“You miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” – Wayne Gretzky
Obviously, the “GREAT ONE” Wayne Gretzky was talking about taking shots while playing hockey, however, there has probably never been a truer statement when it comes to sales.
Another way to look at this concept from a salesperson’s perspective is:
“You can’t close the sale, if you do not present the customer with a proposal.”

ALWAYS present your customer with a proposal or figures. Your customer will never buy from you if they do not know what it is going to take to buy from you. Even if the customer is not ready to purchase, you should still present the proposal. Many people will disagree with this point of view, but in my opinion that is an old school way of thinking.
Old School Way of Thinking | New School Beliefs |
“Don’t give them numbers, they are only going to shop them.” | If you don’t present them with numbers, they HAVE to shop you! You have left them with no choice. |
“What if I present the figures to the customer and they say “no?” | You already have a “no,” if you don’t present the proposal, what do you have to lose? |
“I don’t need the practice of presenting a proposal to someone who is not ready to buy today.” | Even Tiger Woods at the peak of his career hit a practice bucket of balls before ever round. Everyone needs to practice their skills, and who knows, if you have practiced enough, maybe the customer might just say, “yes.” |
Now I am not suggesting that you present a customer with a proposal before you have completed the previous steps of the sale:
- Properly GREETED your customer
- Completed you CUSTOMER PROFILE – Including:
- Identify and prioritize the customer’s HOT BUTTONS
- SELECTING a vehicle that satisfies those Hot Buttons
- Offered the customer an ALTERNATIVE
- Gave the customer a VALUE-BASED Presentation & Demonstration from THEIR PERSPECTIVE
- Used TRIAL CLOSES to check the customer’s pulse about their desire to purchase the vehicle
The best way to ensure that you not only complete all of the steps above, but that you also present the customer with a proposal is to commit to the customer, early in the process that you are going to present them with all of the financial information that they will need to make an informed and intelligent buying decision.
A best practice for accomplishing this is to put the following word track into your sales process:
Let’s assume that you just meet your customer and they let you know that they are there just to get the best price.
“I would be more than happy to provide you with that price. In addition to the best price I would like to also provide you with down payments, monthly payments, the value of your vehicle, and anything else you need. How does that sound?”
This word track commits you to presenting the customer with a proposal. As well as commits the customer to providing you the information you need in order to prepare that proposal. This is a sure-fire way to make sure that you DON’T MISS because you didn’t take the shot.
Responses
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Thanks Michael! Seems simple, yet sometimes we make it so hard!