Freddy Freundlich, also known as Rabbi Freddy, is the renowned author of The Art Of The One-Call Close and has spent well over thirty years perfecting the art of the one-call close.
In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Freddy shares what we need to do to close a sale… before we’ve even completed a sales presentation.
- Should Salespeople Be Trying to Close a Sale Before They Do a Presentation? · [01:19]
- “There’s an acronym, which I learned, unfortunately much later on in my career, which is WIIFM. This is probably the most important message I can give over to your audience, Will. It stands for, What’s In It For Me.” – Freddy Freundlich · [01:46]
- “When you go into a sale, what you have to be thinking when you walk in the door, not only are you thinking, what’s in it for you, the salesman but more important, what’s in it for me, meaning your prospect, the customer. And if you can do that walking in, and just focus on that, you will actually sell the person before they even know what you’re selling.” – Freddy Freundlich · [02:38]
- How to Leverage the Power of the “What’s in it for Me” Gene · [03:13]
- “Unfortunately, sales is a profession, which in my opinion is the most important profession in the world bar none. But it has really the worst name.” – Freddy Freundlich · [03:48]
- “If I help the old lady across the street, am I doing it for purely altruistic reasons? I don’t believe so. I’m doing it because I feel good. That’s not bad, but I am doing it for me at the end of the day, even though it’s helping others.” – Freddy Freundlich · [06:04]
- How to Use the “What’s In It For Me” Principle to Close a Sale Before a Presentation · [07:10]
- “Every individual and every entity has what I call a power-point. A power-point is either something very painful to them or it is a burning desire.” – Freddy Freundlich · [08:01]
- “My job as a salesman is not to sell a product or service, that’s an after. My job is to solve a problem. In fact, many of the products and services that I’ve sold in my career, people did not want when I walked in the door. And that’s very common because if they want it, they wouldn’t wait for a salesman to show up.” – Freddy Freundlich · [08:47]
- “One of the things salesmen don’t understand, and they think this is old fashioned, but it doesn’t change. You’ll never have a better chance to sell your product or service than the first time you’re there. Every time you make a repeat visit, your chances get lower and lower and lower.” – Freddy Freundlich · [11:42]
- How to Quickly Build Trust in a Sales Conversation and Close the Deal Even Before you Present · [12:13]
- “Nobody buys something new if they’re happy with what they have.” – Freddy Freundlich · [14:17]
- How to Differentiate Between a One Call Close and Sales Process that Might Require a Little More Time Investment · [16:40]
- “One of the things I teach is that there’s only two things a salesman should accept, a yes or a no. A qualified yes or a qualified no. Most people do not give a qualified no. They say, “I’ll think about it. Let me get back to you.” Whatever. Very few people say, “No, I just don’t want it.” When a prospect says, “No, I just don’t want it.” You have to respect them, say goodbye and move on.” – Freddy Freundlich · [19:18]
- Why Salespeople Must Understand the Amount of Time They Should Allocate on Each Qualified Sales Lead · [20:18]
- Practical Steps Towards Closing a Sale Before you Present your Product or Service · [22:30]
- “You want to make sure that they are qualified to buy. Once you know you have a qualified buyer, again, depending on how big a ticket item it is. A smaller ticket item, you will invest less time. A bigger ticket item, you will invest more.” – Freddy Freundlich · [23:55]
- “Nobody wants to be sold and they feel you’re a salesman. So, immediately you walk in the door and you’re doing it virtually, but you’re still walking in the door, they have their defences up. So the best way to get their defences down is to throw them a curve. And the way you throw them a curve is you look for something that has nothing to do with what you’re selling. But that’s not what’s commonly referred to as the icebreaker. Don’t start talking about the weather. Don’t start talking about something which has no interest to them at all, or something crazy.” – Freddy Freundlich · [25:35]
- Freddy’s Goes Through a Practical Example of How Salespeople Can Throw Curve Balls at a Prospect at the Beginning of a Sales Call · [26:30]
- Why Salespeople Need to Build Genuine Trust Before Trying to Go in and Close a Sale · [29:20]
- “The key here is you have to be sincere. Because if they feel it’s just a game with you, then they’re not going to buy it. People do read people.” – Freddy Freundlich · [32:29]
- Don’t be a Pesky Salesperson. Be a Solution Person · [33:40]
- “You can’t go by a script. When I train, I use a lot of analogies of relationships between men and women. So, if a man goes into a bar and his intention is to meet a woman, he may have an opening line, but if he scripts it, he’s not going to get anywhere. He has to come across naturally. So he can’t script everything.” – Freddy Freundlich · [35:14]
- The One Takeaway Freddy Would Love Every Salesperson to Take Home · [37:01]
- Parting Thoughts · [38:06]
Featured on this episode:
Resources:
- Freddy on LinkedIn
- RabbiFreddy.com
- Book: THE ART OF THE ONE CALL CLOSE: A sale of five or five million, learn how to walk in and walk out with the real deal!
