Close Deals & Make Money: 7 Steps to Close Anyone

Hey, welcome to another episode of Making Billions, I'm your host, Ryan Miller and today I have my dear friend Bob King.

Bob literally wrote the book on closing deals in investors called, The Joy of Closing, not only that, but he also is a closing coach, filmmaker and he's a sales superstar. Bob consults with sales teams and investment professionals of all types, from retail to in home, sales, business to business, bringing one call magic to their pitches, curing slumps, boosting team performance and turning total strangers into happy investors, often closing them in their very first meeting.

So what this means is that Bob understands how to deliver award winning closing pitches and closing the deal, raising capital, and he brings all of that life changing results to our show today.

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[THE GUEST]: Bob literally wrote the book on closing deals in investors called, The Joy of closing, not only that, but he also is a closing coach, filmmaker and he's a sales superstar.

Transcript

Ryan Miller 
My name is Ryan Miller, and for the past 15 years, I've helped hundreds of people to raise millions of dollars for their funds and for their startups. If you're serious about raising money, launching your business or taking your life to the next level, this show will give you the answers so that you too can enjoy your pursuit of Making Billions. Let's get into it.

Ryan Miller 
You ever feel like you need more money? Problem is, typically, it's because you can't close. My next guest is one of those closers, and literally wrote the book on closing deals called, The Joy of Closing. Join us as we cover some of his seven steps on how to close the deal. All this and more come in right now. Here we go.

Ryan Miller 
Hey, welcome to another episode of Making Billions, I'm your host, Ryan Miller, and today I have my dear friend Bob King. Bob literally wrote the book on closing deals in investors called, The Joy of closing, not only that but he also is a closing coach, filmmaker and his sales superstar. So Bob consults with sales teams and investment professionals of all types, from retail to in home, sales, business to business, bringing one call magic to their pitches, curing slumps, boosting team performance and turning total strangers into happy investors, often closing them in their very first meeting. So what this means is that Bob understands how to deliver award winning closing pitches and closing the deal, raising capital, and he brings all of that life changing results to our show today. So Bob, welcome to the show, man.

Bob King 
Thank you very much. It's great to be here, I'm excited to help the Making Billions community thrive.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, well, you're certainly one of them, and we've been very fortunate to be the top 3% in the world, and we're streaming to over a 1000.

Bob King 
I'm not surprised, for those at home, Ryan does his homework, and he's an impressive guy, and it doesn't happen by accident, like there is work that goes in to making the magic that happens here. And I'm really flattered and honored to be a part of it.

Ryan Miller 
Yes, you certainly are a part of it, and closing deals is really the big thing, right? We can have great investment thesis, great deals, but until we can convince somebody to say, I agree with you, here's my money. Let's do this together. It's really just talk. It's really just goals and making plans over coffee or whatever it is. But in order to grow that and to actually enjoy your pursuit of Making Billions, a big part of that is working with investors. So I also am excited to have you on here. So let's jump right into it. Let's hit them between the eyes. What would you say, for someone who's starting out, they want to raise capital, they want to close deals. What is some of the early advice you can give people from a foundation? What would you tell them?

Bob King 
The first thing they need to do is recognize the task at hand, and that's really closing, it's not sales, it's not presenting. You have to be able to do all those things, but unless you can get another human being to adopt your agenda as their idea, which means writing a check or saying, yeah, let's do this. You know, you're not going to have much success. In fact, a lot of times your great presentation skills are just teeing them up for somebody who's going to offer them a slightly better rate or, you know, something like that, or a real closer, this is going to come along and take all that enthusiasm you created and work at their resistance. Allow intimacy to occur, figure out what their real objection is, and then get them what they want. And I'm here to help that person be you, not some schmo with a lesser product or, you know, maybe a similar product, but, you know, just who's willing to work with that customer's resistance when maybe you're not?

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, I love that. So job number one, we got to close.

Bob King 
Recognize the task at hand, and we'll go into what that means. But in the big sense, it's also just knowing what you're going to say, like having an emotional journey, that you're going to take someone on, you know, if you're sitting on first class for six hours next to somebody with millions of, billions of dollars to invest, you should get off that plane. You know, like, you kind of got to know what you're going to talk about when you talk about the nature of the investment, or the product or the company that's behind it, or all those other things. And it's not like, you know, you know, people always there's an old question, as a sales do, is a sales call or an investment talk? Is that a monolog or a dialog? And the correct answer, it's, it's a monolog that the customer perceives as a dialog. And so in order for that to happen, you know, there's certain steps that go, you know, you have a proper warm up where they do get to talk. And then you have to fascinate them. They have to have an understanding that, or an awareness that you understand where they're coming from. And then you're going to take their interests at heart as you dispense your expert advice. But so we'll get into more into that when we get into, you know, the details of what we talked we were going to do, but, but. But first thing is recognize the task at hand.

