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Selling Happens at 30,000′: The Jerry Maguire Close

Daily Nuggets | | Kerry Suddes

Leigh Steinberg is a sports agent who represented the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft a record eight times – a milestone unmatched within the sports industry.

Steinberg is often credited as the real life inspiration of the sports agent from the film Jerry Maguire.

Reportedly, Steinberg had a chief aim when going into any negotiation – to get the person he was with to agree that his athlete was the best (fill in the blank: quarterback, running back, etc) in the league. Once he got them to agree the rest of the negotiation was pretty easy.

Selling happens at 30,000′.

The number one question of every investor is, “Why do you exist?”

If the person you are talking to doesn’t care about your WHY, it’s very hard to talk to her about the what and the how. Conversely, if your WHY is her number one priority (i.e. you have the best running back in the league), you need establish that fact as early as possible.

More on closing here.