie-downs because they are one of the most powerful
techniques in a presentation. For example:
Agent: Do you think this program can work for you? Client: Yep. Agent: You do, right?
More importantly, tag-ons are very simple, and very effective. Always require an answer, and as soon as
you get it, tag it on and say:
Im correct, right?
Isnt that right?
That makes sense, doesnt it?
Makes sense, right?
You do, right?
Right, Mr. Jones?
Page 97
They want
to be part
of that
valued
asset that
youre
providing

Havent you?
Arent you?
Hasnt it?
Hasnt she?
Couldnt it?
Shouldnt it?
Wouldnt it?
Didnt it?
Wasnt it?
There are so many different forms. Become more knowledgeable in the way
you say things, more educated about tie-downs as part of the framework that
gets you to probe for a close.
Every time the customer says, It must be true, or anything helpful to your
sale, tie it down. Youre going to get a complete agreement, arent you?
Wont you? Shouldnt you? Always ask for an agreement frame through the
use of tie-downs. You could advance the sale to the point where the customer
will be ready to make the nal yes, but tie downs alone will not always do it.
Learn many different ways to ask so you dont sound redundant. I used to
work for a VP of a major company, who said in every single speech, Right?
right? right? trying to get everybody to agree with him. But it was so
apparent that it was annoying. It was like having a parrot on the shoulder. You
have to disguise your agreement frames. Disguise the way you do things, and
you will be a closer.
If you use tie-downs throughout all your pitches, you will become such a phe-
nomenal closer, that you will not just go up 100% or 200% in your closing
abilities, but you will bring in an innite amount of sales. Because this is a
language a jargon which closers need to learn. Do not be afraid to sound
like a salesperson. You are one. You are the professional, who looks good, and
sounds good. People will want to become part of your team, and want to be
your client. They want to be part of that valued asset that youre providing. So
make sure that you do things right, say things the right way, speak the right
way, and you, too, will go ahead and close.
Page 98
Breaking Up Sales
Imagine yourself having the amount of money of your most vivid dreams. What do you feel? What do
you think? What will you do? What will you buy?
SPR a concept borrowed from one of my sales training mentors will help you get there. Stimulus,
Pause and Response will cause the desired outcome. Practice, drill and rehearse this daily! The event
taking place in your sales conversation will be dictated by the way you think, feel and react in the sales
process. If you fail to use techniques like tie-downs, your customers will not react to your sales conver-
sation the way you intend them to.
True champions practice their sporteventscienceeld. Do you? If not, why not?
If you just learn to prepare intensely, you will have superior preparation and develop faster response
time. If you use and relearn these techniques, you will increase your sales and income. Collect objec-
tions as if they were playing cards and respond to them as they appear. Laugh at objections, because
they are bluffs from the customer. They are developed lies to disassociate salespeople from a sale. Be
smarter than the client. Make your professionalism apparent and be ready with your stimulus and re-
sponse to theirs. No one became great at sales without rst becoming great at handling objections and
preventing them with tie-downs.
Page 99
Ch a p t e r 1 4
Cl os i ng Mor e
Page 100
Reexive closing questions are the basis or foundation for proper questioning after a good tie-down
pitch. State something that is an issue for the client and provide a solution in a form of a question.
If I could solve that for you, would you want to start on the 1st or the 15th?
If I found a car that t within your budget, would there be anything else you would care about?
If I found you a plan with a $35 co-pay, would you want to start it on the 1st?
Tobias Technique: three questions will create interest and belief
When a customer has a value position or interest, he initially becomes standofsh and closed. Profes-
sional closers must break down his guard and make contact. The customer will never believe the sales-
person 100% and will always think there is a motive behind his or her recommendations. Turning the
prospect into a believer is very simple because, as you know people, create their own interests.
Think about any decision you have made and the reasons you bought and/or decided on that one
thing. What pushed you over the edge? Do you think you pushed yourself over the edge or was it your
environment?
When you last made a difcult decision, you made it through careful thought, right?
So when you made that decision, you thought carefully, right?
I mean, really, do you think and believe you thought carefully?
Notice how, when the same question is asked over and over and over again, it becomes a belief and
gets ingrained in your memory as an image. Images are what people refer to as memories. When some-
thing is said once, it may be true; said twice, it can be true; and said three times, it probably is true.
If your friend tells you he owns a new million dollar home, but you have never seen it, you may believe
him. Now, if another friend says he heard to same thing, it is more believable. And if a third person
stated that that friend owned a million dollar home, the so-called lie becomes the truth! The truth may
be told through reasoning and factoring.
For example: Agent: When do you want your effective date to be? Customer: The rst. Agent: So
the rst will work for you? So I need to nd a policy to start on the rst of the month, correct? Now,
when I nd a policy it will be effective from the rst, OK?
Ch a p t e r 1 5
I nv ol v e me nt Que s t i ons
Page 103

You should and

must close every
deal as if your
career was at stake
Page 102
I started involvement questions because of the complexity of a sale and the customers awareness of
certain facts. I have been selling insurance for a long time now and I have found that many customers
do not know what they think they know. They have what I call unconscious incompetence. I needed a
way of asking a question that didnt require a response or make the customer feel inadequate in some
way.
To do this, you must answer the customers question inside a question. Place the facts of your product
or service inside the question and answer it for the client so there is no need for him to respond. We
all hear something like this daily, although it usually go unnoticed which is why it works. The state-
ment-question triggers a mental syntax to answers they thought they might have already known but in
reality have just learned. The question does not require a yes or a no.
For example:
Did you know that involvement questions help close customers more effectively?
Did you know that using tie-downs increases sales 40% to 50%?
Did you know we can close people faster using involvement questioning?
Did you know that United Healthcare is a Fortune 100 company?
Did you know I work for a publicly traded company?
Did you know I am the top producer at XYZ company?
Salespeople become closers when they can lead a person to a decision and make him buy without ask-
ing! Always act in accordance with the customers values, not yours.
I have the hottest product on the market today.
You are lucky to qualify for the productnormally people
cant get it due to this.
You should and must close every deal as if your career was at
stake as if you were self-employed and could not afford
defeat. True sales professionals hate defeat. They like to win.
So ask yourself if you do. Now make it happen; and remem-
ber you have the power to decide whether something can
work or fail. How well you try to make it work determines
your end result.
Page 103
Ch a p t e r 1 6
P i t c h t o Whom?
Page 104
You should be using a self-tout pitch before you use company information like brochures or product
details. Explain what makes you different and stand out from the rest of the pack. Reinvent reasoning
for a choice of salesman and company. People have many choices so, besides your fancy talk and
good looks, why do they want to do business with you?
Take these insurance touts for example:
As I enter your information into our patent pending system called Ratewatcher, let me explain to you
what we do at The Insurance Academy.
As your personal licensed agent, it is my responsibility to provide you with a service above and be-
yond anyone elses in the industry today by using new technologies and innovations which are reshap-
ing the face of how the insurance industry sells and offers consumers health insurance.
Since November 2005 ABC INC has been a publicly traded company offering individuals like yourself
the opportunity to shop and compare some of the top rated carriers in the country to nd you the
most comprehensive package for the lowest possible rate in your area.
I want to let you know that, as your company liaison, I will help you decipher and assess your situa-
tion and nd that policy which will work best for you!
Since we are revolutionizing the insurance space, we do business very differently from the traditional
brokers on the street.
Now, no other agency today has something comparable to TOBIAS INC, which has a very unique
system called Insurint.
This operates similarly to travelocity.com or orbitz.com, in that we can pull all of the carriers infor-
mation and rearrange benets to t your needs or price range at a click of the mouse!
What separates us from other insurance agencies is not just that, but that we can fully complete an
application over the phone and actually verbally sign your application with no paperwork or forms
to ll out! This saves time and moneyand the hassles of seeing multiple agents from ten different
companies!
I want to let you know that, as a licensed agent with one of the highest producing telephonic agen-
cies in the country today, we send everything to you electronically for your review, as well as a hard
copy after approval!
Please expect the hard copy to be sent to you in the next seven to ten business days after the ap-
proval. Please review the details and call me with any questions you might have, because in my opin-
ion no one will work harder for you than myself!
The most exciting part about working with ABC INC is that at some of our carriers we actually have
dedicated underwriters working hard for us to get approvals back in some cases in as little as 60
minutes!
Before we discuss your options together, please do me a quick favor and take down my information
so you have it in hand.
Page 105
What and How
Listen, Mr. Jones I realize there are a lot of options in the industry and I can certainly appreciate the
way you feel. I need you to understand what separates me from the rest of the industry. I am the best
at what I do and I am only here to help.
At Salesfreaks we have some of the most intensive daily training in the industry. What this means to
you is that I am highly skilled to assess your situation through the questions I ask and the answers I
receive. Please understand, I have the best intentions for you and your family. Believe me when I say
you will not receive the same treatment and service from any other agent than you will from me and
my agency!
We are a contact center-based insurance agency that operates an interactive online marketplace en-
abling consumers like you to shop for, compare and purchase individual health and life insurance and
related products for individuals and families. Our sales platform combines our proprietary, integrated
online technology and dialing application to connect consumers who express an interest in purchasing
health or life insurance or related products with knowledgeable, licensed agents like me housed in one
of our contact center locations.
Our streamlined sales process, supported by our proprietary online technology and dialing application,
ensures efciency in the process of purchasing and selling insurance and related products.
And what I really mean is to just place your trust in me and you will not be unsatised.
What I am going to do is enter your information into our patent pending system called Rate watcher.
What this does for you is shop all the top rated carriers, as expedia.com does, and give us the best
option for you, leaving nothing to chance I can actually pre-screen the companies through the process,
The softwares intelligence with underwriting guidelines ts you with the right carrier the rst time
taking the guesswork out of my job! That makes sense doesnt it? Our insurance carrier partners are
highly rated companies dedicated to serving their policy holders. You will have the peace of mind that
comes with knowing your coverage will be there when you need it and your agent will be as well. I am
here to helpfair enough?
Make sure you fully explain what makes you tick and what separates you from the herd. You are the
best at what you do, so aunt it. Look for advantages like being public, the top ranked or the best ser-
vice to power your pitch. Remember, people do not really buy products or services, they are persuaded
into them. Because life is all about choices. Make yours stand out.
Page 107
Ch a p t e r 1 7
Obj e c t i ons

Be prepared
for every type
of objection
Page 107
Most of the time an objection to your sales pitch is actually a
buying signal, ashing, Take my money! Your prospects are
saying, Im interested, but you have not sold me yet. Make the
client want to buy! Many prospects throw objections at sales-
people as a simple instrument for the salesperson to play. They
listen to the tone and condence of your voice to learn if you
believe in your own product. If you do not, why should they?
Before you answer an objection, always let the prospect know
that you are listening and that you understand and can appre-
ciate his objections or concerns. Put yourself in his shoes and
emphasize with him the same as you do with your loved ones.
Make him feel intelligent for bringing his concern up! Call him
intelligent; compliment and proceed, as you learned previously.
Always end the response to the objection with a clarication conrming your answer.
Now that makes sense, doesnt it?
Now that we have addressed that, is there anything else that you are not sure about at the moment?
Be brief. Dont over-answer a client because you might talk your way out of a sale. Return to your pre-
sentation right away as if you were a gnat at a picnic. Your comeback should be just long enough to
satisfy the prospect. Keep it simple, stupid, and kiss the prospect. You are not smart until the customer
asks a question and then you become smart and knowledgeable and that prince he wanted!
Be prepared for every type of objection. But the best rebuttal is to never have an objection in the rst
place! In my years of sales I hardly ever had more than one objection during a presentation. They only
arise if you forget that your presentation should include answers to the most common factors. People
are motivated by risk and reward. Show them the serious risk of passing on what you have to offer just
as much as you show them how much they will prosper and be rewarded by doing business with you.
Handling objections is important, but sales is about closing and getting the money, isnt it? Answer the
objection and ask for the order. Do not be afraid, you will always close on your fourth to fth attempt,
so keep at them! Here are some common responses below to help you along the way:
No reason
It is not a question of no, but a question of when, Mr. Customer.
A lot of people feel the need to cancel because they feel they can get issued somewhere else quicker.
Page 108 Page 109
Let me ask you a quick question Is it the lapse of time you are unsure about or is it something else?
Because at XYZ we strive harder for excellence than any leading competitor in our opinion, and if there
is anything we did not do that you think we can do better, please let us know.
The worst feeling is letting a respected client slip through the cracks for something as simple as lack
of trust. Mr. Jones, ig thinkers focus on small things attention to detail. I have the details that most
agents lack. A lot of agents try to earn your business on false hope.
Let me be honest with you without the uff and give you what you need.
Too expensive
I can completely understand and see where you are coming from, but Mr. Jones, this package is not
an expense if it brings you the security of knowing you and your loved ones are protected, am I right?
Thats saying your health and your family are far too expensive to invest in. That does not make sense,
does it?
If you want something a little bit less than what your agent quoted, it is a fairly simple task of restruc-
turing your plan with maybe a higher deductible or even taking it a step further and taking a look at
other options available.
Although in my opinion you are right, its not cheap, there are thousands of people who have exam-
ined this product carefully and compared it to countless others, only to choose it in the end for these
reasons: United HealthCare is a leader in the space. Your co-pay is X. Limited out of pocket is X. And
the plan is worth over 3 million dollars per insurance!
With X amount of people, your policy is worth over X million dollars for a monthly investment of only
$X! I would consider that very inexpensive when talking about dollars and cents! Wouldnt you?
I am not familiar with your company; do you have any references I can check?
Im glad you mentioned that, Mr. Jones. We have many satised customers who will attest to the pow-
er and efcacy of this type of service. We are one of the largest insurance agencies on the eastern coast
and only represent the top carriers offering you the best programs with unsurpassed benet packages.
Keep in mind that we are a publicly traded company and so are the companies we represent.
Im not sure that what you offer will work; is there a guarantee?
Page 109
I am not
married
to any
insurance
company
but I am
married to
our future
relation-
ship

You have the guarantee that no one will work as hard for you as I will. If you
ever feel that the product or the service is not for you, all you have to do is call
us back. Well reassess the situation and decipher your needs so that you can
feel safe and secure knowing youre dealing with the right agency.
Im going to buy from you, but I need you to tell me that I am making the
right decision.
Absolutely. I have hundreds of satised customers and remember, I am not
married to any insurance company but I am married to our future relationship
and I want to thank you in advance for all the referrals you will be sending
my way.
I am feeling too much sales pressure.
I can appreciate that but I am very passionate about what I do and I know
this is the best option for you. Let me step out of my agents shoes and say
that you may get some one else on the phone who will present you with the
wrong product. Put your trust in me and company X, and I promise you we
will not let you down. Fair enough?
Im happy where I am.

I appreciate the fact that youre happy where you are, but let me ask you
what it is that keeps you happy with that insurance policy. Is it the fact that
youre in good health and dont use it? Or is it the benets that you do have
in your policy?
Id be the last one to take a happy person and make him an angry and bitter
one, but if I can make you even happier as a knowledgeable shopper, you
would give it a chance, right?
Insurance doctor:
Let me check to see that your doctor is in your network. If he is, obviously
youd be happy with the plan and ready to get this started, right?
Page 110 Page 111
The plans I deal with have some of the most extensive networks with over X amount of doctors in each
network, so youll be covered every way possible.
My company only deals with the highest level products available with the most extensive networks in
the industry.
Now you would probably agree with me that your doctor, who Im sure is a well-known accredited
provider, would be part of the largest PPO in the industry, wouldnt you? Of course you would!
In all honesty, Mr. Jones, going without a quality product because your doctor is not in the network
would be disastrous in my opinion. They are always covered out of network.
The plan your case manager has provided to you is a very extensive PPO designed for most people in
situations similar to yours.
Lets do this, try it out for a few months. You will not be disappointed in the 3 million dollars of cov-
erage by a leading health insurance provider, I can assure you of that.
I understand you are concerned about your doctor being in the program, but we both have to think
about it this way: We purchase health insurance for the major things in life which could happen the
what-if scenarios, right? Now if we focus on a doctor you only see once or twice a year, then that could
be a major downfall for the both of us. This is the best coverage for the money and if that $50 doctor
visit is going to make or break our purpose we have to reevaluate our decisions.
I am saving you over $X each month. You might as well continue to see your doctor without a co-pay
since each year youre saving $X! Makes sense, right?
I do not buy over the phone/internet.
I completely understand, a lot of satised and ecstatic customers said the same thing to me before we
found them a great company to insure them.
I understand something new always scares someone in one shape or form. Ten years ago when the
internet started to enter peoples homes, those were scary times, right? But now we shop from our
homes, at auctions, buy cars online. We have come a long way, dont you think?
Of course, you would agree that it has become a necessity these days to have the internet at home,
right? Exactly!

