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•48 The 100 Greatest Business Ideas of All Time

posed to the general statements above. Often in this last case, the clients are actually

trying to persuade themselves that the bit extra is worth it.

Incidentally the other selling technique that is tested by this method

Frequently the of handling price objections is the ability to remain silent. Frequently the

‘Would you buy ‘Would you buy from us if we were the same price as the cheapest?’ ques-

from us if we tion leads to a lot of thought from the prospect. Keep your mouth shut

were the same and wait for the response.

price as the

cheapest?’

question leads Idea 30 – The puppy dog close

to a lot of

thought from This close is based on the activities of a person who sell pets. ‘Look’ he

the prospect. says to Mum and Dad, ‘why don’t you take the puppy home for the week-

Keep your end and see how the kids get on with it. No obligation, if you don’t want

mouth shut and it I’ll come round Monday and take it away.’ What with? A small army?

wait for the The salesperson knows that by the end of the weekend the kids will

response. be as willing to give up the little dog as they are to give up breathing or

having a birthday. This technique is used by many industries in various

ways, and is linked to the idea of making sales by inertia. When did you last get an

offer to send in a direct debit for a magazine subscription with the promise that no

debits would be made until you had received your four free issues? That’s a puppy

dog close.

They are using it for credit cards nowadays and even IT equipment and soft-

ware. It works where the product once experimented with becomes highly desirable

or where the customer continues with the product because they don’t know how to

stop it coming, or they can’t be bothered. Book clubs would hardly exist without

this close.

I have just received the Wall Street Journal free for four weeks. In the end I

declined to pay for it in future and sent the direct debit confirmation back marked

‘Cancelled.’ They sent me another one to make sure, with the extraordinary PS