Fearless Selling in a Down Economy

After endless rejections in this bad economy, many salespeople are becoming increasingly discouraged. Some have lost the “fire in the belly.” Others are simply waiting for the economy to turn around. This defeatist attitude simply won’t do, according to “one-call closer” Robert Terson, author of Selling Fearlessly: A Master Salesman’s Secrets For the One-Call-Close Salesperson.  

Having read everything about selling he could lay his hands on, Terson notes that he’s still inspired by Frank Bettger’s How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, which was published way back in 1947. After spending his entire adult life in sales—over 43 years—he’s ready to dole out some advice. First off, he notes that “fearful” and “undisciplined” do not lead to “success.” Salespeople who continually yield to concessions from pushy sellers for fear of losing a sale lose in the long run. “When a salesperson can walk away from a bad deal or an abusive customer, the balance of power shifts in favor of the salesperson,” says Terson.

While Selling Fearlessly offers sage advice to all salespeople, the book focuses on the one-call-close, simple sale. If you’re making multiple calls to close complex, high-dollar-amount sales to buying teams, Terson recommends Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling.

Terson calls Selling Fearlessly a salesman’s instructional manual that aims to “turn some ordinary people into extraordinary salespeople." With an uncompromising, challenging tone, the book includes 40 stories, as well as exercises that show how to sell, not just tell how to sell. It contains rubber-meets-the-the-road advice from a salesman with over four decades of in-the-field selling experience.

Formatted into four sections—Bridge to the Triangle, Mental Attitude, Work Habits, and Salesmanship—Selling Fearlessly is an easy read that lets you acquire critically important selling lessons without reading the entire book. Terson avoids abstract theory in favor of interesting stories and practical applications that apply to today’s selling art. 

Scott Metcalfe, President of Empire Consulting, also advises on fearless selling. He notes that 95% of salespeople say they need to get in front of more prospects. He adds that most salespeople hate to prospect, yet the best prospectors often close more business than the best salespeople. He also says that decision makers listen to just 9 seconds of a "cold" voicemail before deciding to press delete. “The key to successfully producing above-average sales results, especially in a soft economy, is to consistently and effectively prospect without fear,” says Metcalfe.

He defines prospecting as targeting potential clients and setting appointments. Prospecting unites marketing efforts (those occurring before a face-to-face meeting) and selling efforts (things done during a face-to-face meeting). He identifies two types of sales prospecting: Active Prospecting, where the frequency of effort is directly proportional to the outcome (like cold calls); and Passive Prospecting, where no ongoing personal effort is required to sustain results (like a website).

The type of business and the time and money available for prospecting will dictate the right prospecting mix, notes Metcalfe. He advises targeting no more than 6-8 different mixed prospecting activities at any one time.  Each activity should be tracked for at least three months until the ideal mix is worked out.

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