- Sales School presentation structure
Transcript
Will Barron:
Coming up on today’s episode of the Salesman podcast.
Freddy Freundlich:
There’s an acronym, which I learned unfortunately much later on in my career, which is WIIFM. This is probably the most important message I can give over to your audience, Will. It stands for What’s In It For Me. Sales is a profession, which in my opinion is the most important profession in the world bar none, but it has really the worst name. No mother says when her baby is born, “I hope my son or daughter grows up to be a salesman.”
Will Barron:
Hello, sales nation. My name is well Baron. I’m the host of the Salesman podcast. The world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s show, we’ve got an incredible episode. We have Freddy Freundlich. He’s the author of The Art Of The One Call Close, which you can find on Amazon. And on today’s show, we’re getting into how you can close the sale before you’ve even done your sales presentation. I know that seems like a massive claim, but it’s all explained in this episode. And so with that, let’s jump right into it.
Should Salespeople Be Trying to Close a Sale Before They Do a Presentation? · [01:19]
Will Barron:
Today we’re going to get into, amongst other things, and I’m sure this is all going to go down a particular funnel, which the audience will become aware of as we go down this funnel, but we’re going to talk about how we can close a sale before we even do a presentation to the potential customer. Now, that sounds pretty crazy, right? But I think we’re on the same wavelength that we should be trying to close the sale before the presentation. Right?
“There’s an acronym, which I learned, unfortunately much later on in my career, which is WIIFM. This is probably the most important message I can give over to your audience, Will. It stands for, What’s In It For Me.” – Freddy Freundlich · [01:46]
Freddy Freundlich:
Definitely. One of the things I’ve learned in sales is that pretty much whatever you think you know about sales, throw out the window. There’s an acronym, which I learned, unfortunately much later on in my career, which is WIIFM. This is probably the most important message I can give over to your audience, Will. It stands for What’s In It For Me. And that is a gene, which I personally believe that God instilled in us. Everybody has this gene called WIIFM. And the reason why I am on your show today, bottom line is, because I believe there’s something in it from me. You are hosting me because you believe there’s something in it for you. There’s nothing wrong with that. Some people might call it selfish, I say, it’s win-win, that’s what the world is about.
“When you go into a sale, what you have to be thinking when you walk in the door, not only are you thinking, what’s in it for you, the salesman but more important, what’s in it for me, meaning your prospect, the customer. And if you can do that walking in, and just focus on that, you will actually sell the person before they even know what you’re selling.” – Freddy Freundlich · [02:38]
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, when you go into a sale, what you have to be thinking when you walk in the door, not only are you thinking, what’s in it for you, the salesman, but more important, what’s in it for me, meaning your prospect, the customer. And if you can do that walking in, and just focus on that, you will actually sell the person before they even know what you’re selling. And I can honestly tell you, Will, I’ve had a very diversified career and I’ve had people not even sure what I’m selling and they’re ready to buy.
How to Leverage the Power of the “What’s in it for Me” Gene · [03:13]
Will Barron:
Do we need to… I don’t want to get too meta here, 15 seconds into the interview, Freddy, but it seems like we’ve all got this selfish gene, whatever you want to call it, this thing that makes us want to think about ourselves first. Do we need to reframe ourselves as salespeople, as thinking, “Well, if I can help the prospect first and put myself to one side for a second, I’ll win in the long run because that’s how I’m going to win my commissions.” Because I feel like a lot of sales people go, “Well, I’m here to close a deal and that’s all that matters.” But perhaps we need to reframe this, right?
“Unfortunately, sales is a profession, which in my opinion is the most important profession in the world bar none. But it has really the worst name.” – Freddy Freundlich · [03:48]
Freddy Freundlich:
Yes and no. Unfortunately, sales is a profession, which in my opinion is the most important profession in the world bar none. But it has really the worst name.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Freddy Freundlich:
No mother says when her baby is born, “I hope my son or daughter grows up to be a salesman.” They want a doctor, a lawyer, a high tech, nobody wants to be a salesman. And when you walk into a cocktail party and they say, “What do you do for a living?” You say you’re a salesman, you don’t get the high fives there. So you have to dress it up. You have to say, “I sell Learjets. I work in high tech. I do this or that.” But sales is not only the most important profession, it is the most honourable one, if you’re an honourable person. Every profession has its crooks and conmen, unfortunately because in sales you don’t need normally a licence or a degree, or really any education, we attract a lot of low lifes.
