Episode 9

The Anatomy of a One-Call Close

In today's episode, Dave Salter and Dennis Collins unravel the mysterious "one call close." It's a high-stakes sales technique that demands charisma, magic, and skill. Dennis spills the beans, revealing that this whirlwind tactic can seal the deal in just seven minutes. That's faster than your morning coffee brews!

But this isn't about cheesy lines. It's about genuine rapport and trust-building. Dennis dives into rapport secrets, emphasizing the power of authentic questions and common ground.

From social media savvy to avoiding "premature presentation," Dave and Dennis dish out actionable insights. Plus, they tease recognizing buying signals--oh, the suspense!

Think of this podcast as your VIP ticket to sales mastery. With charisma, insider tips, and a touch of theater, Connect & Convert is your go-to for conquering the sales world. So, grab your earbuds, tune in, and Connect & Convert like a pro!

Transcript
Dave Salter:

Good afternoon, you've landed on Connect & Convert.

Dave Salter:

The podcast where we share insider secrets on sales success

Dave Salter:

for small business owners.

Dave Salter:

I'm joined as always by my expert companion Dennis Collins.

Dave Salter:

Dennis, how you doing today?

Dennis Collins:

Excellent.

Dennis Collins:

I hope you are Dave.

Dave Salter:

I'm doing really well.

Dave Salter:

I have to say, when I saw the topic of today's episode, I had to say to,

Dave Salter:

I had to really think hard if I've ever been a victim of that scenario.

Dennis Collins:

That's good word, victim.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

Well, have you ever bought, have you ever bought an HVAC system, a new

Dennis Collins:

roof, a plumbing, electrical, remodel?

Dennis Collins:

Any, ever done any of that?

Dave Salter:

I have, and at the same time I'm, I think that The only

Dave Salter:

thing that I place where I thought that might've, that this would work

Dave Salter:

on me would be in an emergency.

Dave Salter:

Like, a tree fell on my roof and I got a, the water's coming in and

Dave Salter:

I, somebody's gotta fix it now.

Dave Salter:

And I, I call a couple friends.

Dave Salter:

Do you know know somebody, and then all of a sudden a couple of roofers are calling

Dave Salter:

me and I'm, I'm gonna take probably, take the first one who's gonna fix my problem.

Dave Salter:

And at the same time, I, to me this goes against so much what

Dave Salter:

you've done over your career.

Dave Salter:

Because to me, the one close, the one call close, there's no rapport developed, no

Dave Salter:

relationship trust building, et cetera.

Dave Salter:

But this is still a technique that's used out there.

Dennis Collins:

Well, again I would say this in response to what you just said.

Dennis Collins:

Yes.

Dennis Collins:

A lot of practitioners of One Call closes don't spend the time to build

Dennis Collins:

the rapport, to build the trust.

Dennis Collins:

They go right into presentation mode and say up or down.

Dennis Collins:

Are you going with this or you're not going with this?

Dennis Collins:

This is my best shot.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

And I wanna talk about the other side of that today.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

What's the other side of that?

Dennis Collins:

There's another side.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dave Salter:

So the other side that's interesting.

Dennis Collins:

Let me give you some thoughts.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

One call closes have become kind of synonymous with that aggressive,

Dennis Collins:

unethical, sleazy salesperson.

Dennis Collins:

In one of our podcasts I referenced Glen Garry, Glen Ross and the character

Dennis Collins:

Alec Baldwin played the sales manager.

Dennis Collins:

And of course, it was always be closing A, B, C.

Dennis Collins:

The high pressure, low rapport, no empathy approach is what was used

Dennis Collins:

and still is in some places, however, it's not working much anymore.

Dennis Collins:

You're getting blow back.

Dennis Collins:

You're getting thrown out.

Dennis Collins:

Ah, something had to change.

Dave Salter:

So is, Are there certain industries where this is

Dave Salter:

still a prevalent sales technique?

Dave Salter:

Or is, are there, industries in the past where this was

Dave Salter:

a prevalent sales technique?

Dennis Collins:

Yeah, well it was mostly like car, why do you think car

Dennis Collins:

salesman got you know that reputation because the stats are very clear.

Dennis Collins:

Once you walk off that lot, your chances of coming back to buy a car are

Dennis Collins:

slim to none and slim just left town.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

So you can't let 'em walk.

Dennis Collins:

Hvac which I'm very familiar with plumbing, very familiar.

Dennis Collins:

Those are kind of one call closes, okay?

Dennis Collins:

There's not a lot of, particularly if it's an urgent situation and

Dennis Collins:

urgency doesn't mean the people all of a sudden turn stupid.

