DON’T START SELLING UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES

At a meeting I was at this morning, the host of the meeting talked about what he called a “THREE FEET RULE”. The Three Feet Rule is a very simple thing to talk about but a very difficult thing to put into practice.

Here is how the Three Feet Rule works. No matter where you are or what you are doing, whenever someone comes within Three Feet you tell them what you do and ask if they or anyone they know can use your product or service.

Now I know that superficially this sounds like a pushy sales technique. And I also know that no one is going to take this literally and talk to EVERY person that comes within Three Feet (a New York subway ride could have an audience of hundreds). However if we become more aware of the people that surround us and start to look for prospects everywhere we go, the Three Feet Rule could supply enough leads that cold calling could become a thing of the past.

With this idea in mind, what is it a sales rep needs to start to use the Three Feet Rule properly? First you will need a good 10 second opener. This is an opening line that will grab someone’s attention and get them engaged with you about what you have to offer.

Just like an elevator speech, the 10 second opener needs to tell just enough to have someone what to hear more. The opener usually won’t be much more than an intriguing question focused on the person you are talking to. The best opener ever in my opinion was an opener that had no words spoken at all. Do you remember the button that said, “Lose weight, ask me how”? It was worn by Herbalife Distributors. Just seeing the button made you ask the person wearing it what it was about, and they were more than happy to tell you. Your opener needs to be as grabbing as the buttons were.

When someone gets inside your Three Feet circle, you give them your opener, if they want to know more you need to have a short and simple sales presentation (2 minutes) ready to go. This tells them about what it is you have, and most importantly asks for more time to tell them more about it. If they say yes, you have a prospect, if they say no ask for a referral.

As I said, I don’t really think anyone will do this to EVERY person they get within three feet of. However, if you will do this 4 or 5 times a day, that’s 20 to 25 times a week. If only 1 out of 10 say yes or give you a name you have a busy week ahead of you.

Start using the Three Feet Rule as a game. See how many people you can talk to in a week. As you start to develop your opener and 2 minute sales presentation you will start to see results. In a short time you will take the rule from a game to a strategy which will pay you great dividends quickly.

Lorin