Bob King 
The second thing is belief. You have to believe in what you're doing. So the other big difference between a salesperson and a closer is commitment, is how committed you are to the idea that moving forward with your proposal is the best thing for everyone. And it can't be this kind of blind faith that you know you want to buy Ferrari. It has to be based on the real quality of what you have and and the goodness of your intentions. And, you know, whatever your particular bell and whistle is success you've had with other projects that are similar, maybe your sophistication about a certain type of investment, or whatever it is. You know, there's something great about what you're doing, or you wouldn't be doing it, but you need to connect with that and and have the willingness to have someone else connect with it. And that's an unnatural act in, you know, the modern age, you have to be committed. And we'll talk about that too, but belief if you don't believe in what you're doing, you're multiplying everything you say to that investor by zero, and zero times anything is zero.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah and I have a question for you, Bob. So when it comes down to it, then, especially when you're selling an investment product. So you know, you're gonna ask for a little and you're gonna deliver, let's say 10 times that, in four or five years, just as a random example. And often, I don't know how you feel, but I'd love for you to talk about this. Often you'll hear people and maybe we'll say less sophisticated investors, not in a judgment way. We're just saying they're pretty new to in the investing game. Often, I can tell that they're new because they're so focused on how much it's going to cost, more than how much they're going to benefit. What's your perspective on those who ask for price too soon, who are just saying, well, I just want to know how much it costs.

Bob King 
There's a couple of reasons why that happens, but it usually happens because you have not established your authority. So there's techniques you can use, and we'll get into that as well. But the main thing to understand is that a sales call is a striptease towards price, and you do not show them the goods until that money is in your G strap. So you know, the main thing to do is not agree to that. You know, if you agree to that, if you spit out a price before you've told them about your company before you price condition in, before you made them want it, seeing the pleasure of your solution and the pain of their current situation, gone on that emotional journey with you. If you just spit out a price, the value of what you're bringing to the situation is greatly diminished. So yeah, that's all, I mean, when you sit down with anybody for anything you're going to sell, they are expecting two things, three things, a scope of work, a price and not to have to do it today. And if you're not ready to confront those things, you just aren't prepared to close them. And you're wasting their time, you're wasting your time.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah.

Bob King 
And you're diminishing the value of what you have to offer.

Ryan Miller 
You know, you bring up a good point, Bob, and that is that instead of selling them, you make them want to buy. And that when I realized that, when I was pitching investors, and obviously that's something I'm known for is helping people to raise capital. We have a community fundraisecapital.co. You can check that out, we have a whole course that teaches people how to do that. But with that being said, I can tell you, Bob, when I was able to go from selling to what I would call intrigue and so my first step is to build that and just get them intrigued. So you and there's some art to this. So when, when it comes to building intrigue, that changed everything. So before I was like, hey, I'm gonna give you this and, and it was a monolog, and they knew it was a monolog, not like the artful form that you talked about, a monolog that they think is a dialog. And so I would just get up there and tell everybody, and I wasn't closing very much. This was early in my days of of raising capital and doing deals and but when I was able to just give them enough, and this just takes practice, folks, but understand what you're trying to develop helps your practice. But instead of just going in and here's what this does, and this is how it starts, and here's how long the program is, or whatever, now you're going in to be like, hey, for example, you know, our last guy had the same issue, and what he found was X and so, and they're like, well, that's interesting tell me more about that guy. So what's your take and talk about building intrigue?

Bob King 
Well, okay, so my take is that your intrigue is such a great word for you because it's so, it's dovetails into how you come across. You're, you're, you speak, you know, with this kind of quiet strength. And, you know, people want to hear more from you. My version of it is usually excitement, I get them excited about it, and that's what works for me is, you know, just enthusiasm and excitement, which I'm sure you produce too. But I think it's finding that thing that you can do better than anybody else, or that you can that really is in line with what you are uniquely skilled to do, but it's all the same thing. It's getting that customer to again, making it their idea, like, wow, this is really something I want.

