The Science of Sales Success: A Proven System for High-Profit, Repeatable Results

Hinges prevent you from conducting the Measurable Phases in their proper order or create an inability to obtain a Measurable Phase Change and its respective calls for action.

Hinges fall into the categories of natural, leveraged, or hidden.

Natural hinges occur during MP 2: Measure Potential. Customers do not view them as negatives because they are a response to your questions, not your actions or comments. They occur before you mention specific products.

Leveraged hinges are adverse reactions from customers to your comments or calls for action. Customers leverage them against specific products.

Hidden hinges are concerns customers are reluctant to disclose; they might have negative implications for the customer or for your company because:

• The contact cannot make or is not involved with the decision.

• The contact cannot obtain the funding for the project.

• The contact committed to a solution from another company.

• The contact does not feel your product selections are justifiable or beneficial.

Customers use smokescreens to protect hidden hinges from disclosure.

You encourage customers to disclose information, regardless of its impact on your business potential, by referencing your questions to their goals. There are four types of hinges:

• Type I: Pulse check (Natural—MP 1: Spark Interest)

• Type II: Iceberg Ahead (Leveraged or Natural—MP 2: Measure Potential or MP 3: Cement Solution)

• Type III: Gutter Ball (Leveraged—MP 3: Cement Solution)

• Type IV: Rip-off (Leveraged—MP 4: Implement Agreement)

Use the How's Zat? to make measurable the effects of hinges. Start your initial responses to every hinge with some version of How's Zat?

How's Zat? tactics are:

• Silence Is Golden. Gives you time to collect your thoughts.

• Pat from SNL. Are they hinges or requests for more information?

• Lose the Battle, Win the War. Acknowledge legitimacy and outweigh.

• You Can't Do Both. Customers choose between filters or goals.

The four basic steps in handling hinges:

1. Damage report

2. How's Zat?

3. Target confirmed

4. Downplay

Strategies for removing hinges:

• Explaining. Provide additional information or clarification to "explain away" customers' misconceptions.

• Outweighing. Show how the overall benefits of achieving their goals still more than offsets existing liabilities they mentioned.

• Revising. Means of last resort; change your product selections.