Never Lose A Speaking Gig Again

We’re leading this week’s content with a heck of a promise – if you implement what you learn here, you’ll never lose a speaking sale again.

To deliver on that promise, we need to take a step back to the first time I was turned down for a talk. If you haven’t been there, you will be soon. You’ll get a lovely email saying something along these lines:

“We’re going in a different direction.”

Most speakers let that be the end of the sale and the beginning of a hard night of drinking.

Not speakers with systems. (We drink, but in celebration – not in consolation.)

When I got enough of those emails, I began to ask “Why?” I didn’t have the answer, so I had to (gulp) pick up the phone and ask. After salvaging enough sales by doing this, I know I’ll never lose a sale – for the same reason – twice.

First, Your Mentality

A sales conversation isn’t done until YOU say it’s done. Hearing ‘No’ can either be a lesson or a disappointment, and the choice is yours. I’m happy to hear ‘No’ or ‘Not this time’ because I’m going to learn something from that refusal and ensure I’m never turned down for that reason again.

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Second, Your Questions Matter

Once you’ve worked up the courage, get on the phone with the person who refused you and ask, “What, if it had been different, would have made you choose me without needing to look at any other speakers?”

And pay attention to what you hear – they’re telling you how to sell to them in the future.

We’ve heard everything from ‘Shawn’s too corporate – we’re looking for more of a jeans and a T-shirt speaker’ to ‘We’re diversifying our lineup of speakers and don’t need another XYZ speaker this year.’

All brilliant suggestions (if they’re coming from a potential customer, every idea they have about their desired solutions is brilliant). Our job at that point is to either A. Salvage the sale or B. Ensure we never lose a sale for that reason again. Let’s look at both:

A. Salvage The Sale

You have a window of opportunity whenever an email from a prospect come through – call them! Ask, “Who did you choose as a speaker instead?” “Why did you choose them?” If that topic is in your wheelhouse, make sure you’re communicating that in the future!

If they chose a celebrity because they wanted a great turnout, how can you help clients increase attendance even though you don’t have a household name?

B. Never Lose A Sale For That Reason Again

Once you know why they didn’t choose you, you can get to work developing that program that helps a client like them achieve that result in the future, or gets you featured in that nationally-known publication, or delivers the result they were looking to achieve.

Build it into your marketing, your emails, your call scripts – even your voicemail messages!

You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make a sale when you never lose one for the same reason again. Remember, people make decisions to relieve pain or increase results – if they didn’t choose you, it’s because you didn’t make it clear how you could address their pain, or help them achieve their results.

Do This Now

-Make it a policy to immediately pick up the phone when you’re turned down.

-Ask why they didn’t choose you, and what the missing element was that would have made them lock you in right away.

-Create a plan to make that change a reality throughout your brand and your marketing.

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