818. The Art of Sales: Mastering the Parrot and Pick Technique

There is a technique I like to use in sales called parrot and pick . . This is like preventative maintenance. It's gonna prevent you from, number one, assuming and discounting your price too soon because you thought that's what they wanted was a deeper discount. Or number two. You'll be less likely to create an objection that really wasn't an objection anyway, but now that you've brought it up, now that becomes a second objection. So now you're fighting two different fires, four different wars when you didn't actually have to. So the parrot part is when the customer throws out an objection, you simply just repeat the last two words that they say. You just parrot it. So when a customer says, I can't afford that, you just repeat the last two words. Can't afford that. and then you be quiet. This is what's so important is that you have to sit in the silence. This takes some sales maturity because many salespeople just start throwing up at the mouth and justifying the price when what you want to do is, is you want to put some productive stress. On the situation back on the customer, because what you're trying to do is you're actually like a therapist for him. You're trying to see if it's a stall. And if they just kind of babble along, they see for themselves, it's just a stall. I don't even know why I'm saying no, because many times customers are saying no based on their past, based on what's already happened. They're just assuming this is gonna be the same old scenario. So if it's a stall, Then you can pull that part of it out by just repeating the last two words. or it's going to pull out an objection, and most objections are not true objections. Most objections are simply assumptions. They assume they can't. Afford it, and then you can show them reasons why they actually can. But none of that would've happened if you just go straight into fire sale victim mode. Oh my God, I need this one to pay my rent. This is an extremely effective method where you just, you just volley back the, the last two words that they say and they can't get mad because it's their words. You're just repeating the last two words. Even if you're new in sales, this will help you. I tell my new salespeople, even if you don't know what to say, this is really, really useful. Just say the last two words. Yeah. We're gonna shop around, gonna shop. And be quiet. So anyway, let's go back to the customer throws an objection. I can't afford it. So that's the parrot technique where you volley the last two words and you sit in silence. Is it a stall or is it a true objection? Like I said, many times you're their therapist part of being a good salesperson is to help them get to the decision themselves. And what that is, is, is boxing. Boxing off some of these long held beliefs, assumptions that are not actually true at all. You just help them with that. Now, there are times where the customer just, you volley that back to 'em and they don't give you anything to work off of. Yeah. I'll just let you know. The hardest customer to overcome is the one that doesn't object. The easiest ones are the ones to object because they give you something to. feed off of, and then that way you can go whichever direction you need to. The hardest ones that just don't say anything at all. Yeah. I'll just let you know when you're like, bro, give me something. Argue with me so that way I know which direction I need to take this thing. Those are hard, . Those are really hard to deal with. So when you have those kind of situations create a scenario. This is the pick version. See, it's easier to get a customer to agree than admit. You ever try to get your five year old to admit they spill Kool-Aid on the carpet. They're not going to admit it. But if you create a scenario and say, look, accidents happen all the time. Now maybe your cup was too full, or maybe you just had too many things in your hand, which one was it? And they just pick one. I had too much in my hands, or I was trying to fill it up myself, daddy., you know, all they had to do was they never had to admit, they just had to pick a scenario. Same thing that you're gonna do with your customers as well. So it would go something like this. Many times, Mr. Customer, I've worked with many customers. Even if you're new, you just say that, look, I've worked with many customers. If you're brand new, many customers that you've been working with are all the ones in your head that you've been doing different scenarios. So you're not lying. You're just saying, look, I've worked with many customers and normally it boils down to one of the B's. The B or the B. It's either the budget doesn't quite fit into the budget, or they just don't see the benefit. Which one would it be for you? Instead of getting a forced confession out of them, now all they have to do is they just have to pick. It's the budget . I don't really think that I can afford this right now because I have this, this, this, and this going on. Or it's the benefit. Yeah, I've done these programs before and I always quit. Well, then you can help clarify and say, here's what's different about my program. Here's what's different about my service. Week one, we're gonna do this. Week two, we're gonna do this. Week three, we're gonna do this. Week four, we're gonna check in and do this. And you give them a roadmap, a checkpoint that creates the value that you're gonna go along and help them through. And maybe it's something that you do on the fly, maybe it's not something you normally do, but it was that scenario that enabled you to create better solutions for your customers. And sometimes that's what sales is, man. You'll have 50 different presentations that you've gone through, and it's that 51st when there's like, that's what I've been missing, but it takes all the reps to get there, and then it's that eureka moment and you're like, that's what it is. Customers are afraid that in large part, that they're just gonna be abandoned. Now, that's not a cookie cutter situation, but in this