The Four Types of Hinges

Whether they are leveraged, natural, or hidden, hinges fall into one of four types. This additional classification makes them easier to handle. Each hinge has its own nuances, which you handle some-what differently. Their number designation signifies in which MP the hinge occurs. For example: Type I, occurs in MP 1: Spark Interest, Type II, in MP 2: Measure Potential, and so forth. (Use the hinge charts and examples on Exhibits 8-7, 8-9, 8-11, and 8-13 to look up the details of each hinge and the strategies and tactics to remedy them.)

Type I: Pulse Check

Customers show no interest in your suggested goals and potential benefits—you wonder if they are even alive. This hinge occurs in MP 1: Spark Interest. It is the most difficult one to handle because it occurs so early in the sales call. Not a lot of information exists to help determine your next step.

Type II: Iceberg Ahead

Look out; this hinge could spell disaster for your "Titanic" sales opportunities. It occurs when filters impede your or your customers' ability to achieve their goals. It also arises when customers view your products as commodities. When customers cannot distinguish between products, the filters of funding (price) or dates (delivery) become their goals. The bid system (described in Chapter 1) is a key catalyst in these two filters becoming goals. This hinge can surface either in MP 2: Measure Potential or MP 3: Cement Solution. If you conduct MP 2 thoroughly, the hinge surfaces as the preferred natural type. Otherwise, it becomes a leveraged one in MP 3 after you disclose your product selections.

Type III: Gutter Ball

Your products do not completely fulfill the requirements of the conditional commitments. Instead of rolling a strike, you let loose a gutter ball. It is leveraged and occurs during the disclosure of your product selections in MP 3: Cement Solution. Avoid this hinge at all costs. It can end up with the sale, like the bowling pins, waiting to be knocked down by customers and competitors.

Type IV: Rip-Off

Its name says it all: Customers perceive the price of your products as being excessive. They feel you are counting on this one sale to send your kids through college. It occurs during MP 4: Implement Agreement and is leveraged against product or service selections. Three factors influence what customers expect of price: (1) Perceived manufacturing costs multiplied by a reasonable markup, (2) the value of perceived and measurable benefits, and (3) pricing of similar products (measurable benefits make them different).

Handling Hinges

The Safety Zone and How's Zat? questioning strategies from Chapter 5 form the foundation for handling hinges. They help you and customers understand how and why they assign a negative perception to a goal or filter, or how they connect a filter to a goal. You take customers' responses and reference them to "how does that" affect:

• Their ability to achieve their goals or conditional commitments

• Your product selections or calls for action

• Your decision to invest more time and efforts in the sales opportunities

Any time you respond to a hinge with a statement and not a question, you are trying to explain away something you cannot fully understand. Make "How's Zat?" the first two words to start a question concerning a hinge and you are well on your way to handling it. Use these two words to clarify how customers view the measurable effects of their hinges. More than likely, they have not considered their measurable ramifications, only perceived ones. Use these two words to quantify their perceptions.