Ryan Miller 
So you know, let's, let's take this a little bit deeper, Bob, so I know you've literally wrote the book, The Joy of Closing and when, and I promise you folks like, when you figure out how to close. It's one of the greatest feelings that I've ever had, is that when you know you close because it's not because you were lucky, but because you were prepared, because you were skilled. You walked them through a sequence of steps. Now that's a very scientific way of saying what I like to say, sell the sizzle, not the steak. I don't know if you agree, but we want to sell the sizzle a little bit. And there's art and there's science, and my brother, you know both. So I'm wondering you've written the book on this. Can you unpack some of those steps that you have on closing the deal for us today?

Bob King 
So the first part of my book is, is a kind of work memoir about how I came into the knowledge that that I'm, that I acquired, and that I'm passing on through the book itself. And then there's a long how to section on earning a customer's business for the first the first meeting, which is what I was trained to do in the home improvement business. But what I realized was, you know, I became fascinated by sales and what makes people say yes. And then I started branching out counseling with other types of businesses, some B to B, some B to C. And I realized that, you know. Even in a world where maybe, maybe you're B to B and there's just no way to meet with a decision maker, the ultimate decision maker, you still only have one opportunity to make that first impression, and when you have the element of surprise. And even in B to B situations, I've consistently been surprised, well, I'm not surprised, but my clients have been surprised that there are customers. That will go forward on the first day, even in worlds where they say it's impossible so but and anyone you sell on the first day, a, you're saving yourself as a resource, or your sales team as a resource, because now they can move on to clients that really do need follow up, or new clients altogether. They can see more people. B, it's going to be for more money. Anything you sell on the first day, like you're never going to give someone your best price. You know what I mean? Like, like, anything you sell on the first day is for more money than it is later, say, when after you face competition and grinding and all that stuff. And most importantly, that leads to happy customers, people who make an intuitive decision because it feels right and it's something that they want, and now they're going to get it because they trust your expertise and they just trust you as human being. Those people are hardwired to be happy. And you think about the decisions in your own life that you make, and really there's no greater feeling. The only thing better than finding what you want and knowing it is helping someone else do that. And so when you talk about the feeling of closing, like earning someone's trust is powerful, whether you are an effective closer or just happen to stumble into it the first time someone says yes, it is a drug. It is a crazy drug. But really cultivating the reasons that people say yes, which is essentially becoming trustworthy and being, having the capacity to communicate your enthusiasm and expertise is incredibly what you said, rewarding, intoxicating. It's such a valuable thing to know how to do, and it's been so stigmatized by the other books that are out there that, you know, tell people to stare at the Ferrari they want to buy or the house they're going to put for their family. Your success based on what you want is ultimately a very shallow way to think of what you do, if your job is earning people's trust and getting them what they want. So you have to really kind of embrace the larger purpose of what you're doing, which is to be a service.

Ryan Miller 
I love that. And I remember early days when I was selling, and apparently I've been told I rank high on empathy. And when I was like, if you've ever seen the old movie Boiler Room, where it's just this high pressure sales or Wolf of Wall Street, same idea. So it was a similar place to that, and they're like, you're never going to sell. And I was always the top salesman, and it really pissed these guys off, because they're very all fun. You got to tell them what's what, and the strength and and they would sell a ton, don't get me wrong. But what they found was I took the role of, like, how can I help you? But also in a sort of a firm way, to be like, no, that's not going to work but this will.

Bob King 
It's about building trust, I mean, empathy is like a $5 word for giving a shit about the person you're talking to. And it's funny, people, a lot of times, they'll say, like, you know, what can you train someone to be a closer? The hardest thing to train someone, especially young people, is to actually pay attention to the person they're talking to. And just like, don't The reason those pitches are boring? Well, a they're probably not very they're not telling them things they don't already know. You know, that's the thing which any good pitch you got to have stuff that they hadn't thought about. Want to establish your expertise, and if you want to fascinate people. But we can get into that in a minute, but a warm up, which is what most people skip, and is just just treating them like a human being and and being in their space, whatever that is. And you know you could be meeting them anywhere, but it's still either being welcomed into their space or welcoming them into your space, paying them a sense of your compliment. Taking on, you know, finding common ground, just taking time to get to know them as a human being, is the one thing that you know. Even if you don't get the deal, it'll make your life so much more exciting.

Ryan Miller 
I love that, yeah, so step one, the warm up.

Bob King 
All right, so we're getting into the, what I call one call magic.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, let's hear it all right.