Freddy Freundlich:
But real professional salesmen are just that, very professional. And what we do for a living is solve problems. We solve problems and make money. We’re no different than a priest, a rabbi, a clergyman. We have a bad rap, but we’re here to help people. So by me going in and helping you, I’m helping me. It’s a win-win. I don’t have to put my interests to the side. My interests and your interests are the exact same thing.
Freddy Freundlich:
If somebody would look at my website and your website, they’d say, “You guys are competitors. Why are you sitting down?” Now, first of all, I don’t believe I’m a competitor of yours. We’re in the same world.
Will Barron:
Yep.
“If I help the old lady across the street, am I doing it for purely altruistic reasons? I don’t believe so. I’m doing it because I feel good. That’s not bad, but I am doing it for me at the end of the day, even though it’s helping others.” – Freddy Freundlich · [06:04]
Freddy Freundlich:
But a totally different business. But many people would think, “Well, why would you want to be on his show? You’re only promoting his show.” But no, it’s a win-win. I’m here to help you because I know you’re here to help me. And that’s what the WIIFM gene is about. People automatically think it’s about being selfish, but it’s not. If I help the old lady across the street, am I doing it for purely altruistic reasons? I don’t believe so. I’m doing it because I feel good. That’s not bad, but I am doing it for me at the end of the day, even though it’s helping others.
Freddy Freundlich:
Every invention that has made our lives better. I was just seeing something, I read an article on Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. The two people who invented electricity.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Freddy Freundlich:
And they changed the world in ways that boggle the mind. At the end of the day, they did it for themselves, but they helped millions and eventually billions of people. So, the WIIFM gene is good. And if you are selfish and only care about yourself, then it won’t work because you have to inherently care about everybody for it to work. I hope I’m not rambling on too much here.
Will Barron:
Nope. Makes total sense. I think we’re on the same wavelength here. You just are a far better speaker and better with words than what I-
Freddy Freundlich:
Thank you.
How to Use the “What’s In It For Me” Principle to Close a Sale Before a Presentation · [07:10]
Will Barron:
So with that said, Freddy, how do we use this then, What’s In It For Me principle to close a sale before a presentation? Or where I think we’re going to end up the show, how do we use this to close a sale on just one or two phone calls?
“Every individual and every entity has what I call a power-point. A power-point is either something very painful to them or it is a burning desire.” – Freddy Freundlich · [08:01]
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. So, the basic thing is this, when you speak to a prospect, whether it’s on the phone, it’s through a Zoom or Skype application, or it’s face-to-face, it’s in person, it doesn’t matter if you’re selling pencils or you’re selling Learjets. It doesn’t matter if it’s B2B B or B2C. At the end of the day, you are selling to an individual. Now that individual may represent an entity, an organisation, a company, but it starts with an individual. Every individual and every entity has what I call a power-point. A power-point is either something very painful, very painful to them, or it is a burning desire. Everybody has something, right now if we were to go into it, Will, I would find out what is the number one thing on your mind that you’re hiding from your audience, that is either your burning desire, that you want more than anything else right now, or something very hard that’s going on in your life, which is hurting.
“My job as a salesman is not to sell a product or service, that’s an after. My job is to solve a problem. In fact, many of the products and services that I’ve sold in my career, people did not want when I walked in the door. And that’s very common because if they want it, they wouldn’t wait for a salesman to show up.” – Freddy Freundlich · [08:47]
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, sometimes people could have a combination of both. Sometimes people don’t even realise what it is, but we all have something if we probe deep enough. Now, my job as a salesman is not to sell product or service. That’s an after. My job is to solve a problem. In fact, many of the products and services that I’ve sold in my career, people did not want when I walked in the door.
Will Barron:
Sure.
Freddy Freundlich:
And that’s very common, because if they want it, they wouldn’t wait for salesman to show up. In other words, I don’t have to be sold petrol, gasoline, when I’m running out of gas I pull into the gas station to fill up. But if I didn’t know what gasoline was, I would need somebody to come to me and teach me. So we are teachers. So when I walk into a business or I’m speaking to a businessman, part of my job, depending what my product or service is, is to educate them on why this is good for them.
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, in order to do that, I have to understand who this person or entity is. So an example I like to use a lot is, if I walk into a business and the businessman is grumpy, he’s just not being a nice person. There has to be a reason why he’s not being a nice person. Now I am selling, let’s say a CRM, a contact management system, a software system. But he is not happy and he is grumpy, and he seems just out of it. There’s no way I am going to sell them no matter what I have. So I have to find out why this guy is grumpy. When I do my research, I find out he’s grumpy, because I asked the right questions in the right way, and I find out he’s not getting sleep at night. And he’s not getting sleep at night, it turns out, because he has bedbugs in his mattress. Now, how quickly do you think I am going to become his best friend, if I solve his bed bug problem?
Will Barron:
Of course. In an instant, right?
