T7. Closers vs. Posers
Closers v.Posers
Poseur: a person who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance, sentiment, etc., other than his or her true one.
I like the French spelling here – it seems more elegant.
A poser is a person that must fake performing since he has no clue what he’s doing. A related concept is the Interloper which is a person being where they don’t belong or have no right to be. Like a wedding party crasher.
Posers have no claim to the title sales rep. They are often just visiting from some other failed career or depressed industry. Real estate is replete with posers – every time the market is up they swarm in like locusts during a plague. When that market turns down, off they go looking for some other easy money gig.
Posers can slip through the cracks of a recruiting system and infect the team. But they can’t hide for long. Soon it becomes obvious they are nonhackers and incompetent. It’s not just that, it’s the lack of involvement, blaming others, and couldn’t-care-less attitude. There is but one cure. Show them the door (and give’m a kick on the way out).
Posers piss me off. I have absolutely no patience for them and won’t give them the time of day. And neither should you.
NOT NICE: David Smith please.
Prospect: I’ll put you through.
Sales = Call Volume X Close Ratio.
Who will make more calls a day – the “nice” or “not nice” rep?
Here is a sample dialogue at the close:
NICE: Well, I hope I explained everything. Do you have any questions? Would you like to think about it for a while, no rush you know . . .
NOT NICE: I take Visa, what’s the number?
Who do you think will ask for the order like she deserves it and keep asking until she gets it?
Social norms that work in casual interactions do not work in sales. A more extreme example is when you try to fight fair and be nice in combat and seconds later what pieces of you can be found are shoveled into a body bag.
If you find yourself compulsively being nice all the time, for no particular reason, then here is a cure. Get a puppy. A cute, furry, warm, happy, puppy that will lick your face, wag its little tail, and fall all over itself being nice to you. Roll around on the floor for an hour each morning with the little puppy. Get it out of your system.