What makes
my company
different is
after the sale
we still value
our relationship
Page 111
But not only has the internet become a part of our lives, but it
has started to make them easier too. One of those securities is
now how America buys health insurance!
We have revolutionized the insurance industry. You can call us
the Microsoft of the insurance industry in my opinion! So, Mr.
Jones, let me explain how we work for you! First we.
Insurance doesnt cover pre-existing conditions.
Mr. Jones, let me ask you a quick question. In all honesty, did
your agent acknowledge to you that your condition would be
covered? Now, I ask this because with most major carriers, pre-existing conditions are not covered. The
reason is that it would lead to an immediate loss to the provider. I mean, think about someone holding a
check for 3 million dollars. Now picture an uninsured person saying, Ill give you $200 a month for that
3 million and in return I expect all of my conditions to be paid for even though my current treatment is
$500 a month. Now, that does not make any sense, right? My point is that the insurance carriers are
helping the insured stay healthy for all conditions not present when they sign up for insurance or they
lose out.
Now, I know this industry and if a carrier says they will cover conditions, it usually means an extreme
rate-up or conditional rider in which they will nd a way for you to pay it either way, I hope that makes
sense to you.
This is taking too long.
Due to your current medical history we had to order a medical record inquiry to cross-check with your
current MIB. This is a fairly quick process and we sincerely apologize for the time it has taken thus far.
I assure you that I will work diligently on your case and handle the expediting of your policy status/
approval.
We have been unable to reach you over the last few weeks to receive the needed forms required to
send out your package. What is the best fax number for you and the best contact number so we do not
lose any further communication?
What makes my company different is after the sale we still value our relationship with our customers/
clients, please just be a little patient with us as we work for you.
Page 113

And dont be
shy, I am only
here to help!
Page 112
I didnt know it was going to be drafted.
Let me ask you a quick question and, please, this is with the highest regard for you, Mr. Jones. When
you provided your banking or credit card information to the agent, did you ask what it was for?
Whatever he/she said, youre right, miscommunication does occur, but remember, I am here to help
you today.
Now did you go through each telephone interview? OK, great During the course of the interview, they
made you aware of the billing within 24 to 48 hours, correct?
If it is a question of money or maybe moving around some nances or billing options we certainly can
assist you today.
Im just looking for a quote.
Well, Mr. Jones you seem to be a smart insurance shopper and I can tell you that smart people like
yourself these days shop only through the leaders in an industry, right? Why? Because it acts to rein-
force your overall mentality. You get out of it what you put in. So let me explain why we are the best
in my opinion:
A. Revolutionizing the industry with technology driven sales.
B. We do the shopping for you.
C. Compare and contrast your choices.
D. Have superior and in-house awarded customer service.
E. Only deal with leading names in the industry.
F. Have a proven track record of success.
G. Branded name in the industry.
I can also appreciate the fact that you are not interested in
purchasing, although let me ask you a question: What part
of the policy are you not interested in? The deductible or the
co-pays? Keep in mind that our main objective is to make
sure that you have been given ample information to obtain/
change insurance. You were with me throughout the entire
presentation, where did I lose you? Or is it that this program
I selected for you is a little out of your budget? And dont be
shy, I am only here to help!
Page 113 Page 113
Closing power statements:
Now to be sure we are both clear on my recommendations, this program includes a... [insert benet].
Thats everything, right?
Great, now what we have to do from here is get you over to the underwriting department. First, what
I need is your current mailing address. So heres what we need to do.
You mentioned you banked in the U.S. right? Greatwhat bank do you use? Fantastic! I need you
to take out your checkbook and please void out a check for me in the amount of $X. This will be your
monthly premium for your health insurance.
The bank is located in your city, correct? Great. Now, on the bottom of the check you will see 9 digits
appearing rst. Please read those slowly from left to right. Now the next set of digits is the account
number
Now, we seem to be in agreement that this policy will work best for you and this is exactly what you
need, great! You will be locked in at $X for 12 months and you will be guaranteed it will never increase
unless you move or fail to make payment on time. Obviously you would agree, wouldnt you? This plan
is going to work great for you, isnt it? You can see yourself using this program, cant you?
Closing
Dont ask for permission; just start asking for small details which are low risks such as: phone number,
address, names. Repeat them and have the customer approve it. You have to nudge people and pull
a little bit at a time. Agreements on any minor issue will lead to agreements on major issues. Five yes
responses will lead to the yes for the sale. Is this your address? Yes, etc.
No is always a maybe to the salesperson. Never accept no it is a defense we all use daily No means
yes to salespeople for the purpose of sales! After you make a proposal, shut up! The rst to speak loses!
You will either get a yes or an objection either of which is good for you! If its yes, close the deal. If its
an objection, rebut your way to a yes. If you have trouble closing, use a negative sale technique such as:
Is it our companys reputation?
Is it me?
Do you think the deal isnt fair? Well, great, since you have no worries about the company, and you
agree with me that the deal is fair, lets get you over to underwriting for approval! You still live at 123
Maple Road, right?
Page 114 Page 115
Use emotion in closing
Tell an emotional story that shows the prospect ending up either as a success or a failure. You want the
buyer to identify with the story so he feels he can be the winner or avoid being the loser in his own
story.
A client called me last week to get insured for an Rx card, even though he had just been diagnosed
with cancer. Now, I felt really bad for the guy, but there wasnt anything I could do for him. I had urged
him to spend the extra money when he purchased the coverage but he told me he was healthy and did
not need it. Apparently he had spoken to an uneducated agent who told him to save his money and I
could not sway him to understand the importance of this coverage. Obviously you are more intelligent
than that and would want the coverage for medications, right?
Try to enlist the prospects sympathy. If you get shot down, say, Before I let you go, I have to apologize
for such a poor presentation. I think I have not presented the issues properly and I am truly sorry for this.
Im a bit upset because I do think that you could benet from this and its probably worth a try, but I did
fail. What is it I did wrong, so next time I will be sure I do not make that mistake again?
Address concerns and take the horse to water again! Pose a major closing question, and then before
the customer answers, follow up with a minor question.
So we are going to get this out to you by the rst, OK? We will be using Visa for your rst payment,
right?
Since I am primarily in the healthcare eld, I want to cover some retention aspects giving my own real
world examples and not the typical one-liners you read. After you understand how I use them in my
industry, ne tune them for yours. This is part of the closers section because without a good retention
background, you shouldnt be selling on the front line.
Salesman: Is there any reason you are looking to withdraw? Customer: Im going with other cover-
age. Salesman: What company did you nally end up with?
Page 115
I mean,
picture
yourself as
a doctor
and what
you would
think of
a patient
who tried
to use a
coupon
for services

Answer 1: Group insurance. Salesman: OK, great! Well, if there is any-

thing else we can help you with maybe as far as life insurance, critical ill-
ness, or if you have any referrals of family members or friends who are looking
for insurance please have them call 555-555-5555 ext 5555. Again, thank
you for your time and choosing Xxx as your insurance provider.
Answer 2: Discount plan. Salesman: Mr. Jones, of course the salesman
that sold you that discount plan did not explain the difference between major
medical coverage and a discount plan, so let me explain it to you briey. A
discount plan does not pay claims, it just does exactly what it says: discounts
your bills. In simple terms, if you were to have a small $20,000 surgery or
in a worst case scenario a major hospital bill when youre admitted, that
company will only shave a small portion, if any at all, off of your bill and you
are liable for the rest of the amount. I mean, picture yourself as a doctor and
what you would think of a patient who tried to use a coupon for services!
Now, that doesnt make sense does it? If a doctor did take a coupon, what
kind of service would it be? With any major medical insurance Golden
Rule, Blue Cross, Aetna and so on you pay a portion of your bills (co-pay,
deductible and co-insurance) and the insurance covers the rest of the medi-
cally necessary expenses according to the plan design and benets. So what
makes more sense to you, Mr. Jones? Paying a small portion and having an
insurance company foot the bill, or getting a discount and paying the majority,
if not all, of your bill?
Salesman: Do you have any other questions?
Answer 1: No. Salesman: Thank you very much and use exit script.
Answer 2: Yes. Salesman: What else can I help you with?
Customer: How could the agent who sold me ABC discount plan lie to me
about the coverage? That isnt how he explained it to me. Salesman: Mr.
Jones, unfortunately that agent is most likely not licensed, and was not selling
a licensed product. That industry is not regulated whatsoever since it is not
classied as insurance. An insurance company is heavily regulated by state
and government departments and we have a duciary responsibility as well
as ethical responsibility not to mislead people about benets or covered ex-
penses. Now I bet they also had a large application fee attached, didnt they?

Dont be sold
on what a lot
of people
are getting
the wrong
perception of
Page 116
That fee exists for one reason, and is more than likely non-re-
fundable, because when a customer realizes that the discount
plan bought is not insurance and doesnt pay claims, they will
cancel it! The application fee was designed to make sure those
companies make at least that much from every person they sign
up helping themselves while hurting others!
If the customer STILL doesnt get the point, ask him for the phone
number of the discount plan, conference in a sales agent and
have himm explain how the benets work. These calls sound
like DOI or State Attorney seed calls and the sales agent at the discount plan rm is 100% likely to ex-
plain the benets exactly as they appear for fear of being shut down or sued.
If the customer does not have the phone number, ask for the plans internet address. If he doesnt have
that, either, simply go to www.Google.com and search for the name of the discount plan, direct the
customer to visit to its website and show him the benets and not-insurance clause at the bottom
of the page.
Indemnity insurance
Salesman: Mr. Jones, of course the salesman who sold you that indemnity plan did not explain the
difference between major medical coverage and an indemnity policy. Let me help you understand the
differences. An indemnity plan does not pay claims; it pays you a nominal fee for use to pay a portion
of your claims. In other words, if you were to have a small, $20,000 surgery or worst-case scenario, a
major hospital bill when you are admitted that company will only send you a small amount of money
and you are liable for the rest of the bill. Your out-of-pocket could be up to $20,000 and maybe not
even cover a dime with all of the exclusions and limitations on some plans out there! I know you want
to be covered for that $250,000 bill (god forbid that something like that should happen), not the daily
benet of up to $1,000! That leaves a lot to chance, right? Isnt the purpose of buying health insurance
to protect you from these high bills and get you the right treatment? What doctor would do open heart
surgery on the y for $1000 a day?
Now that doesnt make sense, does it? With any major medical insurance Golden Rule, Blue Cross,
Aetna and so on you pay a set portion for your bills (co-pay, deductible and co-insurance) and in-
demnity only pays YOU a set amount. Dont be sold on what a lot of people are getting the wrong
perception of. Stick to what works and do not gamble with your nances or expenses! I mean, what
makes more sense to you? Paying a small portion of your bill and having an insurance company foot
the big bill, as the insured do, or having a company pay you a small portion and YOU foot the big bill?
Page 117
If the customer STILL doesnt get the point, ask him for the phone number of the indemnity plan, con-
ference in a sales agent and have him explain how the benets work. These calls sound like DOI or State
Attorney seed calls and the sales agent at the discount plan rm is 100% likely to explain the benets
exactly as they appear for fear of being shut down or sued.
If the customer does not have the phone number, ask for the plans internet address. If he doesnt have
that, either, simply go to www.Google.com and search for the name of the discount plan, direct the
customer to visit to its website and show him the benets and not-insurance clause at the bottom
of the page.
Customer: I dont like the benets. Salesman: What specically about the benets is not clear to
you?
Answer 1: Limited amount of physician visits. Salesman: I completely understand Mr. Jones,
but let me ask you how many times in reality do you go to the physician a year?
Let me explain this to you. To have an unlimited amount of co-pays per year or for a plan that offers un-
limited co-pay visits, you would be looking at $X extra a month. Now, considering that you are paying
this much more per month just for the OPTION to use a co-pay, doesnt it make much more sense to
keep the X amount of visits you have now? Most likely the cost of the physician visits if you are paying
out of pocket will be much less than the $X a year it costs just to have the OPTION to have unlimited
co-pays. Now, if you would like, we could upgrade your plan to pay that extra amount, or we could just
leave it as is, which, in my opinion, makes more sense nancially for you.
Answer 2: No co-pays for offce visits. Salesman: I completely understand, Mr. Jones, but
how many times in reality do you go to the physician a year? Let me explain this to you. To have a
co-pay option or for a plan that offers co-pay visits, you would be looking at $X extra a month. Now,
considering that you are paying this much more per month just for the OPTION to use a co-pay, doesnt
it make much more sense to keep the non-co-pay option you have now? Most likely the cost of the
physician visits you are paying out of pocket will be much less than the $X a year it costs just to have the
OPTION to have co-pays. Now, if you would like, we could upgrade your plan to pay that extra amount;
or we could just leave it as is, which, in my opinion, makes more sense fnancially for you. Help me help
you save money instead of paying someone else to keep it.
Phases of the Sales Process
1.) Engage: Because framing. I say this because
2.) Enroll: So what this means to you is...
3.) Compel: My purpose here is to get a few of your answers to some quick questions. Do you mind
Page 118 Page 119
if I ask you a few?
For example:
Mr. Thompson, I want to acknowledge the fact that you were looking to switch insurance companies.
When someone wants to switch insurance they usually want something different: maybe a relationship,
or the insurance company did not t their needs or a lower price. I say this because you seem to know
what you want and what I mean by that is that youre obviously an intelligent person and you know the
market. There are a lot of choices, but only one is right for you. Fair enough to say, right? Well, United
Healthcare, I believe from what we have discussed, is the right choice for your situation because it is
affordable, comprehensive and will be there for you in your time of need. What this means to you is se-
curity and peace of mind. I am not your typical broker or a salesperson. I am simply your way of nding
the right policy for your situation. I want to just ask you a few simple questions about your opinion on
somethingdo you mind if I do?
Now you stated that you were shopping around for another policy. What made you call and check
around instead of using your last broker?
Find the customers pain and make it even more uncomfortable. Create pleasure in working with you!
Do me a favor and tell me what you would do in this situation. .First ,close your eyes for me seri-
ously it sounds weird, but just try this for a second. Imagine yourself on a hospital gurney and your
bare back is staring at the world. What are you thinking right now? I know it is crazy. Just follow me
for a second. You are in the hospital and the nurse comes up to you, hands you an envelope and says,
Open it. You do so. In the envelope is a bill for you and it reads $58,459.34!!! Now your bare back
wishes that gurney was covering you A to Z, right?
You have the wrong policy which that hospital does not accept. They only take UHC, Humana or
maybe even Aetna You are left bare to the world and you were told something very different by your
agent, because he wanted to make a sale. I am not that guy I am the type of agent who wants you to
feel condent with the decisions you make I want to build my business as we build our business rela-
tionship. One hand washes the other, right? Exactly.
Let me be there for you, unlike many others in your past who were looking for a quick buck. The buck
does not stop here, it starts here. What I mean by that is that you need someone who is attached at
the hip to you with a policy. At TOBIAS INC, we service each policy equally with specialized attention,
giving you rst class treatment.

I am someone
who is concerned
for your wellbeing,
health and wealth
Page 119
Imagine that bill its BIG, right? Now imagine having the
Co-pay Select plan by Golden Rule, the policy which is right for
you and numerous other people in your situation. Your gurney
would be tied so your coverage would not be exposing you A-Z
but covering you. That is what you will nd with TOBIAS INC
and me.
I am someone who is concerned for your wellbeing, health and
wealth! The only thing I ask in return is that you send me some
people I can help as I helped you today. That is fair enough, isnt
it? Greatnow, do me a quick favor as I get some more of your
insights on some things and grab a pen and a piece of paper so
you can take down my information in case you need me at any
time during the course of the policy.
Page 121
Ch a p t e r 1 8
Who Ca r e s Wha t
P e opl e T hi nk ?