Bob King 
So this is like classic one call closing techniques, you know, from fully brushman, really distill, and the first step is the warm up. So just what we talked about, you can call it empathy, if you want it, just, just give a shit. Be in the room with the person you're with. Be yourself. Make it about them. How you're going to meet their needs. Call them by their first name. Well, dress appropriately. If you're meeting with people in suits, put on a suit. If you're knocking on someone's door, don't walk in there with a suit, or they're gonna think you're gonna charge them too much. You know, whatever it is, you need to look like a professional, someone someone can give money to, you know, don't show up asking someone for millions of dollars in shorts and flip flops, unless that's your version of intrigue, you know. But you know, you've got to show up looking like someone that they want to, that they're people decide whether they're going to do business with you so fast, and they don't know they made that decision. And you can overcome it, but it's a tough hill to climb every single time, so you should look professional. Meet them where they are, pay attention to them and find common ground, and pay them a compliment about how they express themselves creative, and that could be how they live their life once you get to know them a little bit, it could be how they come across. It could be, hopefully not, how they look. That's not a good way to go. When you pay a sincere compliment, it elevates the level of your interaction with another human being, and it's one of the many things about becoming a closer that makes your whole life better.

Ryan Miller 
So develop rapport step one, we call it the warm up.

Bob King 
So at the end of discover, at the end of you know, at the end of the warm up, you're gonna do some discovery and try and get them to tell you the reasons why they're taking the time to talk to you, because those reasons are what you can close them on later. You're not gonna rub it in their face right then. And a lot of times they'll say, well, I'm not doing this today, and great. I'm just here to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision. And then start with the step two. Step two is feel the pain. And so what that means is make them be uncomfortable with what they're doing now. A closer is an agent of change, and in order to get your customer to embrace change, you have to attack the status quo. You have to give them information that that last guy did not or gal did not, give them, the bar of any presentation is fascinating. If you're not fascinating, you will lose them. And if they you know again, pay attention. The reason you know what you're going to say is for the same reason you don't figure out which pedal to push when you're driving the car to make it stop. Because if you have to think about which pedal to push, you're thinking about that you are not looking out for road hazards or someone jumping out in front of your car, that guy cutting you off, or someone you have to go around. So, so it's the same thing. When you're talking about stuff, pay attention to what makes them nod and like want what you have, and what makes them shake their head or look at their watch to check their emails or whatever it is.

Bob King 
So you've set the stage. You've got their attention. Now you're gonna go through three reasons. So money's usually number one second reason is feels good. So it's whatever it is about what you're asking them to invest in that has a feel good element. There's always a choice between getting people to like you and getting people to trust you. There's always an easy way to do it, and there's a way that builds trust. And I don't care if a customer likes me, I really don't, and when it comes to like making a full and thorough presentation or using my expertise to help them, I'm whether they like me or not is not nearly as important as whether or not they trust me, because a customer will buy from someone they don't like, but they will never buy from someone they don't trust. So make the decision going in that I'm going to do everything I can do to build trust with this customer and fascinate them and not worry about whether they like me or not. And then the third thing is timing. And timing is this undiscovered gem that if you put it in the right spot, can pay such huge dividends later. Because most of the time you're talking about timing. In a sales situation, you're either making an offer, like a sale, or something like that, or an investment offer, hey, we're, you know, until December 15. You know, you can buy an x ray, and after that, we're in our second round, and it's going to cost more or something like that, but that's manufactured, and we all know it's manufactured, and you know, yeah, you might have a really credible reason for it, and you should always have a reason for offering a sale or discount. But when I talk about timing in three reasons, it's really more environmental, right? Whatever it is you're selling, there's some way to talk about timing that doesn't feel like a sale or a discount. It's just something that's going to happen whether they move forward or not. And that makes moving forward today a great idea. You're not selling hard on it. You're just, it's very matter of fact.

Ryan Miller 
I love that there was a time. So this is one of my products soliciting any investment at all. I'm just telling a personal story of how I got into this deal. And there was this product that was very intriguing, exciting. It was this, this product that effectively took landfill waste, right stuff that most people do not even want to look at or deal with. And it was like, but every once while, someone says, I'll deal with that, and literally change it from one man's trash is another man's treasure. And what it was is they would take it, run it through this machine, this extruder, combine it with different plastics and all these different things, and they would be able to create a lumber replacement for railroad ties, right? So this like boring, not sexy thing, billions of dollars of upside, billions. You know, how many countries and islands don't know what to do with their trash. They can't just send it down the rail line to another state. And so the it is this massive solution. And one of the reasons that that really got me invested is the guy who talked to me about it actually had this little, like, two inch by two inch piece of that product. And he's and he just throws it at me, and you're like, wow, and you grab it, right? He know what he's doing. He's one heck of a guy, I got to hold it, I got to touch it and right? And it actually looked cool. And I was like, Hey, you can sell this stuff to IKEA, right? They would love it. It's kind of funky, and it's got different specs of color and and outside of the artistry. But the point is, is that there came a story, and there was a fascinating use case, but at the end, he actually showed me some of the product. Where does, where does demonstrating the product fall into the sales cycle?

