I’m about to give some counter-intuitive words of wisdom, kemosabe.

One of the best ways to close more sales is to make your prospect work to get to you in the first place. Most entrepreneurs do just the opposite…they jump when a prospect says jump…thinking that they are being “responsive” and giving good service.

I gave this advice to magicians years ago, telling them to never answer their business line immediately when a prospect called but instead let it go to voicemail with a message about how they were probably out doing shows and that they would get back to them in 24 hours.

This was rough to do when I got started and needed the gigs. My fear was that the prospect would book someone else – and sometimes they did. However, most of the time they waited for me to return the call and my positioning as a busy entertainer was enhanced.

WARNING: I am NOT  saying you shouldn’t answer your phones! I have a private client whose entire multi-million dollar business was built on the foundation of teaching staff how to answer the phones. That’s not the point.

The point is that you want to make your prospect jump through some hoops before they get to you.

Let’s look at the coaching/consulting business as an example. A great model is to do lead generation advertising and make your prospect request information, then they have to go through the information, then they need to fill out an application in order to apply for a strategy session, then they have to wait until you have an availability to talk to you.

You have made them do a bunch of stuff before they ever get to speak with you and as a result you have a motivated and qualified prospect who sincerely wants to work for you.

Lest you think this only works for people in the information marketing business, I have a friend who is a highly successful financial advisor who follows the exact same model. You can’t just call him, make an appointment and come in.

So, how can you apply this to what you do?

Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!

Dave “Hoop Master” Dee

P.S. If you feel overwhelmed and bombarded by everything you need to do and all the technology that is whacking you upside the head every day, watch this video by my friend, Perry Marshall.