No! I will
not fear
success, but
challenge it
Page 121
People follow rhythms which will dictate their paths in life. I
appreciate you changing yours to read this and to take charge
of your own path! We are all taking action! How do you feel at
the moment? Is it great? Is it empathetic? Is it what you really
desire out of life or maybe even out of your day? I asked you to
imagine what life would be like in your Utopia what was it?
Is it written down and processed? Is it being worked towards?
More importantly, is it real?
I feel invigorated with a passion for success, a desire to just live
and be free! I am a true Salesfreak.
Most people think change is a heavy thing; but it is not unless you believe that. Believe what others do
not. Change your beliefs as Spielberg did. Walk the opposite direction and take charge of your destiny
as all the other successes that were and are did. Live life on your terms. Pluck your own weeds from
your garden until there are none. Leave them alone and they will spread out of control.
I know I do not have all the answers to lifes questions and mysteries but I am working on them I am do-
ing more than others are willing to do. I will build my foundation and make people in awe of me when
I do so, just as the Aztecs did. I will recreate my destiny to be written down and remembered for all of
the great things I have created: my Utopia! I will no longer use the words that affect me negatively. I
will only use the positive afrmations of Salesfreaks:
No! I will not settle for less than I expect.
No! I will not fear success, but challenge it.
No! I will not leave early but leave after everything I could do is done.
No! I will not live in the past, but build my future.
No! I will not live for others, but live for me.
No! I will not accept failure If I fall seven times,I will arise EIGHT times! With Fire and conviction!
No! I will not eat badly; I will treat my body as if it was an innite goldmine.
No! I will not act negativelyever.
No! I will never say never, because you should avoid saying that.
No! I will not say I cant, because I can.
No! I will not let others be better than me!
No! I will not let life pass me by!

Yes! I will accept

challenge and
defeat it!
Page 122
Yes! I will act with spontaneous results.
Yes! I will always push harder.
Yes! I will see and envision success.
Yes! I will learn more every day.
Yes! I will live for the NOW.
Yes! I will live to make myself feel unbelievable.
Yes! I will have success by the rst of the year/month at 5 p.m.!
Yes! I will always move forward.
Yes! I am a Salesfreak.
Yes! I will live for tomorrow.
Yes! I will learn and take action on what I learned.
Yes! I will take action...NOW.
Yes! I will accept challenge and defeat it!
Yes! I will take every day as the beginning of a fantastic journey.
Yes! I will make myself a success in every aspect of MY life!
Most people on the planet do not have what you have. They only have a fraction of one percent. You
have the following and should and MUST BE thankful for it!
Some cant read you can, and have an unbelievable wealth of materials.
Some suffer poverty you have the opportunity to create more than you can imagine.
Some lack dreams you have the ability to make yours real.
Some lack information you have ability to Google anything for an answer to any question out there!
Some lack training you have it.
Some lack the tools you can create, build or acquire them!
Some lack inspiration and imagination you are lucky you are you.
Some lack food you have the choice to eat what you desire.
Some lack shelter you have the opportunity to live where you desire.
Some lack clothing you have the opportunity to dress as you wish.
Some lack talent you have it.
Some lack conviction you have it.
Some lack success you seek after it.
Know your outcome and you will see your success formula:
Know your end results.
Take action on your dreams.
Use sensory afiction and feel taste, smell, and touch your dreams
Have the fexibility to change.
Page 123
Act like a kid. Go through the room jumping and screaming as if no one was around. Swing your arms
as you talk gibberish. Have fun Because kids are sponges and have no care about how others regard
them just how they feel.
Without a vision, people perish. Replace should with MUST. You mustI must.we mustwe
will.succeed. See it that way and honor its importance! You will not settle for anything less than what
you want and desire. Needs are endless!
The secret to the management and success of any individual, relationship or company is admitting you
are wrong or that something is wrong. Find a solution and focus just on that!
Page 125
Ch a p t e r 1 9
S a l e s Tr a i ni ng
P oi nt s

It is time to
give yourself
permission
to succeed
Page 125
The goal of all sales training is not just to teach solid selling
principles and techniques, but to actually help participants in-
crease the number of new accounts (products and/or services)
they sell and improve their multiple sales ratios. Unfortunately,
many sales and service industry professionals gain an intellectual
awareness of the methods of selling from the sales training they
receive, yet fail to improve their bottom line sales results by sys-
tematically using the concepts in their daily transactions as their
peers do. This is the sickness of a salesforce.
There are a number of things you can use to move beyond an
intellectual awareness of generic sales techniques. By applying
some of our Salesfreaks ideas, you can begin to see a steady improvement in the number of your sales
transactions. These concepts can help any sales professional go from good to great and to become a
sales leader. Really. all it takes to be successful in sales is just a little practice and perseverance.
It is time to give yourself permission to succeed in an ever-changing industry. To become a Salesfreak
leader in any kind of business only requires that you give yourself permission to succeed. In sales, as in
every endeavor in life, it is your attitude, not your attributes, that counts. There is no reason you cannot
be extremely successful at selling anything, if you make up your mind to do the job.
Philosopher and psychologist William James once said that, The greatest discovery of my generation is
that a human being can alter his circumstances in life by altering his attitude of mind. From his teach-
ings and research we coined the phrase, act as if. When you act as if you have changed or act like a
different person (the difference makes the difference), you can be different in development. If a sales
professional acts as if she can sell, her sales ratios and product account closings can do nothing but
improve. I see this daily in my call centers where salesmen hold themselves back by believing that their
talents, leads or environments are holding them captive.
By letting go of your resentment and seeing yourself using the sales and customer service techniques
you have learned through our teachings, you can become extremely successful in your efforts to sell
your products and services. If you want to consistently produce multiple sales transactions, just let your-
self go and you will start to see the success you are seeking. You have every right to be successful. The
only thing that can stop your improvement and ultimate success is you, yourself. Tell yourself that it is
all right to produce outstanding sales results; and then, begin envisioning the success you expect to
achieve. You have to see it to believe it and you have to believe it to see it.
Page 126
Use the Salesfreaks Afrmations given above to produce success. This will help you consistently execute
the sales techniques you have learned. Use afrmations to change the way you think and perform. Our
afrmations can also help release your stagnant sales charts.
We are drawn to our dominant thought patterns like a moth to a ame. By using afrmations (I can,
I am), you can create dominant thoughts about specic sales methods that will help you to move
away from your fears (the fear of failure or of looking foolish like our embarrassment close) toward
successful sales transactions. Write down a series of positive afrmations about the sales process or a
specic technique. Then read them over until you create the dominant thought patterns that produce
success. Rodney Dangereld, in the movie Lady Bugs, touts multiple afrmations to start his day.
As you learn new sales techniques, you need to practice them on the job as well as in your mind, until
you can use them in each sale without even thinking about it. We call this level of sales prociency
unconscious competence. This is like the drive to work: you just know where to go.

Many sales professionals try a new sales approach only once or twice before rejecting it or deciding that
it will not work for them. The truth is, it wont work because they are speaking a new language, like
Spanish to someone who has never heard it. You cant do it right the rst time, nor will anyone under-
stand you. True professionals, however, diligently practice a new sales concepts until they can execute
it without even thinking about it. This sets top producers apart from the pack and can be seen in their
extraordinary closing and multiple sales success, as our call centers show daily. It is quite noticeable in
my teams paychecks as well!
To practice the newly learned techniques, role play with other salespeople or your spouse. Role playing
each new sales technique with a co-worker is a powerful way to gain the ability to consistently use
these concepts on the job. Remember, however, that practice does not make perfect. Only perfect
practice makes it perfect. So, as you practice with other employees, try to be as accurate as you can
in the execution of a given sales concept.
Set aside some time each day to work in the sales concepts you have been taught, as a martial artist
works on jujitsu. You cant just think you know something; you must make sure. Take them one at a
time, master each one and earn your belts. It might surprise you how much more you will enjoy coming
to work when you become truly procient in building sales and long term customer relationships for
your company.
Saturate your mind with information and sales materials in order to become a Salesfreak. As you do
this, you will move from average to a closer in no time. You will succeed, and you will have more
than just an occasional thought about what you are trying to accomplish. What is needed to help you
Page 127
change your behavior is constant positive memories by reading over the materials you have been given
or the notes you have taken on this subject.
SalesFreaks are taught to work smarter, not harder and it shows in their results. But sometimes they do
both. Incredible sales results come to those sales professionals who correctly follow and apply sound
sales principles. They wont do the work for you but they will lighten your load and give you an edge. All
it takes to be successful at selling your companys products is to want to improve the way you perform,
see yourself using new selling techniques, give yourself permission to use the concepts and regularly
practice them until they become second nature, as baseball is to the major league players.

Page 129
Ch a p t e r 2 0
L oa di ng

The results were

that more than
41% of the
customers bought
at least one
additional item
Page 129
You want fries with that? has become a part of our everyday lan-
guage, used in jokes and daily conversations. First used by McDon-
alds, it has now been adopted by every fast food restaurant in one
form or another. Place an order and youll then be asked if you would
like fries, a drink, etc., to go with it or you be asked to upgrade to
a larger size or to a value meal. Even though it has been criticized and
ridiculed, this one simple question results in over 30% of all customers
responding with a yes. I use this easy-to-understand concept with my
teams. I teach them to just ask one more question.
Now, how do you take this success and use it in your business or sales career? One of the simplest and most
effective means is through the use of a checklist. Say the word checklist to anyone, particularly a salesper-
son, and you will hear something like, Checklist, checklist, I dont need no stinkin checklist. But the truth
is, if you are not currently using some form of checklist, you could be missing out on thousands of dollars in
additional sales.
A recent client was the owner of a call center who asked me to work with his sales staff. After my initial
observation, it became obvious that his staff, while helpful, were essentially order takers. They were more
than happy to answer any questions and make suggestions specically related to the questions, but were
reluctant to take the extra step into helpful selling.
Lets take, for example, a customer who comes in to buy insurance. After you nd out what insurance the
customer is looking fore (by asking questions), you can make several helpful suggestions. What else might a
customer like this need? Well, the obvious answer is either a doctor visit co-pay or an Rx card. But what else?
How about an accidental plan? A life rider? Maybe a preventative package? What about travel insurance?
Perhaps even critical illness?
There are numerous items that go together in this situation and, after some initial thought, we created a
checklist to use for each purchase. In most cases, your customer will need one or more of them, but may not
think about it until he gets home. And once he makes the realization, the chances are high that he will go
to the nearest store that sells the package rather than come back to you.

Because my client was skeptical, we created a tracking mechanism to determine the level of sales that we
could specically attribute to the questions and checklists. The results were that more than 41% of the cus-
tomers bought at least one additional item! Of course, this is an easy example. But all you have to do is con-
sider what you are selling. What else will you customer want or need? If you sell many different items, take
each one and determine what the obvious accessories or upgrades are for each product or service. Youll be
amazed at how much a little initial thought and a few questions will increase your sales.
Page 130
Example loading script:
OK now, Mr. Jones, we have you all taken care of for the major medical portion of your policy, but
I need to inform you of something very important that most people usually do not think about. They
think that health insurance alone will give them the added protection (God forbid that something
should happen).
Well, this is true and untrue in many cases. We both know that you are truly purchasing health insur-
ance to protect yourself from nancial loss, right? Of course. But what about the other losses when
something major happens, like a heart attack or life-threatening cancer? Ask yourself how that will that
affect your life. Who will assist with your daily, monthly expenses if something of the kind happens? Are
you set up for the loss nancially?
Well, the bright side is that there is a solution that was designed to help with these unfortunate cir-
cumstances. Its called critical illness; and the reason I acknowledge this to all of my clients is because I
do not like to let anyone go underinsured.
I go above and beyond any other agent who usually likes to get a sale and leave his clients to fend for
themselves. Not me! I like to prevent negative situations by making people aware. Makes sense, right?
Founded in 1974, Colorado Bankers Life and Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Company, located in Illinois,
is a life insurance subsidiary of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a Mutual Legal Reserve Compa-
ny. HCSC is one of the largest non-investor owned healthcare providers in the United States. Together,
Colorado Bankers Life and Fort Dearborn Life form the Preferred Financial Group (PFG), which ranks as
the 14th largest carrier of group life in-force and the 17th largest carrier of group life premiums.
Now, I am sure if youre anything like myself or the hundreds of clients I help each week, you know
individuals who have had a stroke, heart attack or terminal illness, right? Now, what would happen to
you in that situation? Tough to think about, right? Im sure the bills wouldnt pay themselves! Would
they? Youre right, obviously not!
For only $X a month you can have an extra $0-$100,000 dollars pay-in, if you are facing one of these
conditions:
Malignant Tumor A tumor which is not encapsulated and has properties to inltrate and cause me-
tastasis) including leukemia and Hodgkins Disease (except Stage 1 of Hodgkins Disease). The disease
must be supported by historical evidence of malignancy.
Page 131
Heart Attack - Death of a portion of the heart muscle (myocardium) resulting from blockage of one or
more coronary arteries.
Stroke - Any acute cerebral vascular accident producing neurological impairment and resulting in paral-
ysis or other measurable objective neurological decit persisting for at least 30 days.
Renal Failure - End stage renal failure presenting as chronic irreversible failure of both kidneys to func-
tion, as a result of which regular renal dialysis is instituted or renal transplantation is carried out.
Major Organ Transplant - The actual undergoing of transplantation of heart, lung, liver or bone marrow,
but not as the donor.
Terminal Illness - Advanced or rapidly progressing incurable disabling terminal illness where, based on
our investigation, the life expectancy is no greater than twelve (12) months.
Major Heart Surgery - Limited to the following procedures:
Coronary By-Pass Surgery - The actual undergoing of coronary by-pass surgery (either saphenous vein
or internal mammary graft) following an unequivocal recommendation by a consultant cardiologist for
the treatment of coronary disease.
Heart Valve Replacement - The actual undergoing of the total replacement of one or more heart valves
for the treatment of disease. Heart valve repair and valvotomy are specifcally excluded.
Aorta Surgery - The actual undergoing of surgery for disease of the aorta needing excision and surgical
replacement of the diseased aorta with a graft. For the purposes of this denition, aorta means the
thoracic and abdominal aorta but not its branches.
It would help offset your common bills such as a mortgage or maybe schooling, loans, car payments,
food! Think about it! The only choice would be to prepare yourself now; because if you waitwell, not
to be obvious, but it would be too late!

That is why I want to wrap this around your policy to give you the most comprehensive protection
you can receive from us and become an agent whom you can trust and grow a relationship with. I as-
sure you, I do not want to become the last person you deal with. I want to earn your friendship on a
business level above all.
Page 133
Ch a p t e r 2 1
F ol l ow- Ups

This driver
focuses on
attrition/loss
management
and win-back
success
Page 133
It is reasonably obvious that preventing customer loss drives in-
creased revenue. If you always try adding instead of saving, well,
you will be in some trouble. However, it is also true that improv-
ing customer loyalty drives both increased revenue and lower
costs through the ability to get to know the customer better and
align your company business processes to their needs.
This brings us to the four fundamental drivers of customer re-
tention:
1.) Improving customer loyalty
2.) Preventing customer loss
3.) Lowering overall costs
4.) Increasing total revenue
Lets examine how drivers can affect sales. My reps often tell me that when they called their clients
back, they saved a huge commission.
Customer loyalty
Improvement in all areas, including loyalty, can equl signicant increases in protability, as customers
stay longer with your company and it becomes more difcult for your competitors to lure them away.
Our academy needs loyalty because we are a retention type business based on residuals, not one-time
deals. Customer loyalty is driven mainly by a combination of doing right by them, educating them,
having effective complaint resolution and high service quality. We receive complaints, as any company
does, but nothing so big that we cant x it.
From a company perspective, this means that you need to deliver on your promises and mission state-
ments to constantly try to delight your customers. This can be done by exceeding customers expecta-
tions and occasionally rewarding them for their continued patronage. To resolve customer complaints
and negative feedback, you must follow up with the customer and get the issues resolved to the his sat-
isfaction. It is common to hear of the same customer issues occurring repeatedly, without the company
taking action to resolve the problem or x the source of the complaint. If my staff leaves a complaint
unattended to, we are in serious trouble.
Loss prevention
This driver focuses on attrition/loss management and win-back success. Attrition management entails
anticipating when customers are likely to defect and managing proactive initiatives to stop the defec-
tion. This has a direct impact on preventing revenue loss.
Page 134 Page 135
Alternatively, customer win-back campaigns are the process of retaining a customer who has stated
that he no longer wants your product or service. Implemented correctly, this can be an excellent way
to prevent revenue loss. However, it needs to be implemented carefully, with a full knowledge of the
customers prot to the business and the costs of the save offer. Otherwise, you can spend more saving
a customer than he will inject into future prots.
Cost reduction
Managing customer touch points, such as how many times you call them or mail them effectively, is a
key way to lower the costs to service and communicate with your base. Another way is to make sure
you cross-sell leads in other areas to cross-manage your data.
Many companies, such as VISA and MasterCard, have customer lists in which they will use to prof-
it-share and touch their clients with outside offers, reminding them that the company is there for them.
They successfully manage touch points and know when and how to contact their customers so that
they maximize each contacts opportunity. As a result, money is not wasted on unnecessary leads and
the lowest cost applicable media is used. This lowers the CPL (cost per lead) and the CPA (cost per ac-
quisition).
Increasing revenue
These drivers are the up-sell and cross-sell. In my business they are dentals and CBLs. When customers
are persuaded to take more products through cross-sell, or upgrade their current product plans, reve-
nue from these customers will increase. These opportunities have been mentioned previously, but now
its time to identify what they really mean. To increase revenue streams, become aware of your oppor-
tunities and take advantage of them.
Examine these follow-up techniques for customer retention to improve your business.
We all have to call back each and every single lead and client we have within the next few days of the
initial write-up. We cant spend our whole day writing new business; we also need to keep what we
have on the books. There are a lot of salespersons and centers calling behind you and swiftly taking
your clients away. The old Coke or Pepsi diet. Aside from impulse buys or necessary purchases, sales
typically take place over a period of time and a series of steps. Customers are cost-conscious. They look
for value before they make signicant purchases, particularly during a sluggish economy.