Dennis Collins:

They're not gonna just, they might get four or five different bids, but it's

Dennis Collins:

going to be a very tight one call closure.

Dennis Collins:

You're not gonna have a lot of time to come back, if any.

Dave Salter:

So give me two, three quick bullet points on what the anatomy of a one

Dave Salter:

call close might sound like or look like.

Dennis Collins:

It's generally Dave, a sales situation that needs to close

Dennis Collins:

on the initial call or it's very unlikely that a sale will occur.

Dennis Collins:

There's very limited to no chance for a callback or a do-over limited

Dennis Collins:

chance to correct information, to add information or correct mistakes.

Dennis Collins:

It's time to get it done on that first call.

Dennis Collins:

What I have found in my research because, most recently, I've been out

Dennis Collins:

on one call closes, actually observing salespeople, and it definitely has

Dennis Collins:

special dynamics, very special dynamics.

Dennis Collins:

So the idea that you cannot ethically perform a one call close to me is wrong.

Dennis Collins:

It can be done ethically and it can be successful.

Dave Salter:

That's very interesting.

Dave Salter:

'cause again, it just, I, it goes against what we typically discuss.

Dave Salter:

What scenario would a one call close be required for?

Dave Salter:

For, for I, I, for example, I've recently been talking to some

Dave Salter:

people in the real estate business.

Dave Salter:

Okay.

Dave Salter:

And they're, they have a unique sales method and they have a whole

Dave Salter:

system set up and it's all about the relationship building, but also about

Dave Salter:

how many different times they reach out that, that old was it a telephone?

Dave Salter:

I forget what it was "reach out and touch someone:, right.

Dave Salter:

And, and they talk about all the various methods that they do before they actually

Dave Salter:

ask the person for, for the business.

Dave Salter:

And well..

Dennis Collins:

That's, that's a longer cycle sale..

Dave Salter:

Right.

Dave Salter:

So where would this one call close come into play?

Dave Salter:

You know what, because to, to me, it's..

Dennis Collins:

Think of it as a compressed sales cycle.

Dennis Collins:

Okay?

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

Instead of all those touches, and, if you read all the literature,

Dennis Collins:

oh, you have to have seven touches before they're gonna say yes.

Dennis Collins:

Well, guess what?

Dennis Collins:

On a one call close, you don't have seven touches.

Dennis Collins:

You got seven minutes, the way I see it.

Dennis Collins:

If in the first seven minutes, having after you have encountered your customer,

Dennis Collins:

if you haven't made headway in building some level of full of rapport and trust...

Dennis Collins:

dead.

Dennis Collins:

That's not, it's not gonna happen.

Dennis Collins:

And you say, how the heck can you build trust that fast?

Dennis Collins:

Well, you have some answers to that.

Dave Salter:

Okay?

Dave Salter:

So seven, the first seven minutes.

Dave Salter:

So that tells me that this is a longer call than, you know that

Dave Salter:

I'm thinking about right now.

Dave Salter:

I mean..

Dennis Collins:

Could be.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

Some of these are on telephone and that's a whole different animal.

Dennis Collins:

We'll do another podcast someday on telephone.

Dennis Collins:

I'm talking now where you're face-to-face.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

With a customer not on the telephone and it's a one call close.

Dennis Collins:

You've got about seven minutes to build some level of trust for

Dennis Collins:

them to allow you to continue.

Dave Salter:

Is there any science behind that?

Dave Salter:

Seven minutes?

Dave Salter:

What's that ma?

Dave Salter:

That magic

Dennis Collins:

number.

Dennis Collins:

Well, the science actually says seven seconds.

Dennis Collins:

That you have seven seconds to get a first, a good first impression, right?

Dennis Collins:

I extended to seven minutes because in one call close, you do have

Dennis Collins:

some time at the beginning of the call to let set the table.

Dennis Collins:

I seven minutes may be a little too long.

Dennis Collins:

Seven seconds is way too little.

Dennis Collins:

I tried an experiment the other day with some actual salespeople, and I told 'em

Dennis Collins:

in two minutes, I gave 'em an exercise.

Dennis Collins:

You've got to build trust with me in two minutes.

Dennis Collins:

Two minutes.

Dennis Collins:

And of course, they all said, that's impossible.

Dennis Collins:

I said, no, it isn't.

Dennis Collins:

Set the timer.

Dennis Collins:

Go.

Dennis Collins:

Guess what?

Dennis Collins:

Most of 'em did a pretty good job.

Dave Salter:

So this obviously requires some skill and some

Dave Salter:

coaching and some rehearsal.