Freddy Freundlich:
In an instant. The last thing we’re talking about is the CRM.
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, in most cases I, because I have a lot of experience in this, I can actually make the connection between buying my CRM and solving his bedbug problem. But that’s for another day. But right now, the moment I’ve solved his bed bug problem, I have him in the palm of my hand. I’m not going to put a gun to his head to buy my CRM, but he trusts me, he believes me. It’s the easiest sale you’ll ever have. But if I walk in and I ignore the person and I go right into my CRM, I’m wasting everybody’s time, plus he’ll never have me back.
“One of the things salesmen don’t understand, and they think this is old fashioned, but it doesn’t change. You’ll never have a better chance to sell your product or service than the first time you’re there. Every time you make a repeat visit, your chances get lower and lower and lower.” – Freddy Freundlich · [11:42]
Freddy Freundlich:
See, one of the things salesmen don’t understand, and they think this is old fashioned, but it doesn’t change. You’ll never have a better chance to sell your product or service than the first time you’re there. Every time you make a repeat visit, your chances get lower and lower and lower of ever closing the deal.
How to Quickly Build Trust in a Sales Conversation and Close the Deal Even Before you Present · [12:13]
Will Barron:
There’s a few things here that I feel like we should not gloss over. One of which is this idea of trust, Freddy. Is trust on solving someone’s bed bug problem, does that then translate to a CRM solution? What I mean by that is, if we get a potential buyer to trust us for one thing, does that mean that they’re then almost inadvertently trusting others as a human, to talk about other projects or possibilities to add value to them as well?
Freddy Freundlich:
One of the things I’ve learned, Will in my life, that nothing is black and white. But that being said, I would answer to you, yes. If you think of somebody you trust very much, a parent, a sibling, a best friend, you trust them, no matter what you’re talking about. Now, you also understand sometimes that they may not be an expert in certain fields.
Will Barron:
Sure.
Freddy Freundlich:
In other words, I trust my wife, but I understand that if God forbid I have a brain tumour, I’m still going to go to a brain specialist. Because even though I trust her, I understand she is not an expert in this. But I trust her. I believe her, she’s looking out for my interests.
Freddy Freundlich:
If I’m selling a CRM, the prospect in front of me either doesn’t use a CRM and needs to be sold on the benefits of a CRM, or they’re using a CRM and they want something better, cheaper, faster, whatever. Okay? If they’re not using a CRM, and I have become their best friend, of course they’re going to trust me.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Freddy Freundlich:
Of course they’re going to trust me. And then it’s an easy sale, because once I’ve showed them how a CRM will make their life better, how it’ll make them more money. Do you think, after everything we’ve been through, they’re going to go out and get bids and price it out? Unless they’re a government, they have no choice, they’re going to buy my CRM.
“Nobody buys something new if they’re happy with what they have.” – Freddy Freundlich · [14:17]
Freddy Freundlich:
The same thing is if they’re already using a CRM. If they’re using a CRM and they’re willing to consider another CRM, it means they’re not happy. Nobody buys something new if they’re happy with what they have. And again, it means that they’ve lost faith or trust in their current vendor. So they’re looking for a new best friend. I’ve now established myself as a new best friend. Because people are used to salesman being pushy and selling. If I’m spending a third of my allotted time trying to solve this guy’s bed bug problem, he no longer thinks of me as a salesman. He thinks of me as an advocate, a friend, he trusts me.
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, this does not mean every time I solve a bed bug problem I make the sale, but I can tell you, my closing ratio is the highest out there when I have a qualified buyer in front of me, because I sell to their needs way before I get to my product or service.
Will Barron:
So let me ask you this, Freddy, and I’m sure the answer to the question is probably, “Will, it’s another grey area.” I’m sure that’s going to be somewhat of the response here. But if you’re looking at black and white, there is one set of sales experts, who perhaps say that if you’re not getting anywhere immediately with a potential buyer, hang up and pick up the phone to someone else, or continue the sales process and just keep going and going, and it’s a numbers game. And that might be fine for more consumer, low ticket products. But I think we’re talking about more relationships, or sales that needs some kind of a relationship to progress forward here.
Will Barron:
But on the other side, you have what I did in medical device sales, which was basically not really sell anyone anything, but spend a lot of time in theatres with surgeons, a lot of time out of theatres with CFOs and discuss the finances and guide them and help them, and do a lot of product training. And essentially not really sell or close anything in six months, 12 months, 18 months down the line, a 500 grand contract comes through, and the deal is won inadvertently, just because of the amount of time you spent in there. It’d be crazy for them to even engage with anyone else, even though they perhaps need to get quotes, and as you alluded to, go down the government pathway here in the UK, in the NHS of going through tender and that kind of thing.