Following up is an important aspect of closing a sale. Many businesses either neglect it or do not have
an established plan. When following up, contact the customer with a reason that provides a step for-
ward in the sales process. We all know that sales centers and other call rooms will sell your client on
something they represent and sell it as the best in the world (their self-tout). To prevent a customer

I am urging
you to
deliver
value in
every call.
Page 135
from going away, you must learn to use future pacing. Some
buyers lose their enthusiasm when they get home or hang up
that phone. They reevaluate their decision, or their spouse or
signicant other tells them they made a mistake.
To prevent this, use future pacing to create a future for your
product in the prospects mind. When the sale is concluded and
the paperwork is done, have your prospect imagine himself in
the future. Have him describe the ways your product will beneft
him for years to come.
If you future pace every time and youre absolutely certain that
the customer has envisioned a future for your product, buyers
remorse will be a thing of the past.
Examples of future pacing:
Let me ask you, Mr. Jones: In two months from now, how do you think you will be able to use this
product?
Let me ask you Mr. Jones: what pharmacy do you believe you will be using with the Rx Card?
When you see your doctor in the next six months, make sure you have your policy ID card in hand.
In a year from now, why do you believe this will be the best decision for you?
Follow-ups demonstrate your determination to build relationships with your customers; and most signicant
sales are the end result of a relationship. You will still nd a lot of disinterested parties, but a few potential
buyers will appreciate the extra effort. These can become your best customers. In the long run, sales fol-
low-ups are more cost-effective than chasing down new customers.
I am urging you to deliver value in every call. When following up, dont simply call to follow up. In
other words, stay away from calling with the intention of learning whether theyve received your infor-
mation, or checking in to ask if they have any immediate needs for your product/service. Take some
extra time and weave in a compelling reason for your call. How can you deliver value to them? Is there
something timely that you can share with them about your company or about your industry? Is there
something newsworthy that you can discuss that applies to them? Perhaps a success story with a client
youve worked with as my rep, Curtis Lane, tells? Selling through value is simple if you tell the stories
others have left out.
Page 136
Below are some examples that you can use when making follow-up calls:

After reecting on our conversation, I have some new ideas that Id like to share with you regarding
how our [policy] may actually complement and enhance what youre currently doing, especially when
it comes to [state benet/end result they could realize].

I was thinking about another client who was in a similar situation to yours and thought that you might
be interested in hearing about how we were able to eliminate the challenges he had, such as [state
some problems your product/service could eliminate].

Weve made some interesting changes to our [product line/service/programs/packages] and thought
of you and the results you were looking to achieve. There may be a great t here worth exploring in
more detail so that you can [state compelling benet].

Now it is time to bridge any previous conversation or contact to your follow-up call. Refer back to your
initial conversation and remind the prospect why he needs to continue that conversation with you.
What initially piqued his interest? Use phrases like:
Id like to continue the conversation we began about...
Lets continue our discussion about how we can...
As we discussed last week when we met, lets see if theres a way for us to...
Based on our prior conversation, Im calling to continue our discussion about
If you had sent them information, rather than asking if they received it, paste it into the intention of the
call. For example: Lets take a moment to discuss what I sent you and see if it makes sense for us to
proceed further/explore working together, because life insurance can be a confusing matter of choice.
Keep the interest burning, because if you dont walk the dog he will pee on the oor. The same rule
applies to your prospects. Even the hottest of prospects who initiate rst contact can turn villain really
quickly. If you dont continually remind the prospect why he is investing his time in talking with you,
something else will always be more important. This process must continue all the way up until the point
when the prospect can nally realize the benets on his own. This only occurs after the sale is made and
the prospect (who has since become a client) is actually using your product or service. Now hey dont
need any additional prompting, since he gets to experience the benets rst-hand rather than hearing
about them from you.
Page 137
Example follow-up script:
Mr. Jones, its [agent name] with The Insurance Academy. How are you?
Great to hearDoing pretty good myselfThe reason for the call is
I wanted to call and thank you for your business, and let you know I appreciate your trust in me as
your personal licensed agent.

I want to assure you that we have placed an application with one of the hottest products on the mar-
ket and I believe it will the best choice for you and your family.
Do you have any questions or concerns about your XYZ policy at this time?
Now, Mr. Jones, you will be receiving a phone call from one of my personal assistants to notify you of
any needed information or policy changes through the underwriting process.
Please furnish him with the information as soon as you can, since it will expedite the handling of your
insurance application.
Please remember to only speak to a case worker from INS Academy, as you will receive many calls from
outside brokers who do not have our resources or abilities who will try to obtain your business.

Just do me a favor and acknowledge to these brokers or agents that you have been taken care of by
one the leading insurance agencies in the country and one of the top agents as well. You are in great
hands, Mr. Jones.
Here is my contact information once again to keep by your side: Name, 800 55555555 ext.000.
If you know of anyone I can help out as I have helped you, I would appreciate it if you would put in a
kind word for me and pass on my number as well. Is there anyone you may have in mind at this time?
Mr. Jones, I thank you once again for allowing me the opportunity to act as your agent. One last
thing before I let you go. As I was reviewing your case overnight I actually did a little research for you.
I remember you mentioning you were in need of life insurance, so I took it upon myself to key in some
information from your health application. I managed to qualify you for up to $250,000 of term life
through one of the most well respected life insurance companies in our product line; by the name XYZ
Life.
Page 139

So to do this we
must consider the
value attached
Page 138
To initiate the application, I need to ask you a few simple questions concerning your needs.
(Go to app and start it.) Now, rst let me acknowledge to you that everyones situation is different. But
everyone should have a nancial plan for the long-term benet of themselves and their families, that
makes sense, doesnt it?

Mr. Jones, as an important part of your nancial plan, life insurance can provide peace of mind for the
uncertainties ahead. Let me ask you, do you and your spouse both work? If either spouse should die
prematurely, most families would be strained to meet mortgage payments and other household and liv-
ing expenses. And that doesnt take into account family goals such as providing for your childrens edu-
cation. Life insurance gives you the protection of income replacement and an important cash resource.
There are many types of life insurance. Some offer protection for a specied period of time and others
are permanent plans that build cash value.

One of the primary reasons people select term life insurance is that it provides the maximum amount
of coverage for the lowest cost. So now I realize that as an intelligent person you want to protect your
loved ones in the ungodly instance that an incident may occur, leaving them with some nancial hard-
ships, correct?
So to do this we must consider the value attached to these programs and set a dollar gure which we
would agree upon that would act as the cushion for the situation. Now, I always recommend situating
oneself with a comfortable monthly premium as well.

Well, youre lucky you have me on the phone, because I can measure your nancial status very simply
and effectively by one simple statement. Which is: You never know. Lets face it, Mr. Jones, we both
can see that there are a lot of unknown circumstances which
can arise; and we have to be prepared, wouldnt you agree?
So we both agree and understand that protecting ones
family is anyones number one priority, isnt that right?
Lets get this application completed today so you can have
peace of mind tomorrow.
Makes sense, right? How would you like the application ti-
tled, with or without your middle initial?
Page 139 Page 139
Ch a p t e r 2 2
Re a l l y AI DA?
Page 141

Getting the
other persons
attention sets
the tone
Page 140
AIDA is the original sales training acronym from the late 1950s, when selling was rst treated as a
professional discipline, and sales training began. AIDA is an even more relevant sales tool today. If you
remember just one sales or selling model, remember AIDA. Called by many authors the hierarchy of
effects, AIDA describes the basic process by which people become persuaded and motivated to act on
external stimuli, including the way that successful selling happens and sales are made.
When sales was rst considered a professional discipline, AIDA became apparent and commonly used
but not understood. It was characterized as something that you should remember; and it still enables
us to close business today. AIDA was made famous by the movie Glen Gary Glen Ross.
AIDA is:
Attention
Interest
Decision
Action
This is something salespeople should live by. Understand the process and really understand what is
really meant by the term AIDA. This supersedes all of the other acronyms you are supposed to know,
such as defeats, sreampigs. Closers are supposed to memorize all these things, but no one knows how
they work!
We will now discuss the acronym in detail.
Attention
Getting the other persons attention sets the tone, because
rst impressions are everything. Just remember this and smile
and laugh when you are introduced or you introduce your-
self. Be happy and it will get them smiling with you. Do this
even when you are on the phone, because people can hear it
in your voice! People hear your attitude, your heart, your jus-
tication, your clarication, your charisma, your poise, they
hear everything.
So the lesson is to be happy; but not annoyingly so. Be nat-
ural, honest and professional. If you are not in the mood to
smile, then do paperwork instead. If you rarely smile, then
get out of selling because I cant stand a negative salesper-
son. I have employed a couple of them, but negative sales-
Page 141 Page 141
people tend to blame the world for their problems. Every client on the phone is a potential sale, and
every time negative salespeople dont make a sale, there is always an issue. Maybe the phone conver-
sation got aborted, or the customers was stupid: That guy was an idiot. They think they can blame
everything on everybody else without losing their ability or pitch.
Getting attention is more difcult than it used to be because people are less accessible and have less
free time.
I often hear my salespeople saying things like, Well, youre at work and you picked up the phone
didnt you? You obviously have time to speak. I pick up my phone at work, too, if its a quick conver-
sation. But if someone wants to give me a half hour sales pitch, no I dont have time for that. Either you
call me back or Ill call you back.
Salespeople must be creative without the gimmicks, tricks, and crafty con techniques that dont work, be-
cause your prospective clients like the rest of us are irritated by hundreds of calls every single day.
So please dont sound cheesy over the phone and dont use the generic rebuttals that you read online. I
have generic rebuttals for my salespeople, too, but I say, Take this, put it in your own words and build
something nice with it. Here is a Lego set which is a base of what you could be saying. Build on it and
make it really cool.
If youre calling on the phone, or meeting face to face, you have about ve seconds to attract attention.
Five seconds by which time the other person has formed his frst impression of you. He will think,
Well, this person can speak, or This person doesnt know hes talking about, or This person really
needs to get off the phone. Maybe even, I dont have time for this.
So remember, rst impressions count. Despite the time pressures, just relax and enjoy it. Expect to be
told most often, No, thanks; but every no takes you closer to the next yes.
Imagine that you are 18 years old and going on a rst date, and your dates father answers the door
wearing boxers and a white tank top, with tomato sauce stains and bare feet and a shotgun in his
hand. Would you have a odd impression of him? Think about that. Now, picture him answering the
door dressed up in a suit and tie, polished shoes, hair done, everything in order in a gorgeous house.
You would have a more favorable impression of him, right?

The rst impression is everything. I am taking it down to that level, because thats the level that cus-
tomers think of you. Theyll either picture you in your boxers or in your suit. Its the big picture you give
them that will develop the impression.
Page 142 Page 143
Interest
I love interest. After you get attention, you now have maybe ve to 15 seconds to gain interest. It is
like ipping channels on a TV. You stop for a few seconds and then keep going until something catches
your attention.
How do you create interest so quickly? Something begins to look interesting if it is relevant and poten-
tially of interest to the viewer. So give some power statements at the start, like coming attractions at
the start of a movie. Say something that will spark or startle them.
Get customers inside your sales conversation immediately so theyll stay on the phone or in the con-
versation. The person you are approaching should have a potential need for your product, service or
proposition which implies that you or somebody else has established a target customer prole. Ap-
proach him at a time thats convenient for him. Aspects of seasonality, timing and other factors must
be taken into account as well.
Emphasize and understand the customers situation and issues. Express yourself in their terms. Talk their
language, their jargon. Many salespeople love to talk in a pattern thats different from their customers.
They talk fast to people who talk slow, and vice versa. I dont suggest that you do his because people
tend to hear those who talk at the same speed as themselves.
Given the interest, how do we really ft all of this into ten seconds? How do we get all of that out of our
mouths in ten seconds? Something begins to look interesting if its relevant and potentially adventur-
ous. Stick to the power statements of your company and your service. Thats what will gain somebodys
interest. Power statements are the key to gaining interest.
Decision
How do we get somebody to desire the product or service? How do we get them to make a decision
on the product?
The salesperson should identify and agree with the prospects situation needs, priorities, constraints
on personal and organizational levels, through empathetic questioning and interpretation. To guide
somebody to the decision, build rapport and trust inside the sales conversation. This prepares the
prospects mind to do business with you, and makes him feel that you have the integrity/ability to go
through the sale.
You need determination and desire in order to get that customer to make a decision. The key is to be
able to demonstrate how you and your organization will suitably, reliably and sustainably fulll the
prospects needs.
Page 143
Most of
us dont
ask for
that sale
once
again

Creating desire is part skill or technique and part behavior in modern selling.
In business, trust and relationship are the U factor. It is a natural competitive
development. It really squeezes and reduces the opportunities for clear prod-
uct advantage and uniqueness.
Be unique and show determination to be different. In order to get someone
to make a decision, show him that your product is unique when compared to
the competitors, that your macaroni and cheese tastes better than the other
competitors mac and cheese. Be different, be unique and get the sale.
Action
This is the conversion of potential in any environment. To achieve action, move
closer to whatever it is youre aiming for. Go in for the close using the custom-
ers natural inertia. Often opportunities are not acted upon. Most of us dont
ask for that sale once again, as discussed previously; 80% of us dont ask for
the sale more than times. You must ask ve times or more, as 80% of sales
are made on the fth closing attempt.
How many sales are you missing? The answer is: A ton, because you dont
take action on them. The preceding three stages have been conducted, and
now emphasis is required in the action stage. On very few occasions in history
was a sale so well conducted that the prospect decided to take action without
any encouragement at all! So you must show AIDA, pitch appropriately and
use all of the techniques that we have spoken about.
Commitment
Im adding a C onto the traditional AIDA acronym because this is the essential
last step. Arguably, commitment is implicated within the action stage; but this
suits my sales training purposes.
Commitment here means that a prospect or customer is more likely to prog-
ress to the action stage if their commitment to the proposition can rst be
established. Get prospects to commit through the tie-downs you learned in a
previous section. Get them to commit to your product, service and what you
are discussing with them. Use the standard, the inverted, the internal, and all
of the tag-ons.
People will be more amped to purchase your product if you use tie-downs as
Page 144 Page 145
part of AIDA-C. You will get more sales and less waste of time. Add the C, and you get even more than
you hoped for. More importantly, the questions in a clients mind always points back to the same:
Can I trust you?
Do you really have my best interest in mind?
What is in this for me? Can you prove it?
Will it really give me what I want?
And the last one, Do I really need it now?
We all need products but do we need them now? The answer is, yes, you do. Sell it to the client, and
encourage him that he needs it now. Tell him that he needs it now by answering all of his different
questions through AIDA-C. Let him know that he can trust you. Let him know through the power state-
ments, the compliment and proceeding, and all the different techniques that you have learned.
Do you really have my best interest in mind?
As a salesperson you had better have his best interest in mind.
What is this and what is in it for me?
Acknowledge to him what is in it for him. Accomplish this through the framing technique. What it
means to you, what it really means to youcan you prove it?
Will it really give me what I want?
Of course it will, Mr. Jones, here are the reasons why. My purpose at this time
Do I really need it now?
Mr. Jones, the best time to make a decision is when the facts are fresh in your mind. We can postpone
anything to a later date, but why waste time? We know what the ultimate decision is really going to
be, dont we? More importantly, lets go ahead and get this done.
Lets always remember to close, lets remember to always do the right things, never do the wrong
things, and of course you will be able to make money.
The steps
Step 1.) Find a deep want or interest. People dont buy needs, they buy wants.
Step 2.) Disturb the client, stir up some hurt or pain. Make him feel and understand why he needs that
product.

