Silver Platter Syndrome

One of the better sales videos I have seen presents the silver platter syndrome. Although the video is probably 20 years old, the message remains powerful. The premise of the silver platter is that the average sales representative gives up after only three or four calls to a potential customer. However, we know that 80% of sales calls are closed after five calls, but only 10% of representatives ever make the third call. The silver platter works like this: You make the first call and the second call, generating some interest from the customer. After the third call the customer may not be sold yet, but is probably interested. You have piqued their interest to maybe 80%. However, having made your two or three calls you give up, moving on to the next potential customer. Once again instant gratification prevails and sabotages the sale. Your competitor shows up shortly after you have abandoned the customer, or you simply gave up. The customer, still at an 80% level of acceptance, now entertains your competitor's proposal. How much selling did your competitor have to do? Only 20%. Gottcha! You just handed that sales opportunity to your competitor on a silver platter. He or she should send you a thank-you note saying, "Thanks for giving up. I only had to do 20% of the sale. Have a nice day."

My question is this: How many potential accounts are you working on where you may be exposed to the silver platter syndrome? Better check it out. How often have you given up on a customer relationship but later discovered that your competitor, who was more persistent, got the sale? It's frustrating and unnecessary. The attitude of persistence will not eliminate the silver platter syndrome but it will certainly help minimize it. Stay focused on the accounts that will truly contribute to your business, even if it takes a year or two to close them.

The problem once again comes back to human frailties. Human beings crave instant gratification and we pursue it with a passion, seducing us away from the task at hand, compromising our focus and deviating our energies. Why take six months to possibly close account X when I can probably close account Y tomorrow?

No one is immune. Our world moves along at breakneck speed as we satisfy our quest for instant gratification. Businesses compete with cutthroat aggressiveness to deliver their products faster, bigger, and better. Heck, even the beer companies responded by introducing the "big mouth" beer can. We can now drink beer 40% faster. We have drive-through coffee, eating, banking, and oil changes. In California, you can experience drive-through marriages and when you die, friends can pay their respects at a drive-through funeral home. Inarguably, the antidote to instant gratification is patience and persistence. We must be persistent to remain competitive but all the while patient enough to work within the customer's timetable. Even in California, "drive-through" customers do not exist—at least not yet.

Sales representatives and customers are often out of sync during the sales process. Sales representatives are guided by their agendas whereas the customers are guided by theirs. Don't let the lure of commissions, bonuses, or quick sales sabotage your patience. Don't close the deal on your timetable in the interest of a fat paycheck. It's all too common for sales representatives to sell what they need to sell versus what the customer needs to buy. This is further fuelled by corporate incentives: "One more sale and I win the TV," or "I might win the parking spot for the month." Sales managers put additional pressure on representatives by demanding they hit month-end or year-end targets. A huge gap is created between the sales representative's selling agenda and the customer's buying agenda.