How to Differentiate Between a One Call Close and Sales Process that Might Require a Little More Time Investment · [16:40]
Will Barron:
So how do we know whether we are spending too much time, I guess, kissing frogs that are not turning into princes or we’re being too savage with it all, and going down the other route and just not giving enough time or care to our potential customers to grow them into a potential customer?
Freddy Freundlich:
Excellent question. Excellent question, Will. First of all, as you said before, it’s not black and white. And first of all, I will point out that regardless if we’re selling the consumer item, it’s a one call close, walk-in, walk-out, or we’re selling the medical devices, which are a two year process, we’re still building relationships. How long that relationship will last is another story, but we’re always building relationships. And when you spend two years with a client, a prospect, and you’re just building a relationship, and yet it’s almost a done deal. It’s sort of like dating. You date somebody for two years, and at some point you announce to your friends you’re getting engaged. And they say, “What took you so long?” It was almost a foregone conclusion. But there was still a sale involved, it was just a long term sale rather than a short term sale. So that doesn’t make a difference.
Freddy Freundlich:
The time investment is just that. It’s an investment. The one thing that we all have in common, regardless if we’re the Bill Gates of the world, or the guy who cleans the tube there, we all have the same commodity of time, 24 hours in a day. The only difference is the value of our time. And you need to know what the value of your time is. Now, a great example is this. I was once consulting with a company, where they did telephone sales. And I had a prospect on the phone, but all the salesmen that I was training were listening in on extensions. I spent close to two hours closing this guy a €200 sale. Was it worth my time? No way. But it was worth my time because it was a training session.
Will Barron:
Sure.
“One of the things I teach is that there’s only two things a salesman should accept, a yes or a no. A qualified yes or a qualified no. Most people do not give a qualified no. They say, “I’ll think about it. Let me get back to you.” Whatever. Very few people say, “No, I just don’t want it.” When a prospect says, “No, I just don’t want it.” You have to respect them, say goodbye and move on.” – Freddy Freundlich · [19:18]
Freddy Freundlich:
If I had been just a salesman, I would’ve said goodbye a long time ago, because it wasn’t worth it for a €200 sale. But it was an invaluable training opportunity because I showed the salesman. You see, one of the things I teach is that there’s only two things a salesman should accept, a yes or a no. A qualified yes or a qualified no. Most people do not give a qualified no. They say, “I’ll think about it. Let me get back to you.” Whatever. Very few people say, “No, I just don’t want it.” When a prospect says, “No, I just don’t want it.” You have to respect them, say goodbye and move on.
Freddy Freundlich:
Well, this particular prospect would not tell me no. So being that I claimed to do this, I had to stay on the phone until I could get him to say either yes or no. And eventually I wore him down and he said yes, but it was not a good… In other words, again, I would not do it if I was a salesman, but as a teacher, it was a great lesson for them.
Freddy Freundlich:
So long story short, you’ve got to use your head. What makes sense?
Why Salespeople Must Understand the Amount of Time They Should Allocate on Each Qualified Sales Lead · [20:18]
Will Barron:
I guess, to get practical about this, Freddy, we could just split up our sales target to months, weeks, days, and then we know whether it’s worth spending three hours or an afternoon on the phone with someone, because we can translate that into, “Well, if this deal comes in, I’m up on my time investment or I’m down on my time investment.” Is that a fair way to go about it?
Freddy Freundlich:
Again, not as simple as you would think, because it would depend what it is you’re selling. And I don’t mean so much what it is you’re selling, but the monetary worth of what you’re selling. If you’re selling things, which you make €10 commission, or $10 commission, whatever, well then, you’re just going to go through the numbers. Next, next, next, next, next. But if you’re selling things where you close the deal, you make yourself $100,000, you also want to see where you are in the year. Because if you are ahead of your goals, so why not take the time and close? I personally, I am a one call close salesman. It doesn’t mean I close everything in one call, but that’s what I shoot for, that’s what I advocate for. I don’t really like to go back to close a sale.
Freddy Freundlich:
Obviously, there’s some things we do go back and close sales. So again, grey area, it just depends on a number of areas. I want to say one thing, Will, before we continue though.
Will Barron:
Sure.
Freddy Freundlich:
Right now, we’re talking about a lot of details. Because I know the people listening to this podcast are salesmen. They want to know bottom line. How do I do this? How do I do that? But before you get into any kind of details, a salesman first has to define themselves as who they are. I am a one call close salesman. That’s how I’m defined. So I approach everything with that in mind. And that’s what I think a salesman has to do before they even start selling, is understand who they are.
