The Tie Down

In one of my recent Software Sales Bootcamps, one of the participants mentioned that all the sales training he’d had up to that point conditioned him to get the potential buyer into a “yes” mode. 

The theory is that if they say yes once, they will say yes again.  Getting them to agree with you on a small point, opens up the door to a larger yes, and ultimately a sale. 

This is part of an old-fashioned, face-to-face sales method popularized by Dale Carnegie.

In face-to-face selling, this works because people fear conflict. When you put pressure on someone to agree with you – or even buy from you – many will do so in order to avoid conflict. 

This method of bullying people into sales is called a tie down. 

This method still seems to yield fruit for SDRs.

In the moment, people feel pressured into agreeing to a meeting because they fear the conflict of saying no. But the result is salespeople end up on calls with people that have no real reason to be there, and time is wasted.

Pressure works in the moment.

But in a sophisticated multi-call, sales cycle, pressure tactics will get you locked out, and you’ll never get back in. 

The Software Sales Bootcamp offers even more insights on an optimized approach to selling.