CLOSING THE SALE - 4 CONDITIONS
There are four pre-sale conditions that you must be satisfied with. And since you're a professional salesperson, it’s your job to be clear in your own mind that these four conditions exist, before asking for the order.
1. The customer must need it.
You must be clear in your own mind that the customer must need your product or service, not that the customer can enjoy it, can afford it, can want it, can use it, etc. Your product or service must really represent a benefit to the customer and it must be clear in your mind that that's true.
2. The customer must be able to use it.
If you're selling computer systems, and the customer certainly needs them and certainly can benefit from them, but the customer is not sophisticated enough to use them, then you're not in a position to ask for the order.
You can belong to one of the biggest companies in the world, but its sales will soon go downhill if their salespeople forget to spend sufficient time assuring that their customers could really use and benefit from the product or service they are selling.
Salespeople can know that their customers need it. They know they could afford it. They know that they want it, but if they don’t take the time to show them how to use it, they can lose almost their entire market.
3. The customer must be able to afford it.
Now, here's an important point. If the customer keeps saying I don't have the money, I can't afford it, business is bad and so on, very often salespeople structure all kinds of trade-ins and credits and delayed payments etc. But if the customer can genuinely not afford it, if the customer is not in the position to handle the finances, you as a professional are not in a selling position.
4. The customer must want it.
Customers have a very interesting language that they indicate to you they've reached the point where they really want to own and enjoy the product or service and you must listen for this indication that they are moving forward.
They say things like I want it. I need it. I like it. It looks good to me. In other words, until a customer has reached the point where they have told you, directly or indirectly, that they actually want to enjoy the benefits of your offer, you cannot ask a closing question.