A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

We wrap up our week of interviewing the sales experts here on LandingTheDeal with the interview to end all interviews.

Sure, we've had some experts of our day.  Seth Godin...Jeffrey Gitomer...Ron McDaniel...Mark Giganti...and Jim "Rock-n-Roll" Holvay.  But quite frankly, none of them compare with our final guest of the week.

Sam, who's positive attitude and never-say-die sales attitude landed him the deal in the legendary sales book for the ages, "Green Eggs and Ham".

Sam (or, Mr. I Am) gave us a few minutes of his valuable time on a lay-over at Phoenix International Airport as he was heading home to Whoville after delivering the keynote address at the annual sales meeting for Huh Corporation:

Mr. I Am, it's great to finally meet you.

"Call me Sam, son.  Only the cops and the IRS call me Mr. I Am."

OK, Sam.  Thanks for doing the interview.

"No problem.  What do you want to know?"

First, that sale you made.  That took a lot of persistence.  What was your strategy going in?

"You know, that was one of the easier ones actually.  When Seuss came to me and asked me if he could use it in the book he was putting together, I offered him some better examples of persistent selling.  Like the time I actually got a couple of workers at the Vegan Society to take a bite...talk about a tough sale!

"But on that particular prospect that was talked about in the book, my strategy was simple.  I needed one more sale to finish at 120% of quota for the month and be in line for the 3-day cruise prize at the office.  I just made up my mind that I was going to go for it.  Plus, I really believed in our product.  Those green eggs and ham that the boys in R&D turned out were top notch.  Once people got past the color, they were hooked.

Anyone who read the transcripts of the sale will see that you do a lot of trial closing and asking for the sale.  Was that your secret to your legendary sales career?

"That was part of it.  Yeah, with that guy - and believe it or not, the only mistake I made was that I never did find out what his name was - he kind of ticked me off with his attitude about the whole thing.  He was like, 'I don't like them, Sam I Am' and I was like, 'We'll buddy you're gonna try them...and you're going to like them!'  At that point it was a battle of wills, and I wasn't going to be denied my 3-Day Mexican cruise. 

"I actually went back and looked at the book, and I realize now that I did 14 trial closes on the guy, and asked for the sale twice.  If you do that enough, people are going to give in eventually.  And in the course of my career, people gave in more often than not."

We're big fans of Seth Godin here at LandingTheDeal, and your strategy kind of goes against the "permission marketing" philosophy that he preaches to the business world, don't you think?

"It was a different world back then, son.  We didn't have all the fancy websites and cool books on sales and marketing that you do now.  It was dog eat dog back then.  We had the SPAM people breathing down our necks and trying to steal market share at every turn, and the economy sucked.  You either got the sale, or you got replaced.  Period."

But even with all that pressure, your attitude seemed to be so positive and upbeat.  How'd you do it?

"Hey, I'm not saying I didn't have bad days.  One time I lost a huge order that would have made my quarter - oh, crap...sorry.  I spoke in lyrical rhyme just now.  I try not to do that anymore.  Anyway, I blew a big deal.  Microwaves were just coming onto the scene, and we had this one restaurant that went with the Jimmy Dean sausage proposal over mine...they said it would just save more time and money to nuke the sausage instead of taking the time to prepare green eggs and ham. 

"But even during down days, I kept a positive outlook.  If you work hard and treat your customers right, good things will happen.  So, yes, I always kept a positive attitude even when I was locked in some pretty intense negotiations with prospects...like with whats-his-name in the book."

We talked with Ron McDaniel this week from Buzzoodle, which specializes in a concept called "buzz marketing".  Do you buy into that whole concept?

"Sure.  I think it has a lot of merit.  If you look at what Seuss' book did with the whole story and everything, a lot of that was buzz marketing.  Seuss never spent a lot on TV advertising, and I only did some limited promotional tours for the book.  Why was it successful?  I think because the message resonated with people, and they told other people...and so on."

You do a lot of speaking now, and even lead a few training seminars similar to those done by Mark Giganti, who we interviewed earlier this week.  Do you teach the same methods that you used in "Green Eggs and Ham"?

"Yes, I do.  I make no bones about the fact that I'm old school - I have something, you need it, and by God I'm going to do my best to make you try it.  Some of these metro-sexual, new age fancy pants sales people out there don't like to hear that kind of in-your-face sales message, but I'm not there to win any friends.  I want to teach them how to sell on the street, in the real world.  And I do a good job of it.  Just ask Huh Corp...I knocked their socks off at that convention I just spoke at!"

Anything else about Green Eggs and Ham that you would want to share?  Any sales secrets that could help sales professionals reading this?

"Well, if you noticed, I offered him a free sample.  Free works nicely, whether you're talking about information and advice or a product or service.  People like to try things for free.  There was no charge for that first green eggs and ham meal.  And he was hooked...ate that stuff for years after I first made the sale.

"I think the main secret to my success with him was the fact that I tried to make him see all of the different places and ways that he could eat and enjoy green eggs and ham.  And I think it worked...he finally tried it.  He told me later that he did it just to get me out of his hair, but I think he was just starting to see the light.  By the end of the conversation, he was all mine."

Last question, Sam.  What one piece of advice would you give to sales professionals out there that read this interview?

"Wow, Tudor.  Real original question.  If I had a nickel every time some snot-nosed reporter asked me that, I'd have a beach house in Malibu right now.

I just thought that...

"I know, I know...you want me to impart my wisdom to the masses so that they'll keep coming back and reading your blog.  OK, here's a nice juicy worm that mama bird is bringing back to the nest for you here.  Ready?  WORK HARD.  Or, as Jeffrey Gitomer would say, "kick your own ass".  If you want to be a rock-n-roll superstar like Jim Holvay, that's one thing...you can get by on your good looks and connections.  In sales, it comes down to a sales person being prepared, and working harder than the other guy.

"Sorry about the outburst, Dan.  I know you didn't mean anything by the question.  I shouldn't have had that Red Bull before we sat down...that stuff makes me a nervous wreck."

No problem.  We appreciate your time.  Thanks for the great insights.

Best of luck to you, and to everyone at Time Magazine.

Uh...I'm not with Time.  I'm with LandingTheDeal.com.  It's part of the Know More Media network...

What?  I thought my publicist said this was with Time!  What the...of all the... (picked up his cell phone, stormed off towards his gate).