Bob King 
I love that you mentioned that because the next step is the product demo, and you want a sensual, the most important thing about a product demo is that it's sensual, but, but it's, it's such a great way to do it, you know, that guy's handing you this product, and you're like, oh, you know. And like, you know, when maybe the curvy vacuum, you throw dirt on the floor, right? So, yeah, when you present your product, you want it to be essential. I learned sales selling tea, and we would do a tasting. And that tasting was, you know, they'd smell it first they taste it. It went from light herbal stuff to very multi black teas, and they would get a buzz on, because there's caffeine in most of those teas. And at the end, you know, they can't wait to do it because they've had a sensual experience. So that product demo is, you know, you're going to highlight every bell and whistle between, you know, your product, and someone else's but, but especially when you're introducing a new product, something they don't know. You know, they're talking about investment, and the guy's handing you a piece of trash that has turned into something useful.

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, and it wasn't gross that was the biggest thing. Because when you're talking about garbage, most people think about garbage, and then right at the end, it was like, twist ending. Man, this is awesome and so he threw this thing, and it's like, didn't stink. It was like, as hard as a rock, right? So very durable. And it just dispelled that potential. Maybe someone's like, garbage. I don't wanna invest in anything that deals with garbage. And then you touch it, you're like, Oh, this isn't garbage. This is actually a very useful product that people can use for countless things, real world ties, power poles, whatever it is. And I was like, shut up and take my money. Like I was in. Man, I was all in at that point after the demo. So, yeah, it was very central and it showed like, actually, this is kind of cool. Now that I see it, I felt like what you just told me leading up to that took on a way deeper meaning. Now I really am, like you said in the beginning, invite them into your space that that literally launched me into his space. And I was like, oh, I get why you're investing in this and why you want me to invest in this now that I'm seeing it, I'm holding it, I'm banging it on the table. I was like, this thing's not brittle. This thing is very robust, like, I can actually see that this is gonna be something very spectacular.

Bob King 
And we have five senses. The two that are hardest to engage in a sales call are smell and touch. And the fact is, you're holding something that's trash that doesn't smell, so it's really absence of smell, but that's still sensual, and you and you can touch it. So yeah, if there's a way to someone can touch your product, like, if you can make a little, tiny version of it that someone can touch, that's a great way to sell it.

Bob King 
Yeah, I used to have many solar panels. And I would talk about, like, what one panel versus another panel in this little mini panel I would bring into their home, where I would do this break it, where, you know, there was always, if you want it to be fun, exciting, dynamic, you cannot bore them if you're gonna do any kind of demo like that, it's gonna be quick. It should be surprising. It should be fun. You want them to ooh and odd, be surprised and engage their senses, because your senses engage your emotions. And you tell the story of it first, too. You tell the story of the why of the product, before you talk about the how.

Ryan Miller 
Perfect. So after you demo the product or demonstrate, create that central experience I know, before you add that analogy of the little tease, where do you go after the demo? Where do you where do you take them on the journey?

Bob King 
So the next thing you want to do is we're going to present price, right? We told them what we would do and and we are on price conduct, price price presentation. So price presentation, you have to know how you're going to present price. Like a good closer is part six year old and part lawyer, right? And so this is where the lawyer kicks in, like when someone says, Oh, I'm not doing this today. Channel your inner six year old if you want how to close. Watch a six year old say no to a six year old and watch their next move. That's a great way to learn how to close, or at least learn some new techniques that you're not going to think of on your own.

Ryan Miller 
It happens every day in the Miller house.

Bob King 
So yeah, tell that kid, when that kid says, I want this, say no, they don't just a two year old throws a tantrum, right? Cries, and then they get over it. But a six year old is ninja. A six year old will find a way around you, and suddenly it'll be your idea to do exactly what that six year old wants. No one wants to do business with lawyer. You want to sign a contract with a lawyer. You don't want a lawyer. I mean, sorry, you want to sign a contract with a six year old. You want to sign a contract with a lawyer. You want a price presented by a lawyer. And so this is where you know your voice deepens, you take on a serious tone, and you offer your offering, right? And I mean, usually better presented visually, or something like that. I mean, if you can write something down and spin some paper around, right, write it down and spin some paper around before you, before you present price, you want to do something called building value.