You, too, can

succeed, you do
the right things
using these
principles and
techniques.
Page 145
Step 3.) Show him how to heal his discomfort through purchas-
ing your product. Persuasion is the process of getting your cus-
tomers to clearly associate their most desired feelings and states
with your services.
You, too, can succeed, you, too, can make the money that you
always wanted if you try, and if you do the right things using
these principles and techniques.
The AIDA process also applies to any advertising or communi-
cation that aims to generate a response, such as billboards and
TV commercials; and it provides a reliable base for the design of
marketing materials.
Simply put, when we buy something, we buy according to the AIDA process. So when we sell our sell-
ing must go through the AIDA stages. Something rst gets our attention. If its relevant to us we are in-
terested to learn or hear more about it. If the product or service then appears to closely meet our needs
and visions, we begin to desire it. If we are stimulated to overcome our natural caution, as a commercial
may do, we may then become motivated or susceptible to taking action to buy.
Salesfreaks Attention
Getting the other persons attention over the phone or in person sets the tone. Remember that rst im-
pressions count, so smile, because people can hear your frown or grin over that phone. Keep it simple
and keep it professional. Never try a tone of surreal circus comedy. Be funny, but not too funny, because
no one like to buy from a comedian. If youre not in the mood to smile, do some paperwork instead. If
you rarely smile, then get out of selling, as I preach to my teams.
Getting attention is more difcult than it used to be long ago when sales books were rst written,
because people today are less accessible, have less free time and lots of competing distractions. Think
about when its best to call.
The fancy gimmicks, tricks and crafty techniques do not work, because your prospective customers
like the rest of us are irritated by hundreds of them every day. I am on the giving and receiving end
of this. I realize how it can be.
If you are calling on the phone or meeting face-to-face, you have about ve seconds to attract atten-
tion, by which time the other person has formed the rst impression of you. Despite the time pressure
Page 146
in your own career, relax and enjoy it, but expect to be mostly told, No, thanks and remember that
every no takes you closer to the next okay.
Salesfreaks Interest
You now have maybe ve to 15 seconds in which to create some interest and propel your clients into
paying attention. Something begins to look interesting if it is relevant and potentially advantageous to
them, and covers their needs and wants like a Superbowl commercial.
The prospect you are approaching should have a potential need for your offer. You must empathize
with and understand the other persons situation and issues, like a mother does with her crying baby,
and be able to express yourself in their terms.
Salesfreaks Desire
Identify and agree with the prospects situation, needs, priorities and constraints on personal and stra-
tegic levels. Do this through empathic questioning and interpretation. Build condence, trust and an
image in the prospects mind to do business with you.
Understand your competitors arsenal and your prospects other options. Understand your own product
and in particular its relevance and results for your prospect. Be prepared to present, explain and convey
solutions with credibility and enthusiasm.
Creating desire is part skill, part technique, and part behavior and style. In todays selling and business
environments, trust and relationship are widely signicant, as our growing technologies and territories
of reach lose advantage and uniqueness.
Salesfreaks Action
Action is the conversion of potential into actuality, in order to achieve or move closer to whatever is the
desired end result. Our natural motivations and hesitancy often dictate that opportunities are not acted
upon. The closer must make the moves because a customer needs to be inuenced into action like an
individual on a diet.
If you prepare your attention, interest and decisions in the purest way possible, your action steps will
be less exhausting.
Managing the Tribulations of the Sale
The Tribulations of the Sale is the most common traditional structure for explaining and training the sell-
ing process for a sales call or business meeting, including what immediately comes before and after it.
Page 147
This structure is usually represented by seven steps, but it can be a different number, depending whose
teaching you. The Salesfreaks Tribulations of the Sale remains a helpful structure for sales and sales
training; but remember that even old techniques need rening, which is why you are reading this today.
Assume that the appointment has been made, or the prospect has agreed to discuss things on a rst call.
Preparation: Planning-research-approach
Introduction: Attention-approach-establish initial credibility
Questioning: Identify needs-ask how and what, etc.-establish rapport and trust
Presentation: Explanation-demonstration-commitment
Overcoming objections: negotiating-decision
Close: Closing-agreement frames-commitment-button up
Follow-up: After-sales-fulll-deliver-admin-load
Sales Approaches
The number of different sales approaches used by salespeople is really mind boggling. You see, I dont
think anybody really knows how to approach certain clients, or teaches their sales staffs and/or them-
selves as entrepreneurs and/or executives how to properly handle cthem. Ive seen many friends who
open companies and or become high-ying executives of sales institutions get thrown into a position
and be expected to know what to do. No one is s teaching them what clients want, or where their
values are.
If you dont know what to do, why did you get that job?
Why are you asking me?
Why are you trying that job?
Why arent they teaching you these things?
No, Mike, they told me to gure it out.
You need a base, dont you? You need a foundation you cant just build the roof to a house without
the walls or groundwork, can you? You need something to go by.
Oh, they are going to send me over to this corporate training seminar.
Mike, they told me to get on the phone and start selling right away!
I have to look at them and say, Wheres the sales approach? The who, what, when, where and huh?
In some companies Ive consulted for, Ive asked the director, How can you hire candidate X without
Page 148
knowing his qualications or training? You expect him to perform at a level, that he never was at, and
doesnt correctly understand your sales force or mission statement.
I said, What is your past success? What have your guys accomplished and have you done this before?
They responded, Hmmm, well, Michael, I appreciate you coming, and I appreciate you asking me that.
Our sales approach has always been to do X.
I said, What about the who, what, where, when and huh?
Many executives arent aware of this and think they can hire somebody for a position and just say,
Well, thats what theyre supposed to do. Theyre supposed to gure it out. Well, how is your com-
pany supposed to be proftable, when you are hiring people that way? How can an individual who is
thrown into a situation be expected to know what hes doing?
Isnt that exactly why we are going through this information?
Just because you are an entrepreneur, that doesnt mean you can ll a position and earn that business.
You cant just start a call center, or become an insurance agent or a big realtor. You cant do these
things without a base or foundation. And you should be able to teach others your concepts.
Sales freaks have different sales approaches. Who, when, where, huh are now things we must over-
come, not answer.
Why do customers buy? Undisturbed prospects will not buy from you until they are persuaded or en-
couraged to your product and or service. The second part of this sales persuasion is to get the custom-
ers to associate not buying with the aggravation and pain of not having your product or service. Create
a situation they fear or have emotions about.
People buy because they are either undisturbed or because their process is not clearly associated with
their state. They make the decision to purchase because they associate buying this product or service
with something that they dont normally have. It has to be something thats taken away from them.
They need to have a situation created for them. If you dont do that, you will be in a lot of trouble
and will not make the sale. Whenever and whatever your pitch, there are dozens of factors which will
gure in the nal decision of all your prospects. All else being equal though, you have the edge if you
can establish a personal connection, emotionally and intellectually, so that they like and trust you more
than they do your competitors.
How can you get your prospects to like you? Just ask yourself these questions:
How will your prospects like you?
Page 149
What more can you do as a salesperson?
How can you get somebody to purchase your product?
Will they love your product?
Will they hate your product?
You have to nd your edge in this sale. What is your unique identier for your product and/or service
and you as a salesperson? And are you telling people about it? Now, focus and be sincere. If you ap-
pear nervous, unsure or devious, youre going to appear incompetent in their eyes. If your sales presen-
tation does not respond to their concerns, and you just grind on with a prepared pitch, they will decide
that you dont care about them.
They are no different from our spouses and friends. They will think things like, You really dont care
about my true feelings. You dont care that they wanted leather seats, and youre trying to sell them
cloth because its a good deal.
Maybe you tell your clients that they should choose this house because its a good deal, but they really
dont want that house. I know, because it happened to me. I got pressured into it and, being a sales-
person, I was the easiest person to close!
How and why did I get closed? The answer is simple yet complicated: I had peer pressure on top of me.
I made a fast, rash decision on something with a realtor that wasnt interested in me; she just wanted
the sale. Thats why I would never go back to that realtor, though. Years later, another realtor sold my
house and made a lot of money for me. If the rst realtor had just given me what I wanted, she could
have made that big commission. More importantly, you have to stand 100% behind the ideas/process
and or services that you want to sell them. You as a closer must pick up on their concerns, and address
them unlike what happened to me.
State what might and can be true, such as, Listen, I had United Health Care for my family, and I trust
that they will be there for me in my time of need, like countless others before me. Give your customers
testimonials about yourself and your business. If you give people a testimonial about yourself, you will
win. Your clients will be won over with realism and situations like a movie highlight reel.
People have emotional reasons to purchase a product from you, not just minor logic. There is something
else attached to it. They have the pain associated with the item/service not purchased from you.
So what is the unique identier in your business? What are your emotional reasons in order to close
somebody on your items? It is your job to gure them out. If you get it right, it will make sense to all
of your clients.
Ch a p t e r 2 3
P l a nni ng To P r e p
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Generally, the larger the prospect organization, the more research you should do before any sales call at
which you will be expected, or be likely, to present you companys products or services. Ensure that your
staff knows your own product/service extremely well especially features, advantages and benets
relevant to the prospect you will be meeting. You must ascertain, as far as you ca,n the main or unique
perceived organizational benet that your product or service would give to your prospect and his staff.
Discover what current supply chain arrangements exist or are likely to exist for the product/service in
question, and assess what the present suppliers reaction is likely to be if their business is at threat. Un-
derstand what other competitors are able or likely to offer, and which ones, if any, are being considered
by your clients and prospects. Identify as many of the prospects decision-makers and inuencers as you
can, and assess as far as you can what their needs, motives and relationships are spouse, CEO, exec-
utive, etc. What are your prospects strategic issues, aims, priorities and problems? If you cant discover
these pre-meeting, what are they generally in the market sector in which the prospect operates?
Prepare your presentation in the format in which you are to give it, plus all materials, samples, custom
hand-outs, brochures. Think about what you want to get from the meeting and organize your plan-
ning to achieve it. Now understand and make the most of warm and cold calling because cold calling
increasingly enables salespeople to become more strategic and signicant in the sales function.
Your introduction must meet someones needs and attention so take condence from the fact that you
are well-prepared and introduce yourself: rst and last name, your title and the company you represent,
and what the your company does. Set the stage and announce what you do in a mission statement.
Base it on your prospect, not yourself. Id like to learn about your nancial needs and wants and see
if we can help get you from where you are to where you want to be, and then approach those issues.
Then if it looks as though there might be some common ground, get them to agree on how you could
move to the next level of the sale.
The main purpose of questioning is to conrm or discover the strongest or unique perceived organiza-
tional benet that would accrue to the prospect from your service or product, which may be obvious to
buyer, but not apparent to you.
Questioning must also discover how best to develop the sale with the prospect. This is how they decide,
when people and procedures are involved and competitor pressures are made real. A good, empathic
questioning regimen also builds relationships with trust and rapport, as nobody wants to buy anything
from a closer whos only interested in his own product or company or himself!
As our power statement section states, we all want to buy from somebody who gives the time and
skill to interpreting and properly meeting our own personal interest, needs and wants. Prepare a list of
Page 153

Your sales presentation

must demonstrate that
the offering meets the
prospects needs, priorities,
constraints and motives, or
the prospect will not even
consider buying
Page 152
questions or statements, and use open questions to gather information that can build trust. Questions
beginning with Who, What, Why, Where, When, How. Now is the time to use, Can you tell me about
how... The bigger the open questions you ask, and the more comfortable the other person will be, and
willing to give you the information you need in a big explanation such as the money situation.
Listen carefully and empathically, maintain good eye-contact, understand and show that you under-
stand especially understand what is meant and felt, not just what is said, particularly when you probe
for reasons to buy. Interpret,d reect back and conrm that you have understood what was explained,
and its relevance. Use closed questions to qualify and conrm your interpretation. A closed question is
one that can be answered with a yes or no, period. Do you mean that when I go to the hospital with
this policy I have to pay $5000? Are you saying that if I go to the hospital the most I will have to
spend is $5000? When youve asked a question, shut up and do not interrupt your client because he
should be doing 99% of the talking during the sales call. Do not be your salesman uncle here.
Questioning is traditionally treated by salespeople, not closers. Improper sales training as a process to
gather information assists the salespersons process. Modern sales methodology treats questioning in a
radically different way: as an essential part of a facilitative process whose purpose is to help the buyer
decide.
The sales presentation should focus on sole proposition, which should be the unique perceived value
benet that the prospect gains from the product/service. During the questioning portion of your pitch,
you will have rened your understanding of how the benets of the product match with the needs and
wants of the prospect, so that he is entirely satised that the service will aid him. Therefore you need
an excellent understanding of the many different benets that will inspire your clientele.
Your sales presentation must demonstrate that the offer-
ing meets the prospects needs, priorities, constraints and
motives, or the prospect will not even consider buying or
moving to the next level with you; this is why establishing
the prospects situation and priorities during the questioning
phase is so vital.

The preceding point is important to go over when you have
to present on more than one occasion to different people or
groups, who will each have different personal and organiza-
tional needs, and will therefore respond to different benets.
You must construct all presentations well and be able to talk
to people professionally but in a way you can be understood.
Page 153 Page 153
I always teach my staff to not just babble all the time. They must avoid simply talking about technical
aspects or features from their point of view, without linking the feature clearly to a benet for the pros-
pect. Do not use terminology, such as insurance talk, stock talk or any jargon, that the prospect may
not understand.
Sales presentations must always meet the expectations of the listener in terms of the level of informa-
tion and relevance to the prospects own situation. Money is not the same to a millionaire as it is to
an average worker. When presenting to inuencers like chief executives or spouses, it is important to
recognize that you are effectively asking the inuencers to personally endorse the proposition and the
credibility of you and your company. The presentation must include relevant evidence of success. These
can be testimonials like we use in our sales process, references from similar sectors and applications,
facts and gures.
This is ultimately a business decision. Business decision makers buy when they become satised that the
decision will either make them money, or save them money and time. The do this by comparisons and
by knowing who they have on the line. Giving them money examples helps everyone to understand
what is at stake.
Consumer buyers ultimately buy for similar reasons, but also for more personal ones, such as status
names, which you may need to feature in that types of situation.
Presentations should use the language and style of your prospects. For example, knowledge people
need intelligent evidence; sales and marketing people like to see differences, managing directors and
nance directors want clear, concise benets to costs, prots and operating efciency; and generally
the more senior the contact, the less time you will have to make your point. Make sure you give facts
and evidence here.
Never, never knock the competition; this undermines your credibility and integrity. Dont even imply
anything derogatory about the competition, such as I do not like their product because of X. Defam-
ing anyone can always come back. It is trash talk, keep your mouth shut.
Every closers aim should be to prepare and conduct the selling process so well that there are few, if
any, objections, and there is no need to close. The best close these days is something like, Are you
happy that weve covered everything and would you like to go ahead? or simply Would you like to
go ahead? In many cases, if the salesperson conducts the sale properly, the prospect will close the deal
himself; this should be the your ultimate aim.
Page 154 Page 155
The manner in which a sale is concluded depends on the style of the decision maker, so keep an eye
out for the signs of want it now and wait til later.
Follow up after the sale as much as possible and properly button your clients up. Please reread the cus-
tomer service section for this. Sales reporting is also necessary, because you must act like a sales man-
ager as well. Also make follow-up contact like a service representative, as often as necessary to conrm
that the customer is happy with the way the order is progressing; this helps reduce possible confusion
and misunderstood expectations, which are a big cause of customer dissatisfaction and cancellations.
Customer follow-up and problem resolution must always be the responsibility of the salesperson, who
should consider himself the guardian of that customer even if a well-organized customer service de-
partment exists for general after-sales care. My departments always work in synergy to develop new
systems for this and other work ows. A happy customer is a contacted customer, period.
Will everyone always like you? The answer is no, but you can certainly try to appease them. Become a
problem solver, not a creator, and call people back! We are responsible for what happens after the sale
is made, and good conscientious follow-up will usually be rewarded with referrals to other customers
or saves on your current business. My guys always tell me they saved another deal due to follow-up.
Follow-up is an important indicator of integrity, honesty and trust; when a closer makes a sale he is
personally endorsing the product and the company, so ensuring that value and satisfaction are fullled
is an important ingredient of the modern sales function.
The product sale, or service of the sale, is how that product or service is described and presented to
the customer. The product offer is generally presented in varying levels of detail and depth, depending
on the situation. Opening or initial offering words are used by the salesperson to attract attention and
interest in verbal and written introductions to prospects. These words must be easy and on the tip of
the tongue so that the attention is grabbed in less than ve seconds, as we went over in the chapter
on AIDA.
For a salesman or closer, developing and tailoring a product offer, or proposition, is an integral part of
the selling process, and the approach to this has changed over the years. You must be creative and tap
into resources you may not have been provided with. My reps are taught that if they are not selling,
they should gure out why and generate sales materials to help.
Selling and sales training ideas, courses, programs, products, etc., are just part of the regimen, though.
Todays closing requires understanding and capabilities that extend way beyond the traditional skills I
have seen used in many centers and companies. Modern closing is about life, people, business commu-
nications, behavior, personality and psychology, self-awareness, attitude and belief. Selling is about un-

The more you

understand about
how people think
the more effective
you will be
Page 155
derstanding how people and systems work, and enabling good
outcomes.
Sales training addresses some of these issues, of course, but not
all of them. Think about courses you have read or heard and
decide whether they have helped or impacted you in a positive
way. Most people read to read and watch to watch, but never
put to use. This is why only 1% of the sales world become clos-
ers. Consider and learn about other aspects of business, man-
agement and self-development that interest you.
Extend this principle to your people if you are a sales manager
or coach. Remember mentoring and how it might change your
career. Develop your experience and understanding of organiza-
tions, management and business beyond sales training alone and you will greatly increase your value
and worth to your company or as a closer to your clients.
The more you understand about how people think, how organizations work and how they are man-
aged, the more effective you will be. Look beyond sales training and selling, and strive to become an
inventor of habits. This is the role of the closer. Its a highly valuable, sought-after and transferable ca-
pability. A closer closes, he does not wait for a yes; he leaves that to the other 99%.

