EPISODE 52

The first day I was at Sasha’s, she had each of her technicians meet with me for about two hours, one at a time.  We covered a lot of ground: how to respond to prospects’ emails being the most critical topic. 

“The most important thing you can do with an Internet prospect,” I told them, “Is to offer information.  That’s why they contacted you to begin with.  Don’t try to sell them.  They’ll only resist.”

“But shouldn’t we at least ask them qualifying questions first?” one of them, a tech named Rachel asked me.

“Yes.  But you need to keep your part of the conversation very carefully controlled.  Keep in mind that these are apt to be the most overly educated prospects you’ve ever worked with.  Not only are they computer savvy, but they’ve also probably done a fair amount of research on pattern baldness, its causes and the various remedies that are available to them.  They know about transplants, Rogaine, and hair replacements.  What makes this even harder is that probably don’t like any of those alternatives either.  In them, you have come across the most dangerous beast in the forest: an educated consumer.”

“So how do we sell to them?” asked Eric, another of Sasha’s technicians when it was his turn to meet with me.

“You sell them by not selling to them.  That may sound like double talk, but it isn’t.  Essentially, the greatest advantage you have over the educated consumer is that while he knows what he doesn’t want, you know what actually works.”

“But,” Alicia, the third of Sasha’s tech’s had objected, “That means I’m stuck trying to sell this guy something he wants no part of.  How the hell does that work?”

“By remembering that this guy is perhaps the most qualified lead you’ve ever met.  Think about it for a minute.  In spite of all the research that he’s done, in spite of the fact that he just knows you’re going to try to strap a unit on his head or sell him some potion or lotion, in spite of all of that – he’s still talking to you, even if it’s only by email.  He hates the way he looks so much that he’s willing to run the risk of being disappointed by whatever solution you offer him.  His need to change his appearance is what you have to gauge if you’re going to get him to book an appointment with you.  His temperature at that point will be very high, so you will have to help him discover exactly how much he wants to do something, in spite of his knowledge and his suspicions.  Once he acknowledges his need, he’ll buy whatever you tell him will work.  If he tells you that no matter what, he doesn’t want to buy a hair replacement or schedule a surgery, then offer to put him on a 60-day Rogaine regimen.  The key here though is to make sure that you get a ‘before’ photograph of the top of his head before he leaves.  Then, book him 60 days out so that you can reevaluate his condition.”

The question all three of them asked about my advice on using Rogaine as a stopgap was the same: “What if nothing happens?”

“Of course it’s not going to work!” I answered.  “Rogaine is just a way of putting your prospect into a holding pattern.  The stuff is apt to slow the hair loss, over time.  But in two months, you’re probably not going to see much of any effect.  That’s when you lay it on the line for him.  He’s either got to book a surgery or buy a hair replacement system.  

“Nothing.  Else.  Works.”

And that’s when they got it.  All three, Eric, Alicia, and Rachel nodded and smiled at that point in our respective conversations.  The Internet prospect was the same as any other, except that he came in armed with more information and a few more prejudices than a normal lead.  It was their job to offer information, support, solutions, and advice – when needed.  That part of their job was the same.  All they had to do was to remember that the person in front of them, the prospect they were all trying to sell:

(a) Felt demeaned by the whole process of trying to find a solution to his hair loss

(b) Had spent hours on the Web looking for an answer

(c) Had found nothing that interested him

(d) Didn’t want to be sold anything

(e) But had come in anyway

“Once you can unearth and get your Internet prospect to recall the desperation, the pain that he felt when he decided to chuck his suspicions aside and make the call to book an appointment with you – you own him!  Given the road he’s traveled to get to you, if you can be patient, you will find that and then you can sell him.  He’ll thank you for it too.”

I looked over at the door to the small office where I’d spent the day training the techs.  It had opened and Sasha stood in the doorway, smiling.  Alicia jumped up from the chair she’d been sitting in, thanked me and hurried out.  Sasha watched her leave and then quietly closed the door behind her as she walked into the room.

“From what Rachel and Eric told me,” Sasha said as she sauntered over to the desk, her desk I might add, as all of the training sessions had been held in her office, “This whole ‘new’ process of selling Internet leads isn’t all that different from selling any of the other prospects we get.”

“True,” I replied.  “The real trick is learning how to hold back, how to not offer information unless it’s asked for.”  I had been sitting in Sasha’s chair while doing the training and as I saw she was heading for it, I stood up.

“Got it.  Now get your ass out of my chair.”

“Yes ma’am,” I replied with a grin. I looked over at Sasha and she glanced at the chair on the other side of the desk, indicating that I should sit there instead, which I did.  I am nothing, if not obedient, when I have to be.

“Michael, I think you and I need to spend a little quality time tomorrow.”

I said nothing.  At a moment like this, a smart man shuts the hell up, lest he make a complete ass of himself.  Sasha opened her calendar book up and glanced at it.

“My day tomorrow is completely clear and I suggest that you not make any plans.”

“What about training?” I asked.

“Not to worry.  We’ll pick up on that the day after tomorrow.  But that doesn’t mean you should go out late tonight.  You’re going to need to get a lot of rest.  I’ll pick you up at your hotel at 6 in the morning.”

“Where we going?” I asked.

“Fishing.  I’ll pack food and coffee.  You bring the beer.  I like Yuengling.”

“As you wish.”

The next episode of SlipNot will be published on August 25th.

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