Sales Calls that Go Right

Having been through several opportunity selling courses during my tenure in advertising sales for a newspaper, I knew the basic principles of making successful sales calls. Learn the client's needs and ask them about their objectives. Respond to their answers to these questions rather than selling from a format or rate card. In short, pay attention to what the client is telling you through verbal and non-verbal clues, and tailor the sale to their expectations, not yours.

Beyond these basic principles lay another layer of selling success that I was always curious to test. One method in particular had proven challenging to implement. It takes guts to prepare your sale, make your pitch and then shut up and wait for the client to make the next move. One of our sales instructors once told me; "Once you've made your pitch and there's silence in the room. Wait. Do not talk. The first person to say something is the one that gives in."

I'd used this technique a number of times selling advertising, and it worked. But when it came to selling a sponsorship for an art poster project, I was keen to see if it would work on a personal project. You don't always know going into a sales call whether a "clear" opportunity will present itself. But if you pay attention to how the client is responding to your presentation, there usually comes a point in the sales call when most of the information is "out there" and it is the client's turn to ask the questions. That's when you put your presentation materials into their hands and shut up.

In my case this involved a pair of paintings that I planned to turn into promotional posters. Each was a watercolor painted on site at a minor league baseball park. The paintings titled "Day Game" and "Night Game" each would be printed as a fine art poster to be distributed and sold at the ballpark. I had already made one sponsorship sale for the Day Game poster to the head of a law firm who was interested in the team. That sale was a lock. Now I had to sell the second sponsorship.

I met with the head of a local car dealership whose company already had a sign at a major league ballpark. I thought that connection would help me sell the promotion, and it did. But there still came a point in the sales process when the client was not quite convinced he should part with the money. I told him the cost of sponsorship and showed him where on the design his logo and business information would appear. Then I gently pushed the matted painting to his side of the table and sat back. And waited. And waited. 5 minutes went by. Nothing was said. Finally the potential client lifted the edge of the painting and said, "So my logo would go here?"

That was that. The sale was made.

5 uncomfortable minutes led to closure that no amount of talking could have achieved. The client made up his own mind about the value. He just needed time--and a little silent pressure--to get past buyer's remorse.

The poster project proved a success with more than a thousand being distributed at a couple ball games. The two pieces together got considerable press and we were featured in local newspapers together as well as at the annual fan night for the ball team.

In all, it was money well spent and a sale well-earned. But those were 5 of the longest minutes of my life, I will admit.