Many years ago, long before the thought of writing a book had entered my head, I found myself owning a fledgling business. Not seeing any sales people or anyone else on my payroll, for that matter, I realized with a sudden sinking feeling that I would have to be the salesperson.

I had never sold anything in my life. I had no clue how to sell anything and had never envisioned myself as a salesperson. My usual approach now when needing to learn a new trick is to read some articles on the Internet or buy some books from Amazon. Back then it was a visit to the library.

I read all the sales books I could find. Most of them seemed to be written by sales people who couldn’t sell hand warmers to Eskimos and hoped writing a book would enhance their financial situation. One book, however, stood out. Tom Hopkins’ book, Mastering the Art of Selling, detailed techniques and methods that I thought I could use. I’m paraphrasing here.

“Ask for the deal. Then shut up. First one to talk loses.”

Now mind you, Hopkins was selling real estate, not books. And I was selling software and consulting. No matter. A week or two later I found myself across the desk from a new potential client. His last consultant had disappointed him and he was skeptical about me too.

I asked for the deal. Not easy since I wasn’t completely sure of myself at that point. Then I just looked at him. And he stared back. It was a minute that felt like an hour. I desperately wanted to interrupt the silence by lowering the price. I almost did that, but kept reminding myself of Hopkins’ advice. I could see my prospect wrestling with the six thousand dollar decision. I sat there in painful silence. He finally stood up, stuck out his hand and said, “OK.”

So I won. That was a big deal for me at the time. And, I learned something important that day. I learned if you don’t ask you probably won’t get. And I learned if you talk too much you’ll probably ruin the deal. Eventually I learned many other important aspects of closing the deal.

I have employed Hopkins’ technique many times since that day. And I’ve found it transcends many kinds of sales. It apparently works for real estate and certainly worked well for me in consulting sales. But, it has also worked when asking my wife to empty the dishwasher or my son to mow the lawn.

And, there’s a lesson here in book sales as well.

There are three applicable parts to this lesson. The first is:

Ask for the Deal

You’re a writer. You make your living, as poor as it might be, by selling your words. So don’t be shy. In every blog, in every tweet and post and every query letter, you simply have to ask your reader to do something. That something might be to download a free excerpt, or buy your book or post a constructive comment. In every case make it easy for your reader. That means provide a link.

If offering a free excerpt or a discounted copy or your unremitting love isn’t enough, get creative. But just Tweeting, “Buy my book. It’s on Amazon.” isn’t really creative or compelling.

If you don’t ask, you probably won’t get. Make it easy.

Shut Up

Too much of a good thing might not be so good for you. An executive salesperson for whom I have great respect apparently learned how to use Tweetdeck. With it he could automatically send out Tweets every ten minutes all day long. It was obnoxious and I had to Unfollow him. Don’t overwhelm with quantity. Stagger them with quality, brilliance and ingenuity. There’s a fine line between consistent and compelling marketing and being over-the-top rude. You have to find that line.

First One to Talk Loses

It’s hard to stare down a client from the other side of the desk. It’s even harder over the Internet when you can’t even see the expression on your reader’s face. But, once you’ve given it your best shot, or your best few shots, move on. Find more readers. Write something else. Try a new tactic. If all else fails, try something easier, like nuclear physics or firefighting.

For more business, sales and publishing advice, follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jwscott500

And, yes, that was my simple, shameless Call to Action.

Thanks for reading (it’s easier than writing).

Joel Scott

Teacher of Marketing for DeadBroke™ Writers and Director of HighRock Institute,

an Incubator for DeadBroke Entrepreneurs

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