Rule #14 If____, Then____.

Try to make it a clear goal in your mind that in every sales call or

business meeting, you are working toward an if-then question.

Introduce yourself and set the agenda for the interaction. Teach your customer

something interesting that sparks a healthy Q&A in a productive

direction and leads to a positive conclusion. Trial close now! Early and

often!

One of the most effective trial closes is the if-then question. For example,

“If I can do X, then will you commit to do Y?” This can be expressed

in a million different ways, but the power in the dichotomy is its clarity.

You are in essence asking your customer to dream a little while challenging

their motives. You are asking your customer, “Do you want it to

be possible that you could do this? That this could be true? That you

could have this new reality?” That is powerful! It also will uncover the

motives of your customers. What if they don’t agree with the vision you

are painting? Why don’t they want your proposed new possibility? You

need to find out!

Great salespeople are cringing right now. You hate canned approaches and

scripted talk tracks, which feel forced, unrealistic, or non-conversational.

Elite salespeople like to think of a sales call as a great NFL offensive player

running a play. They call the play in the huddle. They make adjustments

at the line to account for the other team’s moves. In the end, they know

that the key to this play is to get the linebackers sucked up to the line on

the fake to the tailback and get the corner back to lock on the receiver, who

will head to the corner of the end zone, clearing out the soft middle for the

tight end, who should be wide open.

Overlook the analogy’s tendency to make customers the opposition. In

fact, rightly understood, you should be the quarterback, and the customer

should be the tight end, making the big play and getting the glory for the

great catch. You threw out an idea; they chose to receive it. You also did

all you could to get everything positioned correctly so they could receive

it. If done well, they raise their hands in triumph. If done poorly, they feel

like you got them creamed with a poor pass that exposed them to the big

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hit. Yes, your customer scored a touchdown—they were successful—but it

didn’t have to be so hard.

In figure 1 regarding diagramming calls, look at “check questions” (questions

designed to confirm supporting facts and rule out other possible contributing

factors), which I concede takes the diagram back out to the left

margin, contrary to the overall goal). “Check questions”follow the first ifthen

question to confirm that you have indeed isolated the correct issue

leading to success. You are checking to see if you are on the right path.

This should not be misinterpreted as failure to ask a follow-up question

simply because it causes the diagram to go back to the left margin. It’s natural

and right if you are just confirming that you have isolated the issue,

which you will now proceed to resolve to win the business. And it creates

the “turn” we are trying to identify right on the paper!

One final comment on this section: Note-taking and diagramming tend to

reveal the fact that you didn’t say what you thought you said. This is an

embarrassing truth, which role-plays reveal time and again. Sales managers

see it, too, when observing you in the field. We all know what you meant

to say, but that is not what you actually said. Unfortunately, your customers

don’t know what you meant to say. Many times they try to fill in

the blanks in their own minds, but they routinely assume you meant to say

something you didn’t, which leads to a disconnect. Incomplete thoughts

and sentences that slightly miss the point or leave off the last key word

(which would drive home your point) are common in our communications

with customers—especially when you are stressed.

Stress and tension are very common in selling situations—especially at the

most important moment, when handling objections and closing and that

word or phrase you left out was critical. The good news is that when you

don’t say what you meant to say, it shows up on the diagram. The diagram

slows you down so that you speak more clearly and precisely. Please try it.

Elite execution demands that you master the thought processes of selling

conversations. Use diagrams and take notes to evaluate yourself in real

time and be more effective in sales calls.