Bob King 
Now, in the classic version of one call closing, there's this thing called called ROI. You're proving the return on investment, where you write some outrageous stuff down that that just gets the customer shackles up and lets them know you're trying to do something that they're not expecting. It's just really salesy and just not great. So I cut that out, and instead, I price conditioned throughout the thing. And there's many ways to price condition. There's a few different examples in the book. Examples in the book. Consistently underestimate any savings and overestimate and overestimate, you know, or be conservative about any financial projections they are giving them, and make sure they know you're being conservative based on either the market or other things that they you know, that you would use to set expectations, always under promise, all that stuff, and make sure they're aware of it. That's the best way to price condition a customer. But now it's time to like let them know. I always like to present it in a visual way, but the first thing you wanna do is build value. So whatever it is they get out of investing with you, and you make it exciting, and you make it seem like too much stuff when you present price or when you ask for a deal, you have to stop talking you. Cannot talk next. So we'll talk about this when we get to closing. But just as a preview, there's two reasons. Number one, they can't say yes if you're still talking. So they might say, Okay, that sounds great, and you just close the deal. The other one is what they say next is going to lead into what happens next, which is the next step, which is closing.

Bob King 
So closing, the step closing is what happens, everything that happens after you present price, until they either say yes or no or give you a no, that sounds like a yes or gives you an objection that you take as a condition, which bring in all the definitions those things if you want. But so we're in closing. Now, closing is the longest chapter in my book. It's the hardest chapter I had to write. But in the book, I give you 13 closes and 10 objections and and they are structured in a way that they one follows the other. But I make the point that they are not prescriptive. So it's not the customer says this. You say that because really what you have to learn to do is use your intuition and invite and invite the customer into an intimate relationship, closing start to the mindset. And the mindset is, if there, you have to start with the idea that there's always a way to get that customer to move forward on the first day, and then the whole thing just becomes this, like human Sudoku puzzle, right? It's like, so what? What group of persuasions and asking for the deal will give this customer the confidence to move forward and make them think it's their idea? So so that's what you have to you have to start with going there is a way to do this, and then your brain will, your brain, your intuition, your compassion, will figure out a way to do it. But you have to start with the idea that there's a way. And if you don't know there's a way, I guess you can pretend there's a way a little bit. But what will happen is, if you get yourself to really believe that you'll see customers move forward, and then the more that do, the more confidence you'll have about it. But you kind of got to manufacture it, maybe a little bit at first. And you know, we talked about thinking that way, like it is really the best thing for them, like you have to start by thinking that and believing it, but then once you get to ask me for the deal, they're going to tell you a lie. The first thing out of their mouth is almost always a lie, and that lie is going to come in one of two forms. You know, you have to understand liars are buyers and buyers are liars.

Bob King 
Okay, so the customer telling you a lie is perfectly normal. It is like kind of an all's fair in love and war thing, generally speaking, closers lie about one thing. It's cheaper today. Customers lie about everything. Oh, I really want to do this, but, you know, I have to ask my cousin in Poughkeepsie first. You know, he, he invested in a gold mine, and he said, don't sign anything until I sent it to him and you're okay. You know, what do you think he's what do you what do you think he would say? Get a yes first. Oh, he's good. This is gonna like this. Okay? And then get there's something else. It's never the cousin in Poughkeepsie, okay? There's always something else. And you need to find a way to get that customer to be comfortable talking about it, so you can speak to what's really holding them back, which is usually some kind of fear or just, you know, whatever. Maybe they just need most. There's a statistic that most, most customers, don't say yes until the fourth time, or something like that, that they're asked for a deal, and most salespeople stop before the third. So just know this is not you know you presenting price is by no means the last time you're going to ask for the deal. And so, but, but just because I'm telling you a lie does not and so a lie, a lie is my favorite kind of like, well, a lie is either an objection. Now, an objection is a is a something the customer says to keep the it's an excuse for them not to make a decision. It's not a yes, it's not a no, it's just an excuse, like, oh, this sounds great. Just got to run it by the boss, you know, which is, you know, their wife, typically. And when you said, you know, is there anyone else going to be involved in this decision? And they said, Oh, no, this is my baby. I'm the boss here. I got this. And so, you know, there's a lot of ways to handle that objection, but that's, that's, that's an objection that is not a condition. And customers think, and a condition is a real reason they can't go forward. So, you know, you're meeting with someone's assistant. They don't own the property, and all they can really do is say no, that's, that's, that's a condition. That's what you really can't say, Yes, but you will get good at handling, making sure you don't pitch those people and shutting down. So some of that stuff before it ever starts. But just because you shut it down before it starts does not mean they're going to bring it out now that they won't bring it out now they will bring something out. So the first thing you have to recognize is they're probably going to tell you a lie. You're going to stop talking. They're going to tell you a lie. And the other thing is, there's a lot of there's a lot of no's that sound like a yes. There's a million ways to say no, and there's only one way to say yes. And the biggest rookie mistake that you could make, the biggest mistake, is to keep talking.

