“Tested Questions” revive wavering sales. Whenever you feel the sale slipping, ask a question that will start you off on a new tack. A “Tested Question” gives you a breathing spell while the prospect answers. The word “why” is the hardest single word in the English language and in a salesman‟s vocabulary for an objecting prospect to answer. Use the word “why” whenever the prospect objects. Watch him wiggle trying to put phantom objections into words to answer your “why.” Try this “why” system at home. The next time the wife asks for a new hat, politely ask her, “Why do you want one?” Watch her struggle to give you reasons, which are usually so silly she doesn‟t want to tell them to you. During the depression you found it necessary to say “No” because you had little money with which to say “Yes.” The depression may be over, but from force of habit you still say “No,” unless a clever salesman makes the “No” difficult to say.
The rule to remember is this: You can catch more fish with hooks than with crowbars.
Now with these four important selling points in mind, there is still one more necessary to the making of a successful sales presentation.
WHEELERPOINT 5.
Watch Your Bark!
Consider how much the little dog can express with just ONE WORD and ONE TAIL to wag. What he can do with the tone of his “woof” and the wag of his tail in conveying his many messages to you is well worth emulating. Watch the bark that can creep into your voice – watch the “wag” behind your words. This is the fifth and final element of a successful “Tested Selling” presentation. The finest “sizzle” that you “telegraph” in ten seconds, with huge bouquets of “flowers” and lots of “which,” “what,” “where,” and “how,” will flop if the voice is flat. Don‟t be a Johnny-one-note. Train your voice to run its entire scale. Cup your hands behind your ears and hear yourself talk. Be a director who can play all the instruments. Avoid voice peculiarities. Have the voice with the smile, but not the smile that has been automatically “turned on” for the immediate benefit of the prospect. Never smile insincerely like the wolf at Red Riding Hood‟s door.
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