As a salesperson, there are a ton of mistakes to avoid. Going in for the sale too quickly, fudging the facts, or not believing in your product come to mind first, but there is another problem that is even more obvious and even more problematic: poor execution when it comes to actually asking for the customer’s business. I’m not talking about the product, or the history with the customer, or even the advertising. I’m talking about the literal transaction that happens between a salesperson and the customer. The words that are exchanged. The interaction that goes down.
I’m huge on something called “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right-Hook”: Jabs are the value you give the consumer upfront, and the right hook is when you bring it back around and ask them for something in return, aka that sale. I spend a lot of time talking about the Jabs, but not so much the Right Hook. Like I said above, a bad Right Hook – a bad attempt at a sale – could bring down all the Jabs, and negate all the work you’ve done prior to that moment.
So, how do you throw a great right hook?
Like this:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kr24G8jQpM expand=1]
The fact of the matter is you have to go right in the for the kill. You don’t bashfully tread around the question. You don’t try to rephrase it or be cute about it. Just. Freaking. Ask.
It’s all about honesty. Be truthful and upfront about what your goal is. If I was the CEO of Toyota (and I’m being very serious here), my Super Bowl ad would sound a little something like this: “Hey. I’m Gary Vaynerchuk and I’m the CEO of Toyota. I want you to buy my cars. What do I have to do to make that happen? Let us know.” To me, that is a good Super Bowl commercial. Forget the pony. Forget the eagle and the cute dog. It’s all distracting us from the main question, which is: what can I do to get your business?
A few episodes ago on my Q&A show #AskGaryVee, I decided to turn the episode into an experiment about Right Hooks. I asked everyone to buy one copy of my book on Amazon. I told my viewers that I had done 70 episodes, that they have probably all watched at least thirty, and now it was time for me to ask them for something. I noted the Amazon ranking before and after the show.
Guess what? It worked.
It proved my point about solid right hooks. That is all there is to it, my friends. You just honestly ask. You try to create a little guilt around it, and then you ask.
Don’t hold back and be honest.