Note: almost everything in this chapter is a duplicate of chapter 17 Objections. Is that intentional?
Page 157
Ch a p t e r 2 4
Re but t a l s

Be brief.
Dont
over-answer
Page 157
Most of the time an objection to your sales pitch is actually a
buying signal. Your prospect is saying, Im interested, but you
have not sold me yet.
Many prospects throw objections at salespeople as a test. They
listen to the tone and condence of your voice to learn if you
believe in your own product. If you do not, why should they?

Before you answer an objection, always let the prospect know
that you are listening and that you understand and can appreci-
ate his objections. Put yourself in his shoes and emphasize with
him. Make him feel smart for bringing it up!
For the sake of clarity, repeat the objection to let him know you completely understand it. I can appre-
ciate that, so what you are saying is...
Or question the objection: Thats very interesting, Mr. Jones. Just for my own edication, why do you
feel that...
Isolate the objection for the best comeback/response.
Always end the response to the objection with a clarication conrming that your answer made sense
to the customer.
Now that makes sense, doesnt it?
Now that we have addressed that, is there anything else that you feel would be holding you back?
Be brief. Dont over-answer! Return to your presentation. Your comeback should be just long enough
to satisfy the prospect. Keep it simple, stupid!
Be prepared for every type of objection. But the best rebuttal is to never have an objection in the rst
place! In my years of sales I hardly ever had more than one objection during a sale. They only arise if you
forget that your presentation should include answers to the most common factors. People are motivat-
ed by risk and reward. Show them the serious risk of passing on what you have to offer just as much as
you show them how much they will prosper and be rewarded by doing business with you.
Handling objections is important, but sales is about closing and getting the money, isnt it? Answer the
objection and ask for the order. Do not be afraid, you will always close on your fourth to fth attempt,
so keep at them!
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The desire to
answer every
possible objec-
tion when they
are nothing
but white lies.
Page 158
Steps to Rebuttals
most of the objections people come up with are simply automatic. No thanks, Im just looking. So
just ignore them, so let them y by. You can avoid them by asking better questions that engage the
customer instead of inviting the yes or no answers.
The biggest challenges salespeople face are:
1.) Fear of objections, fear of not getting through to the prospect and fear of hearing No, thank you
or a dial tone.
2.) Belief that you have to ght down objections or you will lose the sale. This is simply untrue and much
like arguing with a child over ice cream.
3.) The desire to answer every possible objection when they are nothing but white lies.
4.) The tendency to handle objections that are not real to make yourself look and feel as if you were
working.
Do not be eager to attack an objection. Take a look at it and let it y by because customers are testing you!
Hear them out. Customers may run out of things to say to you, because if you just shut up, people cant
argue anymore! My girlfriend is famous for this and will argue, only to nd out that I gave up and she
is speaking only to herself and f has nothing to be upset over. I now repeat her objection or point back,
such as: It costs too much. Or, Why are you really upset: because I didnt call?
Feed the objection back as a question. Many times in trying to explain their objection, people will talk
themselves out of it. I know you have a reason for saying that. Do you mind if I ask what it is?
Get permission to ask real questions, and be polite. I know you have
reasons for saying that. Do you mind if I ask what they are? What are
your reasons?
Honey, why do you feel as you do? Take the time to listen aggres-
sively! When you hear them, you will have the power to close the sale
because you know what is really motivating them to buy or not buy.
After you have performed these steps, make it nal. If we could han-
dle that, would you want to go ahead? For our business, we ask: Mr.
Jones, if we are able to nd you a policy that had everything you just
stated, we could go ahead with it, correct?
Page 159 Page 159
Align with the prospect and use agreement frames. These are comfort patterns like:
I appreciate and understand
I agree and
I respect and
When you say these things and agree with the customer, it sets a tone without making the him wrong.
Agreement frames make him feel appreciated, respected and agreed with.
Turn the objection into a question. You cant answer an objection. but you can answer a question.
That brings up a question...
In spite of thinking about it, isnt the real question.?
I like to teach my phone reps this because all customers want off the line and need to be encouraged,
not discouraged. Turn it around and break it down to the ridiculous for them and show them you will
not back down. Make it make sense to them and you will get the sale.
Now go back to our tie-down section. Tie it down and go for the money!
Here are some common responses to help you along the way:
Im not interested.

Please do not mistake the fact that I called you today as a reason you shouldnt take minute to have a
look at how incredibly effective this program can work for you. I promise you this, Mr. Jones, and I can
show you. Are you mostly concerned with saving money each month or receiving the best benets for
your hard earned dollar?
Not a problem; I would feel the same way if I was inundated with countless calls from brokers who
could not help me the way I believed I deserved. As a matter of fact, I usually respond the same exact
way when I am rst approached by a salesperson. The fact of the matter is, yes, I am a salesperson
and I am here to sell you something, but let me make you a deal. I wont sell you a thing on this call. I
will simply present you with what other people in your situation have done, and we will either part as
friends or we will get you insured.
Not a problem; that is a typical response to a salesperson in person or over the phone. The good thing
is, I am not a salesperson and I am not your typical agent. Let me explain to you what separates me
from other agents and agencies. First, I am one of the top agents at ACH, which is a private company
growing into one of the largest agencies today. I am licensed and governed through state and federal
Page 160 Page 161
agencies, which requires me to always do right by my potential clients and existing clientele. Now, you
said you were with XYZ company, am I right? Now, are you shopping because you were unhappy with
price or benets?
Oh, really? Why not? What is it exactly that youre not interested in? Is it the savings you can receive
or is it your ability to shop over 20 of the top companies competing for your business?
Believe me, I can appreciate that, but if you take 30 seconds to hear me out, Ill clue you in on a ques-
tion smart people in your position usually ask, and that is, How do you get your clients some of the
most competitive rates around? Let me share with you how it all works
OK, but hold on a second, Mr. Jones what Id like to ask is this. If there is anything about our
company, service or price you do not like, Id like you to tell me, because the last thing I want to do is
annoy you about something you are not interested in. Would you do that? Fine, so by the time we have
everything on the table, we will be doing business or we wont, fair enough?
OK, and I can appreciate the fact that you are not interested, but let me ask you, will you put me in
the picture of what you are looking to get into? It usually requires fullling your needs in order to make
a t, wouldnt you agree?
Hold on for a second before you risk missing out on this here, Mr. Jones. If I can utterly answer your
apprehensions about this, would you be more inclined to try this insurance program out today?
Thats OK you might not be interested right now, but while we are talking, just really quickly, could
you please tell me exactly what you are not interested in? Is it increasing your benets, or saving money
that youre not interested in? Then you would need to take the next 30 seconds to at least have a look
at what Im showing you here, yeah? OK, great.
I want to think about it / talk about it with my spouse.
Not a problem; I can understand and appreciate the way you must feel. As a matter of fact, you are
similar to my wife and me. We never make decisions apart, although she does respect my research and
opinions on things she is not privy to. You see, I trust in a lot of decisions she makes for me and my
family for the present and the future as she does in mine You need to understand that you are not alone
in making the decision; you have one of the top agents in the country helping to guide you. Insurance
can be confusing and sometimes having a licensed agent to decipher the legal portions of the policy
is far better since I will always be here to assist you now and for years to come. I am not looking for a
quick sale, Mr. Jones. I am looking to start a relationship in which I can earn future business through
Page 161
I can
appreci-
ate the
fact that
you want
to think
about it

referrals and of word of mouth. I cannot receive them if I do you wrong. My

job is to help you and not hurt you. This is what we have to do from here.
But really, the best way you and your husband/wife can make the right deci-
sion is by getting underwritten and approved rst.
And if you ever decide the product/service isnt for you, just give us a call.
Well be more than happy to decipher your needs and reassess the situation
at that time so you can feel safe and secure knowing you are with the right
agency. How do I spell your last name? Greatand do you have a middle
initial you would like to appear on your application?
I appreciate your need to wait and talk it over, and here is what I can do. I
can hold this discounted rate for you if you put a good faith deposit down,
which is just the application, and let me know your decision within 24 hours.
I am sure your wife/husband wont want to miss out on this, and Im sure
that if he/she were in your shoes, you wouldnt want him/her to pass up this
opportunity, either, to get in at this phenomenal rate. Lets begin your appli-
cation now together and get you approved by the rst of the month. You will
be billed on [date] upon approval by you and the company. This makes sense,
right? Great. How do you want your name to appear on the application?
Lets be totally honest here, Mr. Jones. What would you need so you do not
procrastinate and blow this opportunity for the rate of $X? I will bend over
backwards to do whatever you need right now, but I need you to be honest
with me so I can help you further.
I can appreciate the fact that you want to think about it, Mr. Jonesand I
like you, so let me ask you a brief question: what do I need to do for you so
we can move forward and reap the benets from this program today? The
reason I ask is that it always boils down to a specic question we were either
afraid to ask or were hesitant to ask; what would that be?
I appreciate your thoughts entirely. Any signicant commitment is worth
thinking about, isnt it? I do have to say, however, that time waits for no man.
In todays business world, if you are standing still than you are moving back-
wards. I strongly suggest you do not become that guy! I recommend we at
least move forward to underwriting so we both can see if there lies a t. You
would agree with me, wouldnt you?
Page 162
Im too busy.
Not a problem; I know youre busy, and I am, as well, since so many companies are laying off their
employees. There are about 47 million people without health insurance in this country and we all need
to think about how not to become one of them. Do me a favor and just take two minutes right now
to get the information you need and we can decide how to move forward from there, fair enough?
I can appreciate that, Mr. Jones, and I assure you I wouldnt waste my own time, let alone yours. What
I am showing you here is incredibly effective and will give you and your family peace of mind. OK? Let
me quickly explain to you how you can beneft from HBD, and after two minutes we will either be doing
business or we wont, fair enough?
Not a problem, I understand you are a busy person, but before I schedule a time to call you back, I
need to knowis it a priority to nd the right health insurance? Great newshere is what I can do to
assist you.
Oh, thats OK; I know what its like to be interrupted! Let me ask you, how long have you been shop-
ping for health insurance?
I can appreciate the fact that you are busy, Mr. Jones, but I would not be taking time out of my sched-
ule, either, if I did not have something unique that I think you could really benet from. I do not want to
spin my wheels and waste your time. If youre serious about nding better coverage than you currently
have, just answer these question for me:
A. What is it you like best about your current insurance?
B. If you could change anything about it, what would it be?
C. Is there anything else I should know about how I can help you?
I can appreciate that because I am a very busy person myself, helping hundreds of people each and
every day in your exact position. Since your are busy I will make this brief. What is your height and
weight?
Im happy where I am.
Not a problem; what is it about that company that appeals to you? I see. Well, Mr. Jones, when was
the last time you took the opportunity to make a comparison between your current provider and other
programs that might be comparable or better?
I can totally understand that, and I have had many other clients who felt the same wayuntil they
Page 163
tried what we have to offer them. Seriously, Mr. Jones, if you could invest the same amount of money
and time you have now, and have it bring you more benet, then you would agree that it would be a
smart move, correct? Exactly!
HmmmMr. Jones, if you knew you could get the same or better results with us at half the price,
you would be willing to have a little bit more, wouldnt you? Let me explain some of what you should
expect from HBD services and me.
That makes sense Mr. Jones, and I can totally understand that, but let me quickly show you a list of
the advantages of our packages and services versus who you are currently with, OK? Now that we have
that done, you would agree with me that we can provide you with better results, wouldnt you?
Well, Mr. Jones, you seem to be a smart insurance shopper and I can tell you that smart people like
yourself these days shop through only the leaders in an industry, right? Why? Because it acts to rein-
force your overall mentality. You get out of it what you put in. So let me explain why we are the best
in my opinion!
A. Revolutionizing the industry with technology driven sales .
B. We do the shopping for you.
C. Compare and contrast your choices.
D. Have superior and awarded customer service.
E. Only deal with leading names in the industry.
F. Have a proven track record of success.
G. Branded name in the industry.
Im not happy with price.
I can appreciate that. All of our current clients know that price is really the best part about partnering
with us.
We can do small installment payments so your actual investment per month will probably be much
lower than what you spend on your cell phone bill!
If price was not an issue, is there anything else holding you back from giving this a shot today?
OK, great, I would like to make a recommendation based on what you have told me. I think you
should go with the intermediate package, which you agreed would probably be a smart thing for you
to do. Let me ask you a question, what is your current mailing address? (complete app)
Page 165

That does
not make
sense, does it?
Page 164
Thats all we needed to do to get my guys started on this for you. Please hold as I transfer you to our
specialized underwriting department.
OK, well thats an intelligent perspective. Youre obviously wondering if you can handle this invest-
ment without upsetting your budget, arent you?
Yes, you are right, its not cheap. However, there are very good reasons that thousands of people
across the country have examined this product carefully and compared it to countless others only to end
up with this one. Those reasons are...
OK, look at it this way. If you give me $325, I will give you 5 million dollars per insured. Our clients are
assured the peace of mind of this nancial security for many years to come. Put it this way Mr. Jones:
invest in yourself now so youll have someone to invest in for the future. You never know.
I can completely understand and see where you are coming from, Mr. Jones. This package is not an
expense if it brings in the security of knowing you and your loved ones are protected, am I right? I
mean, are you saying your health and your family are far too expensive to invest in? That does not make
sense, does it?
You are right, Mr. Jones, this is not the cheapest, and if that is what youre looking for, youre obvious-
ly not looking in the right place. You have to understand the value in what youre getting, Mr. Jones. I
could offer you a cheaper product, but what would become of the benets? I tell you this: you could
buy something for about $100 less but you would wind up spending 10 times that if, god forbid, some-
thing should happen. After all, this is why we purchase health insurance, right? Exactly!
Sure, it seems high for those folks who have not done their
homework, the initial investment only appears high. Can
you imagine how good it will feel once you experience the
awarded customer service support, the top name carrier, the
5 million dollars of coverage and the cutting edge creativity
of shopping we have provided for you? We know our val-
ue to you just like you know your value and your margins,
Mr. Jones. If we did not deliver on our concept at compet-
itive rates, we would not be in business today. Have I not
explained the value of our service, or is price the only thing
were hung up on here?
Page 165 Page 165
Im not sure/send information.
Actually Mr. Jones, after our pre-underwriting screen, youll have all the information you need to make
the best decision possible for you and your family.