Bob King 
The second one is to is to hear a no and think it's a yes, which is like, Gee, I really want to do this, but something's going to happen in two weeks, and when that happens, I'll be able to do it. You know, they're going to be very specific about that thing, okay? And if you take that as a as a Yes, try calling them in two weeks and see what happens, because that's not a yes. And there'll be another thing that they reason they can't do it. So you just have to go, oh. Uh huh, and then talk about, you just have to keep them talking and figure out what it takes to ask for the deal again, and then pay attention to that. And then, you know, I'm not going to go through every close in the book, but you have to have responses. You have to have a response to what they're going to say that leads into another asking for the deal, and then pay really close attention to what's really holding them back, or respond to so many of their things that they just blurt it out. And when that happens, there's an incredible moment of intimacy that happens between you and that customer. And if you really have something of value and you really made them want it, it just comes down to like them, you know, understanding one more time that what you're saying is true and they'll get it, and that's when you talk about the thrill of closing a customer like that's what you're talking about. You know you're talking about earning someone's trust, not because you know you had something that's so great that no one would say no to but because you got to understand that person, that you had a real connection with them, and that when they finally confessed to you that one thing that's holding them back, you found a way to speak to it that had meaning and gave whatever it is, you had a value that they got to perceive and so and you know, hopefully the investment you're offering them is going to change their life, like it's going to make their life better.

Ryan Miller 
Brilliant, and after you close the deal, and like you said, it is a thrill. It feels great to get the deal, to win the trust, and to do all those things. For me, it's because I know that I did my job to help somebody, and so I'm not interested in just peddling financial returns alone. I'm also, I hate using that word pedaling, but I'm also there to help people to fulfill a higher purpose. That's the best feeling.

Bob King 
You have to know how to present whatever it is you're asking them to sign because you don't want them to. I mean, again, if you're trying to close them on the first day, like hand, you know, oh, you know, oh, my lawyers will review this boy. That's a fun close with the red lines and the, you know, I mean, I mean, tell mostly with homeowners. So, like, that wasn't even a possibility because, you know, we had contracts that the owners just wouldn't change, even if there were stuff in there. But there's stuff in there that gets the attention of everybody, and I would much rather go over all those things in the warm glow of a yes than in the harsh light of what did I just do the next day? So everything you're going to ask them to sign, especially if there's something that might raise their hackles a day later when they finally read it, you want to go over there, you know. You want to go over with them while you're in the room so you can present it, you know, and there may be, like, a really legitimate reason that's that it's there if they can understand it, or even if it's something that they they're never going to like, you can at least present why it's intractable and why it has to be there in a way that, you know, if they have again, you don't want stuff coming up the next day. You want it right there when you're with them, signing the contract. And maybe this is the third meeting. I'm not saying it's always on the first meeting. I'm saying your pitch has to have the maximum impact when you have the limit surprise, but at some point in any sales process, your customer is going to be signing a contract, and you do not want them looking at that contract through the eyes of their lawyer or with fresh eyes, not understanding you know what they're about to sign. So I will go I don't go through every paragraph the contract. I say, let's go over the term so you know what you're signing, and then I'll go through this, just as you know this is where you are, make sure the information is correct. Blah, blah blah, blah blah. This is the investment we talked about, six months blah blah blah. Here's your guarantees. Here's your your expected return. This isn't a guarantee, it's just a projection, but it's something that you know, just so we memorize, memorialize what we talked about today. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and sign here. And you know, and usually you're docusigning These days, but, but, but, you know, you're going to go over everything. Oh, look, the DocuSign is really hard to read, so why don't we go over everything so you know what you're signing.