Practical Steps Towards Closing a Sale Before you Present your Product or Service · [22:30]
Will Barron:
Okay. I feel like that’s a three hour conversation that we can have in the future, Freddy. Because I want to pull things back to what we started with here, or we half went down the route of, and that is perhaps the audience sales nation, perhaps they’ve got a presentation coming up next Monday morning and they want to do as much of this as what we’re discussing so far, as possible, so that that presentation goes well and they can close the deal at the end of it.
Will Barron:
So, what would be the starting point? If someone has booked a presentation, in the COVID era that we’re living in, perhaps it’s a Zoom presentation or a demo of a product, and the potential customer is ultimately qualified, it’s the right person, they’ve got the budget, they’re looking for the product. What can they do to make this as simple and as seamless of a presentation, so that it’s basically closed before they even pick up the phone?
“You want to make sure that they are qualified to buy. Once you know you have a qualified buyer, again, depending on how big a ticket item it is. A smaller ticket item, you will invest less time. A bigger ticket item, you will invest more.” – Freddy Freundlich · [23:55]
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. So first of all, Will, you hit the nail on the head. The most important thing in the beginning is to make sure you have a qualified buyer or buyers. You never go into a presentation if you do not have the qualified buyers. Which means, if you’re selling, for instance, B2C, there’s a wife involved, don’t take the husband’s word that he makes all the decisions. Make sure the wife is there too. And that doesn’t matter if it’s Zoom or it’s face-to-face. So you want to have all the decision makers present, if possible. You want to make sure that they are qualified to buy. Once you know you have a qualified buyer, again, depending on how big a ticket item it is, smaller ticket item, you will invest less time, a bigger ticket item, you will invest more. If it’s a bigger ticket item especially, you will try and do a little research before you go in.
Freddy Freundlich:
Today, things are very simple. We have social media. Look at LinkedIn, Facebook. I understand you are the most handsome salesman out there, through Facebook. You do a little bit of research. It takes five, 10 minutes. See if you have any connections in common. Do your basic homework. All right?
Freddy Freundlich:
Now you may already know before you even get on that Zoom phone call about this person. You may be able to go right into something which will help you close the sale. Whether you do or you don’t, when you start that meeting, there are roles. It’s the roles of being a driver or a passenger. The person who is the driver makes the sale.
“Nobody wants to be sold and they feel you’re a salesman. So, immediately you walk in the door and you’re doing it virtually, but you’re still walking in the door, they have their defences up. So the best way to get their defences down is to throw them a curve. And the way you throw them a curve is you look for something that has nothing to do with what you’re selling. But that’s not what’s commonly referred to as the icebreaker. Don’t start talking about the weather. Don’t start talking about something which has no interest to them at all, or something crazy.” – Freddy Freundlich · [25:35]
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, just like you’re in a vehicle, it doesn’t matter what, only one person can drive the vehicle at one time. If the passenger reaches over and takes the steering wheel, chances are you’ll have an accident. So you must retain control all the time. The prospect, he or she wants to retain the control. There’s an old adage, everybody wants to buy, but nobody wants to be sold. Nobody wants to be sold and they feel you’re a salesman. So you’re immediately, when you walk in the door and you’re doing it virtually, but you’re still walking in the door, they have their defences up. So the best way to get their defences down, is throw them a curve. What we call, throw them a curve. And the way you throw them a curve is you look for something that has nothing to do with what you’re selling. But that’s not what’s commonly referred to as the icebreaker. Don’t start talking about the weather. Don’t start talking about something, which has no interest to them at all, or something crazy. You want to get to their bedbug problem.
Freddy Freundlich:
Now, again, it doesn’t have to be a problem. It can be a burning desire, something that they really, really want.
Freddy’s Goes Through a Practical Example of How Salespeople Can Throw Curve Balls at a Prospect at the Beginning of a Sales Call · [26:30]
Will Barron:
Sorry to interrupt, Freddy. But what would be an example of a question that we can ask that? Because in our mind, we want to probably ask, “What’s the most painful problem you have at the moment?” But clearly that’s a weird question to ask someone in the beginning of a Zoom call. Right?
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. Well, if I were trying to sell you something, based on the little I know of you, I know something that you probably want. I don’t know if it’s a burning desire, but just like this conversation we’re having now, in all fairness to the audience, I knew one thing about this conversation. I knew what the title was. Correct?
Will Barron:
Correct.
Freddy Freundlich:
That’s all I knew.
Will Barron:
Yep.
Freddy Freundlich:
You had some notes, but you still, as you said, we’re going to take this conversation where it goes. Most salesman rely on what is called a script. They have a canned script. Well, I have notes where I want to go, but I have no idea what we were going to talk about in this podcast. I knew the direction, but I didn’t know the details. That’s being natural. So you have to be natural. So you have to look for something you can hook onto and start the conversation going. I can imagine that there are certain people that you would love to interview on your podcast, that in right now, they’re out of reach for you. Would that be a fair assumption?