Why dont we do this: Well begin an application today so you can start beneting from this elite
insurance package sooner rather than later. By doing this we will both have a better idea about our
decision. I mean, right now I understand you dont know me and I do not know you. So the best thing
to do is this:
1. Get an application to underwriting so we can have a better idea about your medical history. After all,
Mr. Jones this policy is worth over $5 million per person!
2. We will do a bill on effective date so no money is being drafted as of today.
3. Upon approval, we will both understand the processes and the program, and you can enjoy using
the program.
This way, you can start taking advantage of your benets right away. And if you ever decide the prod-
uct/service isnt for you, just give us a call. I know youll be more than pleased with the product, but
well be more than happy to nd something that may appeal to you differently then. OK?
Sure, I will go ahead and do that, Mr. Jones, but a piece of paper will not be able to answer your
questions as effectively as I can now, or explain the benets we offer unique to your needs. Let me ask
you, how important are doctor visits to you?
No problem that was my intention. I never let any of my clients go without sending them everything
they will need to feel safe and secure with their decisions. This is why what we are doing now is only
the rst step to a ve-step process. First, lets see if we can get you approved for this product. After all,
the company is going to be insuring each family member for 5 million dollars apiece!
This is whats going to happen. I will take down all of the necessary information and send you over to
underwriting, which will determine your eligibility. After underwriting nalizes all the medical questions
with you, they will send you a copy of your policy/benets chart/ and company brochure. I am actually
preparing this for you now as we speak. Now, how do you want your name to appear on the applica-
tion?
OK, lets be realistic, Mr. Jones. I can fax you all day long, but right now you have me on the phone.
Let me tell you how this can benet you, and then you can make a decision if it is right for you or not,
fair enough? This is not for everyone, but I think its right for you, can I tell you why?
Page 166
Insurance doctor
Mr. Jones, there are over 400,000 physicians in this major medical PPO program for you to seek treat-
ment from. But lets take the worst case scenario that your doctor is not in your network. The best part
about this program is that you are covered in and out of your network!

I understand you are concerned about your doctor being in the program, but we both have to think
about it this way: We purchase health insurance for the major things in life which could happen the
what-if scenarios, right? Now if we focus on a doctor you only see once or twice a year, then that could
be a major downfall for the both of us. This is the best coverage for the money and if that $50 doctor
visit is going to make or break our purpose we have to reevaluate our decisions.
I am saving you over $X each month. You might as well continue to see your doctor without a co-pay
since each year youre saving $X! Makes sense, right?
I am glad you asked that question, Mr. Jones. You will be covered in or out of your network with this
program! Thats what makes CGI stand apart from the rest of the carriers. They have whats called a pa-
tient advocate program which will actually search the top specialists in your area for treatments/illnesses
and negotiate in-network rates for you!
Ive never heard of you.
Im glad you mentioned that that, Mr. Jones. We have many satised customers who will attest to the
power and efcacy of this type of service. We are one of the largest insurance agencies on the eastern
coast and only represent the top carriers offering you the best programs with unsurpassed benet pack-
ages. Keep in mind that we are a publicly traded company and so are the companies we represent.
Not many people have heard of us? Maybe you saw our TV commercial or heard our radio ad. Let
me tell you a little bit about our company and how we are developing this industry around you, the
consumer.
I do not buy over the phone/internet.
I completely understand, a lot of satised and ecstatic customers said the same thing to me before we
found them a great company to insure them.
I understand something new always scares someone in one shape or form. Ten years ago when the
internet started to enter peoples homes, those were scary times, right? But now we shop from our
Page 167
homes, at auctions, buy cars online. We have come a long way, dont you think?
Of course, you would agree that it has become a necessity these days to have the internet at home,
right? Exactly!
But not only has the internet become a part of our lives, but it has started to make them easier too.
One of those securities is now how America buys health insurance!
We have revolutionized the insurance industry. You can call us the Microsoft of the insurance industry
in my opinion! So, Mr. Jones, let me explain how we work for you! First we.
Stop trying to sell me!
Yes, I am very persistent, because I rmly believe that what we have can help.
OK, let me step back here and say that if this is not exactly right for your unique needs and situation,
then there is no charge at all. We are just having a discussion here about problems and solutions. I think
that what we have will make your current situation better and more secure than what you currently
have. You want that peace of mind of having the right coverage, dont you?
Not interested / stop calling.
I totally understand and get what you are saying. You are most likely someone like myself I would be
just as frustrated with these calls; you are probably screaming to yourself you just want them to stop,
right?
Yeah, I hear it all the time, although you have someone on the phone who can actually help you with
the situation and take the stresses away. Put everything else aside and give me a small percentage of
your trust and let me show you some of the most popular options in your area. I have to be honest with
you, I know it is asking a lot, but in the end, you will be happy you did. Let me ask you a quick ques-
tion. Were you told about the new UHone policy which is actually one of the hottest products to hit the
market today? Most agents do not have access to our resources and certainly do not have our abilities.
Mr. Jones, I understand you are not, but seriously ,let me ask you: were you looking for a policy for
you or for the family?
I understand Mr. Jones. You are like most people I speak with and it is OK. Most people are never
interested for many reasons, although I am sure if I was able to save you up to 30% on your current
Page 169 Page 169

Understand
I am just
here to help
Page 168
premium and possibly increase your benets, your interest level would be raised a little to hear me out
at least for two minutes. Honestly, let me ask you: were you looking to save money or to increase
your benets?
Mr. Jones, not a problem and I will be more than happy to send everything out to you via email so you
can look it all over. Is your email still XXX? OK, great, now, when I send it out to you was it just for you
or for a spouse as well?
No one ever is, Mr. Jones because we all put aside some things we think of as minor, until something
happens and then they become major. Let me ask you this...
I totally understand, though health insurance is essential in every household, isnt it? Lets do this. I re-
alize you have been called by a thousand people and I am just a voice over the phone. Again, my name
is Michael Tobias and I am a senior agent with ABC Co., one of the largest health insurance agencies in
the country. Understand I am just here to help. Just know I have your interests in mind and want to do
right by you, as I am not looking for a sale but to gain a client. You can trust me.
No money.
Mr. Jones, I understand it is the holidays and we are all strapped for cash; but there are some things
in life that are most important and take precedence over others. One of those is your health and then
your wealth and family. The big three, right, Mr. Jones? I am in the same boat as you are, and trust me
when I say I would be thinking the same thing, what can be done to save a extra dollar or two here,
and there it all adds up, right?
Of course. Lets do this and put rst things rst. If I could
save you up to 30% every month, would you be willing to
hear what I had to say? Great! Give me two minutes and I
will present you with money-saving options and maybe in-
crease your benets as well.
Not a problem; I hear this all the time and you are like most
people with the economy the way it is. But that is exactly
why I was calling to save you money instead of having you
spend more than you should. My senior agent has taught me
that the only person not interested in saving money is the
person who wasnt told he could. Let me ask you this
Page 169

I have some
great news
for you!
Page 169
I know, Mr. Jones, and that is why I called: because you do not
have the money. I am part of the quality assurance department
at TOBIAS INC health plans and we are here to help you create
a budget for the most important thing in life and that is protect-
ing your nancial assets. Let me help you, Mr. Jones, so you can
see how easy it really can be with someone who actually cares
and has your back. After all, who else knows the business better
than I do? Just relax and dont worry.
No problem; we get that and thats why we are calling you.
People are all over in the same position and need our help. I
wanted to reach out to you and let you know you have options
and choices. I have some great news for you!
I am wiping my forehead right now because I am actually relieved to hear that. You see, if you didnt
tell me that I would be concerned that this was your rst rodeo! I know how you feel and the last per-
son you want to speak to is another insurance salesman ughhh, am I right? But you need to trust
me and know I am not like the rest. I am actually different because I care and can do good and right
for people. I am looking for clients and not one-night stands as most agents are. Take advantage of my
experience and utilize my abilities and willingness to be persistent, because I work just as hard when
your policy is in force. I ght hard for my clients and to keep my clients. I have your back so lt down
your guard and give me that 1% and let me earn the other 99. I hope that makes sense to you. Let me
ask
Conrming objections
I guess weve made that clear.

Does that make sense now?

That claries things, doesnt it?

With that question resolved, we can go ahead, dont you agree?

There are three reasons why someone cannot make a decision. The rst is they dont quite understand
how our service can benet them. Secondly, they have not built up enough belief in our company or
the value of our products. The third reason is simply that the consumer cannot afford us. Do you fall
into any of these categories?
Page 170
Closing power statements
Now to be sure we are both clear on my recommendations, this program includes a... [insert benet].
Thats everything, right?
Great, now what we have to do from here is get you over to the underwriting department. First, what
I need is your current mailing address. So heres what we need to do.
You mentioned you banked in the U.S. right? Greatwhat bank do you use? Fantastic! I need you
to take out your checkbook and please void out a check for me in the amount of $X. This will be your
monthly premium for your health insurance.
The bank is located in your city, correct? Great. Now, on the bottom of the check you will see 9 digits
appearing rst. Please read those slowly from left to right. Now the next set of digits is the account
number
Now, we seem to be in agreement that this policy will work best for you and this is exactly what you
need, great! You will be locked in at $X for 12 months and you will be guaranteed it will never increase
unless you move or fail to make payment on time. Obviously you would agree, wouldnt you? This plan
is going to work great for you, isnt it? You can see yourself using this program, cant you?
Closing
Dont ask for permission; just start asking for small details which are low risks such as: phone number,
address, names. Repeat them and have the customer approve it. You have to nudge people and pull
a little bit at a time. Agreements on any minor issue will lead to agreements on major issues. Five yes
responses will lead to the yes for the sale. Is this your address? Yes, etc.
No is always a maybe to the salesperson. Never accept no it is a defense we all use daily No means
yes to salespeople for the purpose of sales! After you make a proposal, shut up! The rst to speak loses!
You will either get a yes or an objection either of which is good for you! If its yes, close the deal. If its
an objection, rebut your way to a yes. If you have trouble closing, use a negative sale technique such as:
Is it our companys reputation?
Is it me?
Do you think the deal isnt fair? Well, great, since you have no worries about the company, and you
Page 171
agree with me that the deal is fair, lets get you over to underwriting for approval! You still live at 123
Maple Road, right?
Use emotion in closing
Tell an emotional story that shows the prospect ending up either as a success or a failure. You want the
buyer to identify with the story so he feels he can be the winner or avoid being the loser in his own
story.
A client called me last week to get insured for an Rx card, even though he had just been diagnosed
with cancer. Now, I felt really bad for the guy, but there wasnt anything I could do for him. I had urged
him to spend the extra money when he purchased the coverage but he told me he was healthy and did
not need it. Apparently he had spoken to an uneducated agent who told him to save his money and I
could not sway him to understand the importance of this coverage. Obviously you are more intelligent
than that and would want the coverage for medications, right?
If you could not close the prospect

Try to enlist the prospects sympathy. If you get shot down, say, Before I let you go, I have to apologize
for such a poor presentation. I think I have not presented the issues properly and I am truly sorry for this.
Im a bit upset because I do think that you could benet from this and its probably worth a try, but I did
fail. What is it I did wrong, so next time I will be sure I do not make that mistake again?
Address concerns and take the horse to water again! Pose a major closing question, and then before
the customer answers, follow up with a minor question.
So we are going to get this out to you by the rst, OK? We will be using Visa for your rst payment,
right?
Page 173
Ch a p t e r 2 5
F r e a k i s h
Cl os i ng Ty pe s
Page 173
Is this
for me?
Do I
want
this?

So now, we step into the realm of Salesfreaks closing methods. There are so
many terminologies that we can use. Most of us will say, We know how to
close it, this and that entire adage. Just keep in mind Im here to try to make
you better at closing, whether it is online, ofine, face-to-face or over the
phone. I want to help you move forward in sales.
At Salesfreaks, we have several call centers in which we sell multiple products.
With those different products come different types of closes. There is not just
one particular close that can work in one type of environment. You are what
your environment is. Others come from different cultures, different races and
different parts of the country. Wherever they are makes each customer have
different trains of thought. Their thought patterns will dictate and direct the
way that they purchase.
Take somebody from Italy and compare his concerns with those of an Ameri-
can. There will be two different perspectives; remember this if you want to sell
to all markets. If you are just selling for just one subset, and not worldwide,
then yes, you can focus on that subset. But if you sell products worldwide on
the internet, for instance, geographic concerns will affect the way that you
present and ask for the sale. A good way to ask in one part of the world may
be offensive in a different part.
Lets look at different styles and techniques of closes over the phone. There
are emotions-logic closes, and why not to buy closes. Emotions cover such
questions as, Is this for me? Do I want this? Logical questions include: Is
this nancially safe for me to purchase? and At this point is it nancially
feasible for me and is it the right and appropriate time for me to make that
buying decision?
In this section we will cover specic closes in detail. To name just a few: or-
der blank close, voided check close, manager/underwriter close, folded paper
close, alternative of choice close and Expedia/Travelocity close. Once you are
uent with them and have gotten the blood moving, we can go to a more
expanded discussion.
Page 174
Order blank close
People go with the ow during the order blank close. Close your eyes for just a minute and think about
lling out a job application. What does it ask for? The name, address, phone number, email address,
date of birth and the whole nine yards. The same types of information are asked for on any form you ll
out: for the courthouse, a particular activity, an online purchase, or maybe for your own business. Why?
Because they need it for records, shipping and billing. Think about this for a moment: when people get
used to doing something over and over, it becomes innate and natural.
So when a closer starts asking, So what is your name? Okay whats your address? Alright, great, and
your zip code, customers fall into the same thought pattern of the forms they have done it before.
They are just going with the ow and answering common requests information. Closers narrow it down
to the ridiculous. When you order a pizza, what do they ask you? Your name, and where it is going.
They also ask for credit card information, and you just become a robot answering automatically. When
I teach my individual sales closers the order blank close, I tell them to start at the main point and just
ow through it:
What is your name?
Ah, excellent, and your address, once again, is?
OK, and the phone number.
OK, is that the best way to reach you?
OK, phenomenal and your email address to send you a conrmation? OK, excellent, I can send you all
the information to that address?
OK now, your date of birthand so on.
When you just keep going through a form without stopping, you dont give people a reason to say no.
People just offer up the information. I do this myself and you can do it, too. We all do! We go with the
ow because were used to it. Thats why I call it the order blank close, because when you ask for the
money, it just rolls off your tongue.
When you ask the order form questions, customers tend to just ow right into it. This is the same thing
that the pizza delivery place would do. That teenager picking up the phone at the local pizza shop
might be better closers than most people when they become adults. Why is that? Because they have
no fear. But they make an assumption, right? So this is just like an assumption close, but the newer
modern version.
All salespeople assume that customers will just give them the sale. If someone calls a pizzeria, its be-
cause he wants a pizza, right? Salespeople make the same assumption when theyre pitching their
Page 175
products: they assume the customer wants the product. So they just ask for the money like the pizza guy!
Go through your close as if nothing were wrong and it was no big deal. Act like I just do this every
day, and people will more willing to give up the information because they dont believe you are going
to close them. They feel that theyre going through the motions and it is just normal to them.
If the order blank close doesnt work right away, and the customer raises objections, use rebuttals as
discussed above. Maybe add some more power statements, like:
Do me a favor
Voided check
Detail your nancial records in two columns
Voided check close
The voided check close works on the principle that people do like to give money away. They dont walk
around with their pockets out. Instead, they keep their hands in their pockets, and hope the salesman
doesnt take their money.
So we need a softer way to ask for the check or credit card information. Social, banking, credit cards
we always have to ask for them, dont we? The voided check close helps customers avoid feeling that
theyre giving us their money. If I void out a payment before giving it to the salesman, it doesnt feel
like Im spending.
This close is usually used for an ACH/eft; again because the client has this innate feeling and thought
that he is not giving anything away. I like to ask all of our clients:
Hey, can you do me a favor and give me a voided check? I want a detail and highlight of your fnancial
records. Ill holdexcellent. Now, in the check, I want you to write, in big, black, bold letters VOID.
Thats gonna say void, Mr. Jones. Now, the reason it says void, Mr. Jones, is that youre not paying
money at this time. This is for your record and your record only. Now, Mr. Jones, in the pay to column,
I want you to write down the name of the company thats going to be backing you for over 2 million
dollars worth of coverage. In the dollar column, I want you to write down your monthly investment
thats only $XX. Now that $XX will be covering you for that 2 million dollars in return. Now, Mr. Jones,
trust me when I say that if you wanted to make this investment in the stock market for $XX and have
a return of 2 million dollars for that company, it would be a great choice. Am I right in saying that? A
very sound investment and return for your peace of mind. More importantly, in a memo section of the
check, I want you to write down my name. My name is Michael Tobias. I will be the guy who is attached
to the policy. I am your personal liaison to the insurance agency, so please consider me your interactive
Page 177