Bob King 
So that's the and then here's the cooldown. So if you're in sales most of the time, especially if you go to earn someone's business on the first day, they're absolutely convinced, even if they like you, even if you got them to do it, and they're like, this is a cool guy. They never expect to see you again, like they really don't, or maybe they have unrealistic expectations about that. You want to deal with that elephant in the room and talk about exactly what your future participation in their investments going to be and you really have to have a standard thing that you're saying about that, so you're not just kind of making it up as you go along. You know, I'm my solar, lots of people going to work on your job. There's a we have a Google do a site survey. That information gets sent to our designers. They'll give an overlay. You'll not only send for your approval, I will receive it as well. So we'll make sure if there's anything needs to change, or if there's any added cost. Added costs, we'll go over them at that time. I don't expect it, but you know, that's when we would deal with it. Once you approve that we'll be at permitting. And then once we have your permit, operations, will install your job, and then we have a service department for anything that comes out later. I mostly stay in the background. I let people do their job. However, I'm the person that came to your home told you things are going to be a certain way. I take that commitment extremely seriously. So if there's any thing you have a question about, the number you have is my cell phone. If I'm not, if I if I'm not in yoga at the movies or with a customer, I will answer it. If not, I will call you back. It usually goes a little better than I told you, and everybody's happy. So you speak to the elephant in the room you and also you define. Your participation, so they're not expecting you to hold their hand through every little stupid thing that happens. I guess with investments, I don't know, you know, but even investments, there's, there's an operations department, correct?

Ryan Miller 
Yeah, typically you'll have, like, an investor relations or something like that, yeah.

Bob King 
So, so you want to cool the customer down. You want them to to and also you want to set your company up for success. You want to pick out touch points where you will talk to the customer along the way, hopefully, moments that are happy and not when you're collecting money and and, and then, you know, set yourself up for five star reviews and and, and referrals, which is also the third part of the book.

Ryan Miller 
Got it. Love it. Thank you for sharing those seven things as we wrap things up. Are there any closing remarks or final thoughts? Anything you'd like to say, how to get your book anything at all?

Bob King 
Sure, I work with a lot of companies that are transitioning from like an owner kind of situation to where you're building a sales team, and generally speaking, they're either hiring in house people that really understand their business or people who are really good at presenting, and then they don't understand why that team is not closing deals the way the owner did. And so what I've seen is is, is because they're not trained to close. Closing is a skill, and it really requires a lot more than just being a good presenter. And so you know, you need to figure out how to turn salespeople into closers. And if you need someone to do that, I can help you do that. My book will help you do that, which is also available on audiobook. So and you know, when you have those success stories, please contact me. It's really exciting to me when someone you know sends me an email and says, your book help me double my sales. Which I get those emails like, it's really exciting. There's nothing, and I will respond.

Ryan Miller 
What's your email address?

Bob King 
bob@joyofclosing.com that's my website as well. And I have a special right now, if you buy 20 books, you get an hour of my time, so, you know, I can help your sales team maximize the information. Click anything that book, and you know, it's that's led to some other relationships as well. But, but it's, it's a great start and, and it's extra value added that, you know, you just get by buying 20 books in $18.99 so pretty good deal there. The other thing is, you know, you're never tired driving home from a sale, right? You know, you feel like it's a magic carpet ride. And really it's important to understand why. Why is that true for you and and when you connect with that, for me, it's like, you know, being trustworthy, like earning another person's trust and getting them what they want is incredibly satisfying for me, and right now that's mostly kind of closing sales teams on taking a different approach to how they interface with customers. And when it happens when, like the you know, it's such an incredibly satisfying thing for me, and it'll be the same thing for you. When you turn from a salesperson to a closer there's just a magic in it that that you don't want to get clouded by superficial things like being successful and making money like really. Think about why you're doing this and what it means to earn someone's trust for you, and that will fuel your success much more than you know, acquiring some good or rising up some sales, seeing ladder, even if it's like a good for your family or something like that. Think about the person you're with and what it means to them, what it means to them, what it means to you to connect with them and earn their trust.

Ryan Miller 
Brilliant. So just to summarize everything that Bob and I talked about, nail the warm up. That's the first thing. First step is learn to nail that warm up and build rapport. The second thing is help them feel the pain of their current situation. And then in between, insert a forecast on what's going to come next on the pitch. And one of the most important things is also allude that the price is coming, but there's an agenda. Then step three is talk about these past successes of the company, of investors, whatever it is, is just share those success stories next. Demo the product, if you can make it a sensual experience, do that? Figure out a way to really engage their senses and demo it. Then present the price using your analogy, once the money is there, now you're ready to give the goods. Step six is close the deal, and finally, get the contracts, and then the cooldowns. You do these things, and you too will be well in your way, in your pursuit of Making Billions.

Ryan Miller 
Wow, what a show, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. Now, if you haven't done so already, be sure to leave a comment and review on new ideas and guests you want me to bring on for future episodes. Plus, why don't you head over to YouTube and see extra takes while you get to know our guests even better. And make sure to come back for our next episode, where we dive even deeper into the people, the process and the perspectives of both investors and founders. Until then, my friends, stay hungry, focus on your goals and keep grinding towards your dream of Making Billions.