Dennis Collins:

This is a highly skilled person.

Dennis Collins:

You cannot send the new kid on the block who doesn't know anything about people

Dennis Collins:

and anything about selling on this call.

Dennis Collins:

This requires someone who has experience and who is highly trained

Dennis Collins:

and has a defined sales process.

Dennis Collins:

I'm a big proponent of defined sales processes.

Dennis Collins:

Some people say, oh, my sales processes "I fly by the seat of my pants.

Dennis Collins:

I'm random.

Dennis Collins:

Whatever hits me."

Dennis Collins:

Good luck.

Dennis Collins:

We'll not close.

Dennis Collins:

A lot of one call closes.

Dennis Collins:

In fact, I'd be surprised if you close any.

Dennis Collins:

So a lot of people push back at that defined sales process.

Dennis Collins:

I don't want a, it's not a script, it's a framework.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

But if you skip any steps in that framework, there's a strong

Dennis Collins:

chance you're gonna get a no sale.

Dave Salter:

So talk about the coaching part of that a little bit, because

Dave Salter:

as you said, you're not gonna send a newbie out on one of these calls,

Dave Salter:

and at the same time, those newer folks, or less experienced folks

Dave Salter:

at some point are gonna have to get proficient in this particular skill.

Dave Salter:

So talk a little bit about the coaching behind that.

Dennis Collins:

We've talked a lot in these podcasts about two

Dennis Collins:

concepts, deliberate practice, mentoring, and coaching.

Dennis Collins:

I will be, I don't usually make definitive statements like this.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

But I'm gonna make this one.

Dennis Collins:

Without deliberate practice and without coaching, you cannot

Dennis Collins:

master the one call close.

Dennis Collins:

It is a very highly specialized type of sale, and if you're not being coached

Dennis Collins:

or mentored, and if you're not getting feedback and practicing at the edge of

Dennis Collins:

your capabilities and not skipping steps.

Dennis Collins:

When I listen to recordings of salespeople who are supposed to

Dennis Collins:

understand one call close, and they skip, maybe they skip three or four

Dennis Collins:

of the steps in the sales process -you can't skip steps in a one call close.

Dennis Collins:

You have to hit every point in your own language, in your own way.

Dennis Collins:

Not scripted, but each one.

Dennis Collins:

I give you a framework and you need to follow it in a one call close.

Dave Salter:

Yeah I mean, I've been coaching young people for 32 years now.

Dave Salter:

A lot of what I do is modeled off of my high school basketball coach

Dave Salter:

because he was the first coach I ever had, and I started playing competitive

Dave Salter:

sports at seven years old in little league, but he was the first coach

Dave Salter:

I ever had that actually taught.

Dave Salter:

What he wanted done instead of telling you what he wanted done.

Dave Salter:

And I, so when I'm coaching my young ladies, I just I

Dave Salter:

put, I feel like a teacher.

Dave Salter:

I, not so much the coach only comes out on game days.

Dave Salter:

The rest of the time I feel like I'm a teacher.

Dave Salter:

And.

Dave Salter:

The most of the kids, the, so I work with a 13, 14 year old, freshman level kids and

Dave Salter:

most of them coming up through youth ball.

Dave Salter:

When they get to me, I can tell day one what kind of instruction they've had prior

Dave Salter:

to reaching me and how much remedial work I might have to do to get 'em to where I

Dave Salter:

want 'em to be or where they need to be.

Dave Salter:

So I'm sure you've seen that as well.

Dave Salter:

And, and, well,

Dennis Collins:

I wanna, I wanna key on something.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

I want to key on something you said that's very important.

Dennis Collins:

One of the ways that we humans learn is, and I think the quickest way, not only

Dennis Collins:

through deliberate practice that builds skill, but when you're trying to teach

Dennis Collins:

someone something new, let's say show them, demonstrate it, ha have, either

Dennis Collins:

you demonstrate it or have someone who's very good at it demonstrate it, okay?

Dennis Collins:

Then have them do their own version and they're gonna

Dennis Collins:

stumble and fall and that's okay.

Dennis Collins:

It's safe, stumble and fall, and then, let them correct.

Dennis Collins:

Do it again.

Dennis Collins:

Do it again.

Dennis Collins:

Deliberate practice.

Dennis Collins:

And then the final part of that is let them teach it.

Dennis Collins:

Let them show someone else maybe who's new to that technique.

Dennis Collins:

Let them show those people how to do it.

Dennis Collins:

That's when you really learn something.

Dave Salter:

Sure.

Dave Salter:

Absolutely.

