Pow! Zap! Sell!

Ralph R. Roberts, coauthor with John T. Gallagher of Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman, has figured out how to play the old game of selling in a new way. Working the unglamorous field of residential real estate, Roberts sells harder, better, and faster than just about anyone in the business. A high-flying agent might close on 200 to 300 houses a year and feel pretty good about it. Not Ralph Roberts. This past year, he sold more than 600 homes and residential properties.

Sales have been so good that he's broadened his Warren, Michigan-based business to include financing houses as well as selling them. To build a customer base for new mortgages, Roberts pitched the Detroit-area Health One Credit Union: in exchange for referring its clients to his company, he offered a percentage of the profits that would result. Trouble was, he hadn't proven himself to the credit union. It took a year of meetings to close the deal. Here's an inside look at how Roberts worked his toughest sale.

The Cold Call

The Old Way: Make the call, close the deal as fast as possible, and get out of town.

The New Way: A cold call is the first step toward generating goodwill. And goodwill often produces revenues -- or at least a recommendation -- several calls later.

The Mad Way: At first Roberts can't get through to Health One's president, Jim Perna. It turns out that Perna once tried to launch a mortgage business on his own, and failed. Still, Roberts is undaunted.

"Most people give up after the fourth call," he says. "After the tenth call, I feel as if I'm starting to develop a relationship. The goal of a cold call is to create a warm call." Six months and 50 calls later, the two meet for lunch. Perna later admits that he agreed to the meeting only because he knew that otherwise he'd never get rid of Roberts.

The First Meeting

The Old Way: Put on your flashiest suit and drive up in a luxury car. Walk into the prospect's office, act like you're king of the world, and go through a scripted sales pitch.

The New Way: Don't even try to sell during the first meeting. View it as a strategic fact-finding mission, a step toward understanding how you and the prospect can become partners.

The Mad Way: Roberts is a relationship builder. He reaches out to Perna by asking questions. "I phrase things so that Jim's answers are longer than my questions. If you get yes-or-no answers, you lose control of the conversation. While trying to learn as much as possible about his company, I also work hard to build common ground. By the end of the lunch, Jim knows he can make money with me."

The First Presentation

The Old Way: Do the presentation over a three-martini lunch and agree to let the attorneys work out all the particulars. Six months later, the deal falls apart because the particulars are unworkable.

The New Way: Use the presentation to prove your worth to the prospect. Recognize that it may take a long series of presentations to nail the sale.

The Mad Way: A day before his presentation, Roberts faxes his agenda to Perna. To reduce the risk of getting sandbagged during the meeting, Roberts asks Perna to add any important topics that aren't already listed.

"When I do a presentation, I'm so prepared that I'm no longer asking questions," says Roberts, "I'm making statements and taking the offensive."

The Closing

The Old Way: Apply pressure -- before the competition arrives.

The New Way: The closing is an organic part of selling. Do it right, and customers sell themselves on buying from you.

The Mad Way: "The closing occurs when Jim Perna and his people stop asking questions. So my objective is to address every single concern they might have."

As the ninth meeting winds down, so does the flow of questions. "Everything looks good to me," Roberts tells the executives from Health One Credit Union. "I'll incorporate this last round of changes into our proposal. Once that's done, when do we execute the agreement?"

Jim Perna gives Roberts the answer he's looking for: "As soon as you get the changes back to me."

Coordinates: $25. Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman (HarperBusiness, 1997); ralphsworld@voyager.net

Michael Kaplan (mkap@interport.net) writes for Smart Money, New York, and Los Angeles magazine.