Closing The Sale With A Roll Of Toilet Paper

Closing The Sale With A Roll Of Toilet Paper

Please note, to be entirely honest with you, the following is, in fact, and maybe sadly, a true story!

I am not quire sure if I should be proud of this fact; or embarrassed.  But...we cannot hide from the truth.  I was young.  Very young.  It was, I believe, 1990.  I was only 21-Years-Old.  Just beginning my Journey into the exciting and at that time intimidating World of Sales.  Specifically: I was working at a local Retail Bedding Store.  We sold Mattresses and Accessories.  We sold "A Good Night's Sleep." 

 The Toilet Paper Story

At the Retail Bedding Store where I worked the highly experienced, very competitive Salespeople who I worked with and were training me back in 1990 took great pride in Closing Sales.  Our Goal: To Close Every Single Sale. 

• We were on Commission.  Our livelihoods depended on it.  At the age of 21, as was my priority at that time, I needed to generate money to go out on the town in Syracuse and have fun.  (how priorities change the course of 20 Years!)
• We were all fully indoctrinated in the theory that if someone makes the decision to, let's say on a Saturday Weekend Afternoon, set aside time to drive to a local Retail Bedding Store, spending their valuable and finite time, that they obviously have a specific and pressing need that needs to be met.  A problem which requires a solution.  A bad back, which their 20 year old Mattress is contributing to, that is causing them great pain and negatively impacting their life.  A Young Child that has outgrown their crib and now requires a bed.  And on and on.  There is a need.  It must be met.  If the Customer leaves the Store that need has not been met.  If you have truly done your job you will have utilized all of your extensive training, knowledge, and expertise, to provide that customer with a Solution.  All this in addition to the cost and investment required to as a first step get that Customer in the Door. 
• Pride.  Salespeople take great pride in achieving positive results.  Producing revenue.  Closing sales.  Being recognized.  
My Impenetrable Customer: Retelling The Story In Bullet-Point Fashion
• My Customer had been in the store for what I believe was going on two hours.  From the start I recognized him as the type of Customer who did not trust any Salespeople.  He must have had previous back experiences which he carried with him.  He would not make eye contact with me.  He communicated disbelieving body language and gestures throughout the time we had spent together.  He was a "notebook carrier."  A detail man.  A Consumer Reports Consumer.  Needless to say: he was hell-bent and determined to not make a buying decision on this particular day. 
• I, conversely, being young, confident, and slightly arrogant after having achieved great results in my young career, was 100% determined, focused, and insistent on meeting this particular customers needs right here, right now, on this particular Saturday Afternoon.
• This Gentleman had his Wife with him.  This was a positive for me.  Both ultimate decision makers were in attendance.  Not only that...but she was extremely nice, friendly, and she and I, unlike her Husband and I, had quickly forged a positive, trusting, friendly relationship. 
• After having tested, discussed, and compared, just about every single Mattress in the Store, along with every single Feature, Advantage, and Benefit of all, I knew that we had successfully narrowed it down the the single best option and solution to successfully meet this Client's needs. 
• After having tried to Close this Sale for what seemed like eternity......I was nearing the end of my patience as a young 20-Year-Old Man.  Granted, we can't, in reality, Close every Sale.  That is just the ideal.  That is the Goal we strive for.  But before I threw the towel in and accepted this reality for this particular customer, a sudden rather creative, in retrospect questionable, idea arose in my mind................................................
• Several Minutes Later I walked back onto the Sales floor with a brand new, unopened, roll of toilet-paper carefully held in my hand. 
• As a last-resort, at wit's end, and in a half-joking half-serious manner I raised that roll of toilet paper high up in the air and theatrically stated my offer that if they could find it in themselves to make a decision to buy that Mattress which we know is best for them and at the very best possible price I would, out of the generosity of my heart, include this Beautiful Roll of Toilet Paper along with their purchase!

Creativity and Resourcefulness

Sometimes in life, when the normal protocol and regular steps in a Process fail to produce the results we desire, we must try to be Creative and Resourceful.  Where there is a will there is a way!

My last-ditch effort and offer (which they knew was merely an attempt to break through the barrier that stood before me) to include a Beautiful Roll of Toilet Paper actually worked.  After a split-second reaction of shock and amazement, they laughed.  We all laughed.  Then I quickly re summarized the reasons the purchase was the right decision, now with the customer in a lighter and friendlier mood, and they gave the go-ahead.  I cannot recall, with 100% certainty, what kind of Toilet Paper it was which played a critical role in my Closing the Deal and Earning the Sale.  I'm sorry I can't share that important detail with you.  They didn't really take the Toilet Paper.  They appreciated the creative effort so much thought that they rewarded me with a Sale.

Sales: Thinking Out Of The Box

Remember The Toilet Paper......and Break Out The Creativity.  It might just work!

Your Participation

Have You ever had to resort to an extreme tactic and attempt to Close the Sale and Cross the Finish Line?  If so....please share....

Thank you!

Mark