About 15 years ago … I found myself in Houston Tx and needed money that day. Looked like either stocking grocery store shelves … or telemarketing. Figured with telemarketing at least the people laughing at me wouldn’t be standing right next to me …

So I answered the ad. best move I ever made. Got hired by Ron Magnole, of Perfection Carpet Care, Houston Tx. I mention the full name … if he’s still in Hou and U need the best damn carpet cleaning U ever had … call him and say Jeff said to call!

Anyways … Ron was a sale genius. At that time … we were one of 180 carpet cleaning companies in the houston phone book. To say it was a buyers market was being nice. And yet … Ron thrived.

One of Ron’s sales lessons … now that I’ve got the fire in the belly back … maybe I’ll repost some old sales lessons seeing as how our other sales pro has no clue what so ever … this one .. for Mike … Belt Loops.

U will not find this in any national sales seminar. I been thru them all .. this is the real world.

As Ron relayed it to me …

He’s got a new carpet cleaning tech out at a job. We ran an ad … “$59.99/3 room special” … each room 200 ft sq … the clincher … all preconditioning and pretreating included … all the major competition started at 19.99 .. but charged extra for the soap.

Even at those prices … unless the tech up-sold ever other job … it’s a losing proposition. Extras and furniture was where the money was at.

So .. Ron’s out with a new tech … Ron was the “dumb guy” … just running the water … watching and learning … seeing how the new guy sold.

They walk in. Home owner was a 90 year old black lady. Weighed maybe 80 lbs. The tech was a big weight lifter guy … 240 or so lbs. he goes in … says … Mam … for $59.99, we can do these 3 rooms, as our phone rep said … and If U have any other areas ….

Then … the old 80 lbs lady says … “Oh … I got other areas” …

and she snagged her 90 year old 80 pound finger around his Levi’s belt loop and proceeded to DRAG him from additional room to additional room “telling him” exactly which spot he’d be “pretreating and preconditioning” for FREE … because she wasn’t gonna put up with any sales tricks or bait and switch …

Ron said he watched this big guy get dragged from room to room … half the time looking a cross between confused and scared … 240 pound guy getting dragged thru a house by a 90 year old 80 pound old woman … the whole time her telling him what he was going to clean …

and each and every time the guy would try to regain his breath …. he’d weakly mutter some comment and she’d “ask yet another question” about the cleaning … then drag him off into another room.

Finally … the guy tried to stand his ground. He finally realized his Boss and the Owner of the company was watching this whole pitiful display … and at one point he turned to face Ron … and that old lady had already decided she had yet another stain in the other room … and as he stopped and she kept moving ….

…

she pulled off his beltloop!

Just ripped it right off.

And at that moment … Ron said you could just feel the life being sucked out of the poor kid!

Not only had that old lady taken control of the situation … she “emasculated” that kid right there on the spot! Took his belp loop right off.

Didn’t stop her … she quickly grabbed his wrist and lead him right to the stain she had in mind.

The guy … the salesman … so shaken and confused … just said to hell with it … and signed the contract … and cleaned all those extra stains for free …. just to get out of there.

Ron said the drive back to the office was silent. He felt ashamed for the guy ….

And the very next day … had a new sales seminar … about keeping control of the sales process. How the salesman must maintain control of the situation. How knowledge is power … questions are key … and since the salesman has the answers … the salesmen must direct the conversation and guide the questions … so he always has the power. And once the customer takes the upper hand …

You’ve just lost yer beltloops!

 

so … don’t lose yer beltloops.

 

Hey Mike … How’d I do? It’s been a while … help me out here …

 

for what it’s worth … I do keep a mental picture of that going on in my mind as I present a contract. More than one time I’ve “watched a customer try to snap my beltloops” …. and I’ve used Ron’s techniques and fought back. Funny if U can focus and see it happening …. then mentally watch the back and forth … I think I’ve actually caught customers trying to “spar” … either way … not losing my belt loops!

I got more … I’ll be back.

 

Jeff