Sales and marketing representatives have a common goal: to ‘tie down’ the next sale. Harvey Mackay, a six-time New York Times Bestselling author, suggests employing ‘tie down’ phrases to nudge customers into a sales decision. Tie downs are short questions like ‘wouldn’t you?’ and ‘shouldn’t we?’ Tie down questions have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers ““ with ‘yes’ being the ideal answer.
Working ‘tie down’ phrases into your sales pitch might require some practice, but it’s definitely a great technique to add to your sales repertoire. Getting your prospect used to saying “yes” will help you when it comes time close the sales deal. This is because at the end of your presentation they will be in a positive mood after answering “yes” to a dozen of your questions.
The goal of every sale is to sign the client into a “yes”. According Mackay, one of the most sought after keynote speakers in the world, the term “maybe” is the worst thing that a client can say in regards to a business deal. Even if the client says “no”, at least you know where you stand. An additional benefit of using ‘tie downs’, is that you are in control of the conversation. It leaves less room for the conversation to go in a direction that you’re unfamiliar with.
Try a tie down in your next sales presentation by saying something to the effect of, “Having a Managed Service Provider handle your technology needs would decrease downtime caused by IT problems, wouldn’t it?” Other common tie downs include: Aren’t they? Can’t you? Isn’t it? If Harvey Mackay, one of the world’s most recognized experts on sales and marketing practices, had advice on how to be a better sales representative, you’d listen to him, wouldn’t you?
In addition to founding his own company, MackayMitchell Envelopes, Harvey Mackay has written countless articles and motivational speeches in regards to sales and marketing. This article contains information from his blog article ‘2 Little Words to Close More Sales’ in the e-magazine Inc.