Will Barron:
Sure. That would be fair.
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. Now, if I could help you get one of those people on your show, would you appreciate that?
Will Barron:
Yeah. That’d be value added to it. Sure.
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. You see where we’re going here.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I get it.
Freddy Freundlich:
I never met you in my life, but I can already understand because of the business you’re in, there are people that you would die to have on it. And if I can help you either directly or indirectly, I am making a friend of yours. Especially if I’m selling coffee cups. You see, if you know what I want to sell you, and I’m now talking about helping you book Bill Gates on your show, you’re like, “What is this guy doing? I thought he is here to sell me coffee cups.” Now, I have to know when to make the bridge and how to make the bridge. And again, that is a three hour conversation. But we’re talking to the people who are listening to this podcast, what they’re going to do next Monday morning, when they walk in, they’re going to look for a hook. Some way they can get the conversation going to where can find out what this person they’re looking across to, what their power-point is. Again, their burning desire or their pain point.
Why Salespeople Need to Build Genuine Trust Before Trying to Go in and Close a Sale · [29:20]
Will Barron:
Tell me if I’m on the right track for this. I feel like inadvertently, I’m doing some of this at the moment. So we’re selling some podcast sponsorships for the show, and I anything that we sell as a company, we’ve got a small team here, but I always try and get on calls and, and do a lot of it myself, just so I’m not some talking head talking nonsense about sales. I’m actually putting some of this into practise. Now I’m finding a lot of these conversations that I’m having, they’re inadvertently, and now I’m pushing them towards talking about paid advertising as a whole, and then I narrow things back down to advertising on the podcast later on in the conversation.
Will Barron:
And the reason I’m doing this is, that we’re spending 20, 30 grand a month on paid ads. And this is actually a lot more than what a lot of the sales enablement companies that we’re selling the podcast advertising space are spending.
Will Barron:
So I’m starting the conversation by asking about paid advertising in general. Usually most people are doing a bit of AdWords or they’re doing this or that. And I start talking about Facebook ads and how we’re having benefits from it. And then I do five, 10 minutes of coaching on what’s working for us and explain it to them. And then it get dragged back into podcast advertising. And I find that, rightly or wrongly, this sets me up then as an expert to talk about podcasting advertising, even though we’ve been discussing a different form of paid advertising.
Will Barron:
So, am I on the right tracks of what you’re prescribing here, Freddy is a way to build trust before we go and try and close the sale itself?
Freddy Freundlich:
It’s actually, Will, another track, but it’s definitely an excellent track. Because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re coming in and you’re establishing yourself as an advisor to them. And as long as you’re genuine, it’s very important that people be genuine. What you’re doing is, for instance, I know a little bit about advertising, and even though I’ve never sold billboards, I know a little bit about billboards, and I know it has to do with traffic.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Freddy Freundlich:
So for instance, a billboard in itself can be worth a lot of money to you in the right location, and it could be a totally waste of time in another location. That’s what I know about billboards. Well, if I’m walking into a prospect and I’m trying to sell them podcast advertising, and I’m sharing with them, and I’m saying, “If you have the money and you can get a billboard on Times Square, get it, take it.” In other words, I’m sort of helping my competitor you would think. Because if we’re all in advertising, there’s only so many advertising dollars.
Will Barron:
Sure.
Freddy Freundlich:
And if you are salesman.org, if I am telling you, if you can have the money, go invest in a billboard at Times Square, I’m putting your interest ahead of mine. But I know deep down, that you’re not going to do that.
Will Barron:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Freddy Freundlich:
But I’ve set myself up that I’m trying to help you. And even if you do that, that means you have a bigger budget than I thought. Great. Advertise at Times Square, I’ll still get some business from you. Either way, I come out looking like a rose.
“The key here is you have to be sincere. Because if they feel it’s just a game with you, then they’re not going to buy it. People do read people.” – Freddy Freundlich · [32:29]
Freddy Freundlich:
The point is, the key here is, you have to be sincere. Because if they feel it’s just a game with you, then they’re not going to buy it. People do read people. Another quick key point, Will, especially in the era of Zoom and what’s going on. And by the way, this is not going away. People shouldn’t think, “Tomorrow, we’re going to get back to the way we were.” This is a part of the new norm. People sometimes feel they can get away with things because it’s virtual. People feel you the way… The only difference between you and I sitting across from each other desk-to-desk, is I can’t physically shake your hand. We can still have our drinks together, we see each other, we feel each other. And people have to understand that. Don’t try and BS the prospect, because they will see right through it.
Don’t be a Pesky Salesperson. Be a Solution Person · [33:40]
Will Barron:
So, you’ve touched on it already with being sincere and not trying bullshit the prospects, for want of a better way of putting it. Freddy. So there’s two things here that you mentioned that I thought were really interesting, and I want to wrap the show with this.