Dave Salter:

So let's let's talk a little bit, you talked about the first seven minutes.

Dave Salter:

Okay.

Dave Salter:

Yep.

Dave Salter:

Let's talk a little bit more about how you might conduct a successful one call close.

Dave Salter:

Especially building trust.

Dennis Collins:

It's about, the first seven minutes, what

Dennis Collins:

I call the building trust zone.

Dennis Collins:

That's the seven minutes at the beginning.

Dennis Collins:

He don't skip any steps.

Dennis Collins:

You've gotta make instant rapport.

Dennis Collins:

You gotta make a quick connection.

Dennis Collins:

I'm not talking about phony small talk.

Dennis Collins:

I'm talking about, the concept, I am here to help you meet your

Dennis Collins:

needs, to help you solve your problem, not to line my pocketbook.

Dennis Collins:

Okay?

Dennis Collins:

That is the goal of those first seven minutes.

Dennis Collins:

Does that make sense?

Dave Salter:

It does, and at the same time it's like how do you do that?

Dennis Collins:

Well, no connection, no sale.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

We're gonna do a podcast and I don't wanna give away too much 'cause this

Dennis Collins:

is gonna be one that I think people will really enjoy and it's about the

Dennis Collins:

principle of influence called liking.

Dennis Collins:

We like to do business.

Dennis Collins:

We prefer to do business with people we like.

Dennis Collins:

And the people we like are the people that are most like us.

Dennis Collins:

They're similar to us.

Dennis Collins:

So how do we build rapport?

Dennis Collins:

Not through cheesy.

Dennis Collins:

Oh, what well, that's a nice dog you have there.

Dennis Collins:

Or how old's your pussycat or whatever, that's cheesy.

Dennis Collins:

We're gonna do a whole podcast on non-cheesy ways to build rapport,

Dennis Collins:

and it's all based on the principle of influence, reciprocity and unity.

Dennis Collins:

Three principles.

Dennis Collins:

We'll talk about.

Dave Salter:

All that's, that sounds fair.

Dave Salter:

'cause I was thinking of some non-cheesy ways to build rapport, or, I, go ahead.

Dave Salter:

Well, I'm just, I'm just trying to think of what I might respond to if I were,

Dave Salter:

in, in the role of the customer here.

Dave Salter:

So my family's really important to me.

Dave Salter:

If he asked me a que a question about my family, that might be a

Dave Salter:

sincere question about my family.

Dave Salter:

That might be a good way to go.

Dave Salter:

Absolutely.

Dave Salter:

Maybe he comes in my home for this call and sees I have a set

Dave Salter:

of golf clubs in the corner.

Dave Salter:

Maybe he wants a, asking about hobbies or absolutely.

Dave Salter:

Or maybe he's played a great course and that, that sort of thing.

Dave Salter:

Or he knows what I do for a living and say, "Hey, I got a friend that does this.

Dave Salter:

How's the, how's your business going?"

Dave Salter:

You know, those, so I think the sincerity is important, right.

Dave Salter:

Of those questions.

Dave Salter:

And think .. So even if it's, even if it's a question that we might

Dave Salter:

think on the surface might be cheesy.

Dave Salter:

If I feel in my gut that the guy's being guy or gal's being sincere

Dave Salter:

I may not, no look negatively on that, potentially cheesy inquiry.

Dennis Collins:

We're gonna let you teach that session on a non-cheesy report

Dennis Collins:

because you came up with some great ideas.

Dennis Collins:

And we'll do that in the future.

Dennis Collins:

That is a really, that's a question I get all the time.

Dennis Collins:

How the heck do I build rapport?

Dennis Collins:

What do I say?

Dennis Collins:

What do I ask?

Dennis Collins:

How do I do it?

Dennis Collins:

And rather than spend any more time today, let's table that to the next one.

Dave Salter:

Where does does social media fit into this equation at all?

Dennis Collins:

This is controversial.

Dennis Collins:

Some people think I'm creepy.

Dennis Collins:

I'm a stalker.

Dennis Collins:

I advise using social media to research the call before you if

Dennis Collins:

it's on a business that's easy.

Dennis Collins:

It's all there on the website.

Dennis Collins:

If it's a person that gets a little more touchy, but look at it this way, Dave.

Dennis Collins:

Everything on social media is open source.

Dennis Collins:

It's not confidential.

Dennis Collins:

If you didn't wanna be on social media, you have the choice to take it off.

Dennis Collins:

And so I think it's fair game to use like colleges, sports family activities, things

Dennis Collins:

that are posted publicly on social media.