First I ask for

the voided check,
asking them
to do me a favor.
Page 176
guide and brochure. More importantly, Mr. Jones, what I want you to do is to ip the check right over
and write down my 800 number thats 8668555555. You can reach me at extension X. Now, let me
tell you this, there is no one who will work harder for you, Mr. Jones, than me. Our key hours are 9
am- 9 pm Monday through Friday and from 10-6 on Saturday. Keep in mind, Mr. Jones, if you are not
able to get me on the phone, you can speak to my valued customer service staff or leave me a detailed
message and Ill get back to you immediately. I may be on the other line or on an appointment helping
another individual as I am helping you. More importantly ,ip the check right over and underneath the
memo section, I want you to read the rst 9 digits from left to right that will be the routing number.
OK, then, next set of digits are? Excellent, that is the account number. Now, Mr. Jones, the rst month
will be taken for nancial consideration of the product that we have discussed. More importantly, the
name, once again, is XXX. I want to congratulate you on a wise decision.
I then move on to our structured Salesfreaks button-up. First I ask for the voided check, asking them to
do me a favor. Then I ask them to place the company that I am presenting to them (XX Motor Company,
XX Chev, XX Real Estate Agency) in the pay to column. Then in the dollar column they write down the
investment and how much the check will be for. I always use the term investment and do not say the
word price or you have to pay $XX. I tell them what they will get in return for that amount the
big house, etc. In the memo section I always have them put my name so they will remember who I am.
I say, Flip the check right over because I want them working for me. As soon as you get somebody
to work for you, you will be able to close him! They will remember my name and will be able to call
me back. I also tell them how hard I will work for them. Then I let them ow, just as in the order blank
close, right in to the routing numbers.
Manager/underwriter close
The manager close is effective because if you work for peo-
ple, they in turn will work for you. Do this sincerely and let
people know what you intend to accomplish for them. Either
tell the customer you will speak with your manager, or get
the customer to speak to him which 99% of the time is
what we do in face-to-face situations.
More importantly, remember to use these examples:
Can I do something for you? I want to place you on hold to
speak with my manager, because no one has my resources
or abilities and we may be able to help. Now come back on
the phone with great news for your clients.
Page 177 Page 177
With the manager example as a guide, you can use the similar underwriter close for a stock, commod-
ities, mortgage, insurance or P&C business. It is pretty simple.
Hey, Mr. Jones, I got a quick favor to ask you, do you mind if I place you on a hold for a second because
no one has my resources or abilities. It so happens that one of the underwriters works out of my ofce
and shes just a few doors down. Do you mind if I go chat to her and ask her if we can work this for
you? She happens to be one of the top underwriters with the company, and a good friend of mine who
owes me a favor. Now, if I can ask her about your case and getting your application expedited through
underwriting, I want to see if we can push that through for you today. Would that be good? OK, in
turn, would you be kind enough to refer me a few people that I can help as Im trying to help you?
Excellent, let me get this done and see if we can do this based on the information that we just went
over. Is there anything that we left off the application that you think would be pertinent to a decision?
OK, excellent. Let me go speak to Leslie; please hold.
After you have put your client on hold and spoken to the underwriter to see if you can get the case
through, come back on the line and say:
Mr. Jones, phenomenal news for you. I actually spoke with Leslie the underwriter and she told me that
if we get your application in today before she leaves, she will give her personal attention to the matter
and make sure that everything gets pushed through to the best of her ability. Now if we can get this
done, Mr. Jones, I can guarantee you key approval based upon everything that you said. I can pre-au-
thorize it. More importantly, let me ask you
Now go through the application. Always use somebody with a higher status than you somebody
who will be important to the decision making process. You have to take that decision out of the clients
hands and put it in yours because every picture has story to tell.
If you put the customer on hold and walk over to another ofce, well, you are working on it. The cus-
tomer feels that youre working for him which is true. Come back on the phone, and say that you
have phenomenal news. Then tell them that no one has your resources or abilities.
Since your favors are getting squashed with this, they have to do you a favor and refer a couple of
people to you in return.
More importantly, we need to get this done now.
Lets try to get this together before she leaves or how do you want to go about it.
The same technique works whatever authority gure youre bringing in: manager or underwriter. Thats
the manager/underwriter close.
Page 178
Folded paper close
Picture a full conversation represented by a piece of paper. Now the paper gets cut in half and then it
gets cut in half again and again and again. This represents the memories of ourselves and our clients in
sales presentations.
To work the folded paper close, take your client through these steps:
1. Take out an 8x12 blank piece of paper2.
2. I want you to draw a big circle on that paper and write my name and number there.
3. Now, I want you to fold that paper in half so you see half of that circle.
4. Now, hold the paper out. That will equal 50%. Now, Mr. Jones, thats how much you are going re-
member two hours from now.
5. I want you to fold that piece of paper in half again so you can still see 1/4 of that circle.
6. Now, hold the paper out. What do you have? Less than 25% percent of what we discussed. This is
our conversation, cut in half because that is how much you are going to remember, Mr. Jones, when
we hang up the phone today.
7. Now, Mr. Jones, I want you to fold that piece of paper in half once again. So Mr. Jones, we now see
that less than a quarter of what we just discussed will be with you when you wake up tomorrow.
8. I want you to take that piece of paper and fold it in half again. Now Mr. Jones, we are on the eighth
of what we discussed thats how much you are going to remember tomorrow night before you go
to bed. Hopefully, my name is on there, Mr. Jones. Hopefully, my number is on there, too. In all honesty,
do you know what is not on there? The answer is, the meat and the potatoes of what we discussed.
Mr. Jones, when you go to bed I want you to take that piece of paper, I want you to fold it in half again
then I want you to fold it in half again. You see, Mr. Jones the next morning thats how much of the
conversation you are going to remember.
Do you see any of the circle or do you see a short little line? You see, Mr. Jones, what we just discussed
will not be fully represented by your memory. The best time to make a decision is when the facts are
fresh in your mind. Wouldnt you agree?
Page 179
Thats the folded paper close.
Alternative of choice close
We all know this one and this book has already gone over it; it is the easiest close in the world. We have
all used it a thousand and one times. We all know that customers want choice one or choice two. But
the more advanced techniques of this close are different, and not enough people really know how to
use them. They are not using tie downs effectively enough for their sales.
Let me ask you a question. Would you rather use more sales ability or less sales ability? If you said less
sales ability, you probably shouldnt be reading this book. You probably said more, Im hoping, I mean,
its a non-alternative option of choice.
Be careful not to give people the reason to say no. Stop saying, Do you want the blue or the red?
That type of preference should have been narrowed down already; and if you only have two choices to
narrow things down to, customers are probably not coming to you.
So whats the correct way of using the alternative of choice close? What if you are selling a big technol-
ogy system worth millions of dollars? This network has two possible user codes: Linux and Unix. Linux is
Windows-based Unix, and a little more user friendly. With Unix, you need a full time programmer; and
here is your alternative of choice. Mr. Jones, would you rather have your system developed in Linux,
which is more user friendly to you and all of your co-workers/ employees, or would you rather choose
Unix which will require you to hire a programmer just to decipher and command all the information?
My choice would be to have it user friendly and work more efciently for you. So which would be good
for you? Im sure that youre just like me and you want the easier of the two, right? We are both con-
cerned about user ability and about cost, right? Am I right in saying that?
Thats the way to use alternative of choice. Dont just ask if the customer wants this one that one. Ex-
plain why! Give them a reason, like:
Heres why I would buy this.
Heres why you should buy that and if you dont explain why you should shoot yourself in the foot.
Let us take a moment to go over this as it applies to insurance sales.
Mr. Jones, now, I want you to understand something. There are different plans with different prices.
The best t for your needs is the one that I picked. What I mean by that is that you can have a $5000
Page 181

Now think of a
few ways your
business can
use it
Page 180
deductible or a $2500 deductible. My preference for all my elite clientele is to go with the $2500
deductible with the accidental rider built in. This way, we can wipe away all the other out-of-pocket
costs. Now, God forbid, knock on wood, accidents do happen and you wind up visiting an emergency
room. You see, Mr. Jones, with the $5000 deductible you can get an accidental rider to help you ab-
solutely. But if an accident does happen, youre out $5000. Thats a lot of money to come out of your
pocket for a product that is supposed to protect it. Am I right in saying that? So, which one do you think
is better? The $2500 or the $5000 deductible option?
Explain things in a way that gets people to understand where youre coming from. That is how you up-
sell a premium or downgrade to a lower premium.
Mrs. Jones, lot of individuals and educated agents will represent choice 2. They want to slam you into
a product for quick commissions. Theyre conducting a price war with you, but that price war will end
up murdering your pocketbook. Yes, it looks good now, but it wont look good later. Mrs. Jones, the
whole reason to purchase health insurance is to protect yourself, isnt it? If you purchase this one, the
only thing it is protecting is your eyes and you going to need glasses later on with this. I can protect
your out of pocket in and out, thats way to go!
That is the correct way to use the alternative of choice close. Now think of a few ways your business
can use it. You can do it on a website do you want A or do you want B? On the main page, compare
the most expensive vitamins with the cheapest ones, but also state why so many people buy the more
expensive one. Maybe it is more potent than the other one. List the reasons and help the consumer
choose.
Expedia/Travelocity close
This closing techniques has been made famous by such travel
websites as expedia,com, orbitz.com, travelocity.com, hotels.
com and kayak.com. What do they do?
When you want a vacation, you probably do what I do and
visit these websites. We go there to nd hotels, airlines, car
rental, anything we can for cheap! We want the lowest price
or at least to think we are getting a great deal, as we dont
want to actually stay in a lowest price hotel. We just want the
hotel that we want for the lowest price. We want a ve
star hotel for a motel price. The shop-and-compare websites
give us these choices. We all use them.
Page 181 Page 181
Why cant we use that in all sales; why cant we just help people? Arguably, we all should try using the
travelocity.com approach in health insurance. Consider me the Travelocity of all commodities. Consid-
er me the Orbitz of real estate, Mrs. Jones. I have done all the shopping for you and Ive narrowed it
down to a few quick choices.
Are you going to stay in that hotel, or in this one for the same price? See, here it is what it is about,
Mrs. Jones. Lets narrow it down to the ridiculous. Which one do you prefer? Do you prefer A or do you
prefer B? Because I went to Travelocity and shopped all the different carriers for you and Ive found one
that will best t your needs and your budget. You see, Mrs. Jones, thats what I do for you. I pick the
best one that will work for you by shopping the marketplace.
Mrs. Jones, I just want to let you know I put your information into my patent pending system and
what Im coming back with is a few different options. Im sure that you want to do a little bit of re-
search, although my computers software can take that slave labor out and do it for you. You see, what
my computers tell me is usually pretty accurate in my opinion.
If the customer says he wants to shop around, then state, Mr. ,Jones dont take away my job from me.
Let me do the shopping for you.
Thats how you use Expedia/Travelocity closing process. You have to explain to be understood. You have to
provide evidence and support. You have to make sense because customers need proof and need to ask.
How do we do this right?
How do we explain?
How do we support?
How we make sense?
Showing proof and developing the asking ability is all up to you. I will go over this in more detail in other
books. Here I am just giving you a brief overview of how they work and then I will be specifc to each
industry and where it will be sold on the internet, on the phone or face-to-face.
Page 183
Ch a p t e r 2 6
S i mpl e P i t c he s
F r om Ca l l Ce nt e r s

What is the most

important
benet you
want included?
Page 183
Sample 1
Hello, this is Michael Tobias with ABC Group, am I speaking
with Mr. Jones?
Great! How are you?
Terric. Im doing great myself! The reason for the phone call is
that I just received your recent inquiry for health insurance; and
I have been assigned as your industry rep to further assist you
with the process.

Now, Mr. Jones ,depending on your situation, I am here to help
you nd the right policy with the highest level of benets and
the most affordable rate in your area.

Let me ask you, how young are you currently, and what would be your date of birth? Now, please
keep in mind that, with several companies offering the same standardized insurance plans, your choice
comes down to price and a companys service, reputation and experience with insurance policies.
So, Mr. Jones, for a monthly premium, your insurance policy helps you pay all or some of these costs,
depending on the policy you choose. Are you familiar with insurance and how it works?
OK, great, what is your current deductible? Your current monthly premium?
Here is how we select the right plan for you. Mr. Jones, as we age, our health care expenses generally
increase and we see the doctor more frequently, correct? OK, now, what we have to keep in mind is
that there are many options out there which could work in different situations, so lets narrow down
our search.
Let me ask you a few simple questions to decipher the best plan of action.
Do you need a plan just for you or for your family members also?
What is the most important beneft you want included?
How often do you see the doctor?
Do you take any medications or seek treatment for any illnesses?
Do you have any other pre-existing conditions?
Now, what I want to do is transfer you to my managing director, who happens to be one of the in-
dustrys top agents. He will be able to give you all of the most appropriate choices available to you and
send you any information you will need, as we are here to help.
Page 184
Please hold for Mr. Agent.
Mr. Jones, at this point I would like to thank you for your time and say what a pleasure it has been
to chat with you. I would like to get you over to one of the industrys top agents, by the name of Mr.
Agent, who will be able to conduct a specialized search for you and provide you with the top rated
carriers who compete for your business. Please hold.
Mr. Jones it has been a pleasure to speak with you with regard to your coverage. I work under the top
agent for TOBIAS INC, by the name of Mr. Agent, who will be able to assist you further. If you ever need
anything, just call and ask for me, as I am here to help and wish you the best! Trust me when I say you
are in great hands, because we look to keep clients for life!
Sample 2
Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Jones? This is Michael Tobias from your previous health insurance com-
pany. How are you today?
I wanted to call you with regard to your previous policy with us because, according to our records,
you are open for a renewal through our new STM programs. It is currently open enrollment within our
organization, and for quality assurance purposes we are offering our clients the upgraded options in-
clusive with their programs.
Now, since the last time you spoke with our company, we have made a few upgrades that are vital to your plan:
1. Your doctor visits: with our STM program, you now can see your doctor in the comfort of your own home.
2. Our new cancer policy, which protects your pocket outside of medical bills.
3. Our accidental policy which will help pay down your plan deductible by paying you!
Let me send you to our licensed agent who will be best suited to help you with this process. Mr. Agent
happens to be one of the leading agents here at the Insurance Academy and I know you are in great
hands. He has helped thousands of our clients get quality coverage while saving them a signifcant
amount of money at the same time.
We are extremely excited about these benets because they are there for you and work for the greater
benet meaning, you and the care you receive in return.
To get renewed, we just have to go through a few-second process which will start with a quick ques-
tion...
Your new ID cards will arrive at 12 a.m. tonight into your email; which email do you prefer to use?
Ch a p t e r 2 7
Me a s ur i ng
S uc c e s s Ma na ge me nt
Page 187

You must rst

educate to
be understood
Page 186
We all call it cracking the code.
Is there a simple way for a sales center to devise success? And even if there were, would every person
we employ in it be successful? Most likely not, right? You see, I truly believe that all people have unique,
innate abilities that must rst be revealed. With some people its jump shots, some have the gift of gab
and some can close business.
We are in a business that requires knowledge in all facets of success building, from executive level de-
cision making to knowing who leaves their mug on the ofce counter collecting dust at night.
Cracking the code is all about tracking a salespersons success. We all leave traces of slime, or the scent
of roses get my drift? Sales is an art, but management of salespeople is an exact science requiring the
highest skill set to be at the top.
You must rst educate to be understood. You and I both know that its easy to get very irritated with
what we call stupid people. The fact is, no one is stupid, just uneducated in their thinking. If you seek
to understand how people can become equipped with your knowledge, you are now a leader.
You didnt know about your products until you heard or read about them, right? I mean, did you know
how to build a radio transceiver when you came out of the womb? The answer is ridiculously obvious,
but it is true. We dont know what we dont know.
If you seek to teach what you know, as a professor teaches a student, in such a way that your student/
salesperson will understand, then you will succeed in training someone to be more successful. Be pa-
tient and be nice. Yes, I know it is difcult, because I still lose my cool too; but patience works better
than telling someone he is dumb.
People in all elds of work need to understand their objec-
tives. As a manager, understand that you are in a power po-
sition. People will act and do as you do. If you are broke and
act broke, you will get zero respect. If you are broke and
act like you will make a million dollars overnight, people will
follow you. If you always do things for your people and they
keep asking again and again, you are acting broke.
Remember, your employees are valuable. They are like one
million dollar bills, so take care of them and treat them kindly
by showing them you will place them in the safe and not play
Page 187 Page 187
them on the stock market. Show authority, dress appropriately and be the one they want to be. Respect
is earned, not given.
When a beggar comes to you dressed as a ragged, poor sap you instinctively believe that he is below
you. And when you see a people dressed in their three piece suits walking down Wall Street, you asso-
ciate them with honor, integrity, money, success. Choose wisely and then understand your environment
at work. Your kids will behave according to the example you set them.
You must go forward and become more than you ever wanted. Make sure you are doing all you can
to become an avid closer and businessperson. Reread this book and when you nish learning all of our
techniques put them to work. If you want the world, it is yours and if you want to learn new tricks you
can. Write down examples and reasons why you should start today! There is no other business Id rather
be in than sales. It is my passion and my drive and I hope I have inspired you to become a success.