situation because. Had them pick a scenario, you found out exactly what it was, and now in the future you can actually bring that back into the mix and you can say, look, I was working with a client last week and they were really concerned that if they were to go forward with my program, my services, that they were just gonna be left abandoned after that. Would that be about right for you? See how sales feeds on top of the other. And so you're using something from the past that you just dealt with. And it becomes that he gets me kind of, situation that's why you're a therapist, kind of salesperson,. It's that therapy part of it, man. So, that's the pick part where all they have to do is they just have to pick a scenario. Now, occasionally you're gonna have to offer some clarifying statements, and the clarifying statement is where they're still not giving you much to go with, and so you need to go another layer deep of clarifying the reason why you asked the question. Now, don't do this too soon. If you do, it's gonna lose its effectiveness. So give them the choice. the parrot, volley it back to 'em. Give them a scenario to choose from. Let it sit. Put the tension in there a little bit, and then once you do that, if you need to come behind with a clarifying statement, then you come behind or sometimes you feel a little tension, a little pushback, a little negative resistance from the customer. Their jaws clinch up. They start to break out in a little hives a little bit. Then immediately ease some of the tension. And the way that you do that is by clarifying, and you say, the reason why I was asking you if it's the budget or the benefit is because obviously you saw that there was a benefit because you wouldn't have asked how much it was. You've seen the service that I've offered other clients. I've worked with good customers just like you. I've been doing this for 25 years or whatever time that you've been doing it. Now, here's another thing too before I, I finish with that. If you're new in sales, then you can't obviously say, I can tout, Hey, I've been doing this 25 years, because it's the truth. But if you're new in sales, Instead of, you can't say I've been doing this 25 years. Number one, they're gonna know that you haven't been here for 25 years. So what you instead do is tell customers why you got into the business. Just a quick little caveat of why got into the business. When I first started in sales, I told people I was brand new, so I couldn't say, oh, I've been doing this five years. It was brand new. So instead, what I told people was I got in sales because nobody showed. How to buy a car. I didn't know what questions to ask and they totally screwed me on a deal. And I said, I'm going to get in this business because I don't want it to happen to anybody else. Dude, that is like gold for customers. They love to hear that, and that is the God's honest truth. So if you're new in sales, total sidebar, but if you're new in sales, try that until you build up some clout some years underneath your belt. So I don't know where it was. Oh yeah. Okay. So back to the clarifying part. So when you have to clarify, you have to go one sentence deep. and offer some clarification cuz you feel some negative resistance starting to come up. They're turning a little little red on you. They're pushing back a little bit. Don't push me. You know, you feel those kind of things don't ease off. Just clarify. Well, the reason why I ask is because you obviously see the benefit because you were asking great questions about how long the commitment was, and what do you get for that? So we discussed that. It seems like it would be the budget itself. Would that be about right now? You volley that back and you sit there again?. Sometimes it's not even the budget. They initially said it was the budget, but they say, no, marsh is not the budget. It's just this. Or, I've got this coming up and I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pay you for this. So that may mean that. You try different layers of your program. So if it's a commitment situation, then increase your offer. Then you say, look, instead of doing a 90 day program, let's go to a year. So that way you're gonna make sure that you show up Aren. Increase it. Your offer, don't decrease it. Now, sometimes you do have to decrease it. So instead of six months, don't go from six month to one month, layer down tell you what, let's do, let's do 90 days. Always talking. Let's we, let's do 90 days.. And then we'll reassess to see where your results are. Now again, I'm gonna be here for week one. We're gonna do this, 2, 3, 4. And you just quickly outline, is that fair enough for you? Ask for the money, ask for the commitment. Right after that, don't just say, let's do 90 days and then be quiet. Ask for the commitment. Would that work for you? Can we go ahead and move forward? Will that work better for you? Something soft but kind of bounces those things along. Then if it's something else, then you just address it from there. What you're doing is, you're taking your scenarios and you're boxing in them in. Until you get to this, this narrow road that is a good decision, great benefits for them and you in turn benefit because you're offering them a service as well. All right, so try the parrot and pick method. You gotta think of some of these a little bit ahead of time, but a lot of times your scenarios are the B or the B, it's the budget or the benefit. And then also if you just run outta bullets, you don't know what else to say. Just repeat the last two words that they say and sit in the silence. Don't assume let them. Put some productive stress in the room, in the situation. You don't have to keep throwing up with your conversation and see where it leads from there. All right. Remember, keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Keep selling. For more on the sales life, go to marshbuice.com that's M A R S H B U I C E. Remember the greatest sale that you will ever make is a sale you on you because you're more than enough. Stay amazing. Peace.