Will Barron:
You said we’ve got to ask the right questions. So we’ve touched to a certain extent. But you said we’ve got to ask them in the right way. So other than being sincere in the way that we ask them, what other traits is there for the right way to ask a question?
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. Again, it’s sincerity. And you have to be normal. Speak to the person, not as a salesman, but being normal. And I realise this is very trivial and people might be listening and say, “Come on, get real.” But let’s stick to our bed bug example. Okay. Either I walk in virtually or I’m face-to-face, and I have a meeting with a person. I expect anybody I’m dealing with to be civil with me, to be nice with me. So if I’ve scheduled a meeting with you, and we’ve allotted 30 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever, and I walk in and he says, “Listen, I don’t have any time. Tell me what you’re selling and that’s it.” So there are various ways you can handle it.
“You can’t go by a script. When I train, I use a lot of analogies of relationships between men and women. So, if a man goes into a bar and his intention is to meet a woman, he may have an opening line, but if he scripts it, he’s not going to get anywhere. He has to come across naturally. So he can’t script everything.” – Freddy Freundlich · [35:14]
Freddy Freundlich:
You can try and sell them very quickly. You’ve lost the sale. You could say, “Well, let’s reschedule.” And maybe that might be the answer. Or you can say, “Is something wrong?” Just ask them, “Is something wrong?” Because obviously something must be wrong. Because he allotted X amount of time to you, and now… Then he will answer however he will answer. You see, you can’t go by a script. When I train, I use a lot of analogies between relationships between men and women. So if somebody goes into to a bar, if a man goes into a bar and his intention is to meet a woman, he may have an opening line, but if he scripts it, he’s not going to get anywhere. He has to come across naturally. So he can’t script everything.
Freddy Freundlich:
And the same way here. You ask the guy, “Is something wrong?” And hear what he says, but listen. People don’t listen. Listen to what he’s saying. Sense what he’s saying and go from there. That’s all I can say is, you have to find a way to just ask the next question. One question leads to another question.
Will Barron:
I’ve never shared this before. I’ve got a post-it note here, it’s usually stuck on the back of this card and no one can see it. And it’s more for the training content that we do from the same studio here, Freddy, rather than the interviews, because the interviews it’s easy for me to be normal, because I’m really intrigued as to what you are going to say. And I want to know the answers to these questions.
Will Barron:
But I’ve found when I’m doing sales content and I’m talking or reading from an auto queue or talking at the camera, I have to have this sticky note to remind me of how to behave and how to be normal. And it just says, act like you’re speaking to your younger self. So that’s how I try and treat all of our content, and it stops me being robotic, and it allows me to… I’m not visualising myself, sat there behind the camera watching, but just that little prompt to remind myself to not be a salesperson or marketer or whatever role I’m in within the company at that moment, just to be a normal person. That has massive impact on then the content that’s recorded at the end of all this.
The One Takeaway Freddy Would Love Every Salesperson to Take Home · [37:01]
Will Barron:
So let’s wrap up the show with this, Freddy. If we could instil one thing into the audience’s brain sales nation who’s listening or watching the show right now. Is the takeaway from this conversation that they should act normal in front of their buyers? What would be the one thing that they should be acting, or being, or behaving, when they are engaging with their potential customers?
Freddy Freundlich:
I agree 100% with what you said, but I would even say instead of acting as if you’re talking to your younger self, act if you’re talking to your younger self’s best friend. Okay? When you’re young and stupid and you don’t care about what everybody’s telling you you have to be doing and you just really care, and your best friend skins his knee, how would you react to him? That’s it. That’s the way. That’s what I would advise people. That, and WIIFM. Keep that in your mind all the time. Be genuine.
Parting Thoughts · [38:06]
Will Barron:
Perfect. I love it. With that, Freddy, tell us where we can find out more about you and the book, The Art Of The One Call Close.
Freddy Freundlich:
Okay. First of all, there is my website, which is rabbifreddy.com. I am not, even though I do have rabbinical ordination, I am not a rabbi. I am more of a business rabbi. So it’s rabbifreedy.com. And that’s Freddy, F-R-E-D-D-Y. Rabbifreddy.com. You can get more information about me, my books. You can go to Amazon and I have a couple of books there. The book that I would strongly recommend to your listeners are, The Art Of The One Call Close, which covers a little more in depth of what we’ve been talking about today.
Will Barron:
Perfect. Well, I’ll cover all that, I’ll link to it all in the [inaudible [00:38:55] of this episode over at salesman.org. With that, Freddy, I really enjoyed our conversation, and I want to thank you for your time and your insights and for coming and joining us on the Salesman podcast.
Freddy Freundlich:
Thank you very much. I was very happy to be with you.
