An Oldie, But Goodie

In William Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ Antonio, who is the merchant of Venice, comes to Shylock, a money lender, to borrow 3,000 ducats for three months on behalf of his close friend, Bassanio.  This is so that Bassanio may pursue the courtship of the fair Lady Portia of Belmont.

Antonio, although very successful and wealthy, is currently cash poor, having his funds tied up in several ships, filled with goods and merchandise, off sailing to far flung ports. He fully expects the return of these ships back to Venice, with excess funds, well before the due date.

Shylock, being a social outcast, due to his religion and for the practice of charging interest on his loans, challenges Antonio’s motivations for the loan. Antonio dislikes Shylock, has spat on him and called him a dog, in the past, and pledged to do so, again. Still, Shylock agrees to the loan for three months. He even agrees to charge no interest, as is Antonio’s preference.

In the event of forfeiture, however, Shylock insists upon a pound of Antonio’s flesh, taken from whatever part of the body that he chooses, as the penalty.

Antonio, who is smugly confident that his ships will return to Venice with a renewed treasury a full month before the bond’s repayment deadline, agrees to the loan’s terms. Bassanio, however, balks at the deal and refuses to let Antonio enter into the bond, citing Shylock’s evil intentions.

As Antonio waffles, Shylock presents a classic take-away sales’ close:

Shylock:

Pray you, tell me this:

If he should break his day, what should I gain

By the exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man’s flesh taken from a man

Is not so estimable, profitable neither,

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,

To buy his favor I extend this friendship.

If he will take it, so. If not, adieu.

And for my love I pray you wrong me not.

Antonio:

Yes Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.

And so, one of literature’s most notorious deals was consummated, using a sales technique that we now know to be over four hundred years old. The thought of not obtaining the 3,000 ducats for his dear friend was far more devastating to Antonio than of the possibility of forfeiture of the bond, which could mean his life.

Dramatic? Yes.

Effective? You better believe it.

In our daily lives, we are constantly in situations, which require persuasion, convincing, or the flat out selling of our ideas to others. How often do we sit and review all of the sales techniques that we have been exposed to over our careers, so that we may become more skillful in their use?

The ‘take-away close’ is, but one, closing technique.

There are dozens more closing techniques, but how many of them do you actually use? Just how practiced are you in these and are they readily available in your memory bank? What closing questions can help you become more effective, as a salesperson and as a communicator?

Take time to reflect upon the skills that you have learned and make sure that they are part of your ‘go to’ tools, whenever the situation suggests their use. Expand your knowledge by investigating resources about the various sales techniques, closing questions and their uses. Libraries have shelves full of books on the subject. The Internet offers innumerable sites that can help you expand your skill set with solid, well thought out, techniques.

If possible, it’s always ideal to have a company sponsored training program, which regularly review policies, procedures, selling strategies and techniques. This program should be timely and reflective of company goals. When done well, these types of training sessions lead to more profitable sales and a higher level of commitment among employees.

Whatever strategy, or technique, that you use to close a sale, always consider the consequences that it can yield, if it doesn’t turn out, satisfactorily, to all parties.

In ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ Antonio’s ships do not arrive as scheduled, leading to him defaulting on the bond and Shylock demands his forfeiture, a pound of Antonio’s flesh from his heart. At court, Antonio admits the terms of the forfeiture and the judge asks for mercy. Shylock, instead, replies, “My deeds upon my head! I crave the law, The penalty and forfeit of my bond.”

Bassanio, who now has money resulting from his recent marriage to Portia, offers to double the ducats owed. Shylock, vehemently rejects that offer, as well as a subsequent, triple ducats, offer.

The judge orders Shylock to take his pound of flesh, forewarning him that he is only entitled to the pound of flesh, “But in the cutting it, if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Are, by laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of Venice.”

Stunned by this ruling, Shylock, now, is willing to take the offer of double the ducats, but then the judge advises him that if he takes more or less than a pound “but in the estimation of a hair, Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.” Shylock is forced to relent and wants to walk away, completely, from the bond.

The judge, however, stops Shylock from a clean get-away, citing an additional Venetian law, which proclaims that anyone proven to have attempted to take the life of an individual must relinquish half of his wealth to the aggrieved party and half to the state and that his life lies at the mercy of the Duke. What a turn of events!

Fortunately, present day commercial law certainly doesn’t allow a contract that contains a penalty as draconian as a pound of flesh; yet, we do see, today, many forms of greed and avarice used in sales, especially taking advantage of the unsuspecting and the disenfranchised.

Know your customer and serve him well with the appropriate product, or service, that you sell. Always understand that you may very well obtain exactly what you ask for, so make certain that it won’t turn against you, as it did Shylock.

Doing the right thing may not be as dramatic, but making a good, honest sale will help the customer, your company, and yourself!