Dave Salter:

So I wouldn't go to the person and say, Hey, I, I saw you

Dave Salter:

were drunk at Bob's bar last night.

Dennis Collins:

That's a good one.

Dennis Collins:

I haven't heard that one before, Dave.

Dennis Collins:

That's,

Dave Salter:

uh, so, so there is, there

Dennis Collins:

I saw you got arrested for D u I the other day.

Dennis Collins:

Your name was in the paper.

Dennis Collins:

Oh, yeah.

Dennis Collins:

That's a good one too.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dave Salter:

So there is, there's definitely a line there.

Dave Salter:

And I think the, there's a line.

Dave Salter:

I think those four areas that you covered is probably where I would draw it.

Dave Salter:

And you just have to be conscious of personal questions, but I agree with you.

Dave Salter:

What, if it's on their social media pages, if they're in the

Dave Salter:

news, that's public domain.

Dave Salter:

Public domain, it's just what best suits your inquiry to this

Dennis Collins:

customer?

Dennis Collins:

Use

Dennis Collins:

good judgment.

Dennis Collins:

Is what I advise my, my sure.

Dennis Collins:

The people use good judgment.

Dennis Collins:

Absolutely.

Dennis Collins:

And some people say, I never do that.

Dennis Collins:

I don't think that's the right answer either.

Dennis Collins:

But do it with discretion.

Dennis Collins:

Yes.

Dave Salter:

So you already talked a little bit about why flying by the

Dave Salter:

seat of your pants is not the best way to go about a one closed call.

Dave Salter:

What about this topic the subject you call premature presentation?

Dennis Collins:

Yes.

Dennis Collins:

Premature presentation.

Dennis Collins:

It's the tendency that a lot of salespeople who are not comfortable

Dennis Collins:

building rapport and asking questions.

Dennis Collins:

They, like we've talked in previous podcasts about, they just start blurting

Dennis Collins:

out their features and benefits.

Dennis Collins:

Well, let me tell you about this, and I got this product and I got that product.

Dennis Collins:

And you have basically then blown a one call close.

Dennis Collins:

You are not gonna close it.

Dennis Collins:

Once you give the customer control of the call, you will..

Dennis Collins:

If you get it, it'll be done on a heavily discounted price.

Dennis Collins:

Okay?

Dennis Collins:

Once the customer gets control of the agenda, the price will be the

Dennis Collins:

single criteria determination, and then you have to drop your drawers.

Dennis Collins:

You've gotta give 'em some ridiculously low price that nobody wants to give them.

Dave Salter:

So you honestly think it's possible to do a one call close?

Dennis Collins:

No.

Dennis Collins:

I know it is.

Dennis Collins:

I've seen it done.

Dennis Collins:

I've done it, and I've seen it done, but all your ducks have to be in a row.

Dennis Collins:

You cannot make any skips.

Dennis Collins:

You can't skip any steps, and you have to be on your game.

Dennis Collins:

If you're not on your game.

Dennis Collins:

If you get an order, it's what I call a happy accident.

Dennis Collins:

A happy accident.

Dennis Collins:

We're all happy, but it was an accidental sale.

Dave Salter:

So we wanna avoid that scenario.

Dennis Collins:

Yes.

Dennis Collins:

All right.

Dennis Collins:

At all costs.

Dennis Collins:

Understanding that, part of it is inoculating, anticipating

Dennis Collins:

and inoculating objections.

Dennis Collins:

We'll do a whole podcast on what the heck is inoculating objections all about.

Dennis Collins:

It's a great technique that every salesperson who does

Dennis Collins:

world call close must know.

Dennis Collins:

You don't have a lot of time to deal with objections.

Dennis Collins:

You gotta neutralize them early.

Dennis Collins:

Become highly, highly, highly, highly, highly skilled at

Dennis Collins:

recognizing buying signals.

Dennis Collins:

You would be shocked, Dave, at how many salespeople that are

Dennis Collins:

out there right now selling that don't recognize a buying signal.

Dennis Collins:

It goes right by them.

Dave Salter:

That sounds like another episode,

Dennis Collins:

So that could be two or three episodes.

Dave Salter:

Alright, thanks for your wisdom and insight today, folks.

Dave Salter:

This wraps another edition of Connect & Convert, the podcast that lets you behind

Dave Salter:

the curtain with some insider information for small business sales success.

Dave Salter:

This is Dave Salter with Dennis Collins, and we'll see you next time.

Dennis Collins:

Questions, questions, questions, Dave, and

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Dennis Collins

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Paul Boomer

I help businesses grow up after they've grown their revenue. Think about that for a moment. You'll understand what I mean.