Professional Gambling on the Strip of Las Vegas
It was after four years of professional gambling on the strip of Las Vegas that John Paul Mendocha was sitting in a booth with two friends and fellow gamblers and an argument began between the two men.
”You ARE going to do it.”
”I’m NOT going to do it.”
”You ARE.”
”I’m NOT.”
”YES YOU ARE,” and he produces a Glock and jams it to the other man’s head.
”You ARE going to do it.”
John is thinking in his own mind, “I’ve got to quit this thing or I’m going to end up a corpse in a ditch.”
On a very average Tuesday afternoon John Paul Mendocha just up and quit gambling. He moved to another state and got a regular job.
206 Leads
Then John’s Sales Manager dumps a pile of 206 leads on his desk and says, “Set appointments with all of these.”
During John’s days in Las Vegas he had learned the 80/20 rule, so he figured roughly 80% of these names were a waste of his time while maybe 4% were the really, really good prospects. He needed a way to tell the difference.
He built his own, and he named it The Five Power Disqualifiers.
That’s what the best 80/20 marketers do. They eliminate the misfit prospects FIRST.
If a prospect doesn’t have money, or isn’t a good fit, or isn’t urgent, you will never get them to buy.
John figured less than 5% of his 206 leads (maybe 10 at most) deserved a face-to-face appointment, and less than half of those would buy. So he screened them out over the phone, freeing up hours he needed to spend on the actual buyers.
5 Conditions That MUST Be Present for Every Sale
John simplified sales down to 5 conditions that MUST be present for every sale.
Disqualifier #1. Do they have the money? You should ask it right up front. Because some markets consist almost entirely of people who have no money.
Disqualifier #2. Do they have a “bleeding neck?” In other words, do they have a pressing, urgent problem that needs to be fixed RIGHT NOW?
If you want to make big money in a business then what you are selling must relieve pain, relieve a loss or the fear of loss, or scratch a very nearly irrational itch for pleasure.
Disqualifier #3. Do they like your Unique Selling Proposition? What is the main benefit that your market wants that your competitors do not offer?
Your USP is your company’s unique answer to two questions:
- What does your product do that no other product does?
- And what guarantee can you offer that no one else can?
Disqualifier #4. Do they actually have the authority to say yes and approve the purchase?
Engineers often have to get buy-offs from their bosses. It’s like applying for a job. HR can say no but only the VP can say yes.
Disqualifier #5. Does it fit their plans? If you make a suggestion that demands drastic change, they’re going to give you a big fat no. Unless the alternative is far worse, like brain surgery vs. dying. Your solution needs to dovetail with the forces already in play in their world.
This is 80/20 at its very finest. Each of these disqualifiers wipes out the bottom 80% of your prospects. And to do it you have to be brutally honest with yourself.
Sales are not about persuasion. They’re about elimination. You want to eliminate the lesser prospects early so that you have enough time to work with the stronger prospects. It’s the same principle you use in separating the sick animals from the healthy ones in a herd.
Write these five disqualifiers down on a note card and hang them on your wall where you can see them.
Test fast. Fail fast. But keep moving.
About Delancey Street
Delancey Street is a premier, and award winning, business debt settlement company that helps business owners nationwide. Our goal is simple: help you escape debt in a safe and legal manner. Based out of New York, we can help in 49 of 50 states. We tell you how it is; because your business and future is on the line.
