Closing the Sale

GAINING COMMITMENT AND CLOSING - are you actually asking for the order?

WHY DON'T WE CLOSE?

• Salespeople know how to close so why don't they?
• Skills, timing, relationships just a good excuse
• The real reason not enough prospects and poorly qualified prospects

THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND THE WEAK CLOSER

• Salespeople are always under pressure to find new prospects
• Always pressure from sales managers to generate and maintain a healthy "prospect list"
• Ask for the order, get it and then the sales manager asks who is next?
• Ask for order, don't get it, the sales manager asks who is next?
• The salesperson with a poor, or short, prospect list finds him/herself in a sub-conscious dilemma
• They don't ask for the order because, win or lose, the prospect list shrinks that means trouble
• It is frequently found that salespeople who are not closing orders are not lacking in skills but are desperately short of prospects

EARNING THE RIGHT TO ASK FOR THE ORDER

• Nobody likes making decisions
• Get the prospect in the habit of making decisions and saying yes all through the sale
• Open the sale get commitment
• Funnel technique summarise and get commitment
• Value pay off questions get commitment
• When you go for the close the customer has the habit of saying yes!

MAKING IT EASIER FOR THE PROSPECT

• We open the sale and build rapport with non-threatening language
• We get commitment and qualify carefully
• At the close we can all too easily use rapport-breaking language the no go words

DO NOT SAY!

SIGN - CONTRACT - ORDER COST - AUTHORIZE - DECISION - COMMITMENT - APPROVAL - PRICE

DO SAY!

OK - PAPER WORK - AGREEMENT - INVESTMENT - TAKE CARE OF - GO AHEAD - AGREE GO AHEAD AMOUNT -??FIGURES?

WHEN TO CLOSE

• Closing is the?ABC?of selling -?Always?Be?Closing!
• Always be assumptive; you should never assume anything except that you are going to get the order
• "What colour does this come in?" should not get a matter of fact reply "red or blue"
• It should be "Yours would come in red or blue, Mr/Ms Prospect, which would you prefer?"
• Once you have made the close shut up.

BUYING SIGNALS

• Be careful not to miss the buying signals
• Do not mistake a buying signal for an objection and vice versa
• Buying signals can be both non-verbal and verbal - watch out for both
• Non-verbal signals could be anything from a simple nod of approval, to the prospect moving nearer to the product or even touching it
• Verbal signals are phrases or questions like "when can you deliver?", "how much is it?" or "tell me about your back up service?"

SO WHAT IS A CLOSE?

• A close is any question you ask, usually a "closed" or "direct" question
• The answer to which confirms the fact that the prospect is going to buy or give commitment
• There are a number of different ways of closing a sale
• The one you use will depend on the product, the customer, the circumstances

CLOSING TECHNIQUES

THE "ASK FOR IT" CLOSE

• Probably the least used close because of the fear of an outright "no"
• It is simply the logical next step to just ask for the order ?"so, can we go ahead?"
• This should be the most frequently used close

THE "ASSUMPTIVE" CLOSE

• You assume that the prospect is going to place the order
• The prospect asks a question, you give an assumptive answer
• "How soon can we get one?" "You can have your system next week"
• Then put an ask for it close on the end
• "You can have yours next week, can we go ahead and schedule shipment for you?"

THE "ORDER PAD" CLOSE

• Ask the prospect a question, the answer to which you fill out on the order form or agreement
• "What is the full company name?"??"What is the correct address?"??As long as he/she does not stop you, you assume he/she is going ahead
• All you do is fill out the order form as he/she answers the questions

• When you get to the bottom of the order casually turn the form around and ask them to OK it for you

THE "ALTERNATIVE" CLOSE

• The old favourite and one of the most powerful closes
• By offering a choice the prospect is busy making a decision between the options rather than whether or not they are going ahead.
• The alternative close is very assumptive
• "We can deliver this week or next, which would you prefer?"

THE "BALANCE SHEET" CLOSE

• Also known as the Winston Churchill or Benjamin Franklin close
• A face to face close for a prospect who is indecisive
• Take out a sheet of paper or use a flip chart or white board
• Draw a line down the middle, write "yes" or "pros" or "fors" in the left column
• In the right column put "no" or "cons" or "against"
• Start asking questions - closed questions and put simple one word answers in the "no" column
• Then ask open questions for the good points and write these in the "for" column
• Count up the columns and ask for the order based on the good outweighing the bad

THE "SUMMARY QUESTION" CLOSE

• You might call this a "negative yes close"
• When the prospect says no they really mean yes
• "Just let me summarise Mr Prospect, is there anything wrong with my company?" - "NO"
• "And there is nothing in the support agreement you are unhappy with?" -?"NO"
• "The figures were OK, you're not concerned about the price structure" ?"NO"
• "And the delivery dates were not too late?" ?"NO"
• As they answer NO they are really being positive not negative
• You continue "In that case, Mr Prospect, there isn't any reason why we couldn't go ahead....is there?"??"NO!"?they will answer.

THE "SHARP ANGLE" CLOSE

• Sometimes called the negotiation close
• Be careful not to be too blunt

• "Does this come in red?" - "If it does will you go ahead?"
• "Can you deliver in two weeks?" - "Will you place the order if we can?"
• "Can I have terms?" - "Supposing we?can?arrange terms, will you go ahead?"

THE "LOGICAL" CLOSE

• In cases where the prospect specifies criteria which must be met
• Summarising meeting the criteria is a logical way to lead up to a direct request for the order
• "So, Mrs Prospect, your supplier must be reliable, offer value for money and have a range of products.??As you can see from this referral letter we are reliable and you have seen from our price guide that we have a wide range of competitively priced products, so can we go ahead?

THE "PUPPY DOG" OR "TRIAL" CLOSE

• How do you sell a puppy dog to the child with reluctant parents?
• You leave it with the prospective new owners overnight and they all fall in love with it
• This is possible with tangible equipment such as computers, office equipment and machinery
• It is difficult for the prospect to refuse to keep the product if it works and everyone likes it
• Use caution - the prospect may well take a trial just to get rid of you
• Equipment on trial can work against you - "it's a good job we had this on trial, it's a devil to use!"
• The puppy dog, or trial, close is best used as a last resort when all else has failed
• Be prepared to make a lot of visits and contacts with the prospect during the trial period

• See if you can charge the customer something even if it is only a delivery charge

• When the prospect has hard cash invested in a trial they are much more motivated to make it work
• Never?use the phrases "Sale or Return", "Free Trial"

CLOSING THE SALE

• Three simple steps
• Summarise the situation - briefly
• Restate the benefits
• Ask for the order then shut up!
• Thank you and then tie up loose ends briefly
• Get out of the prospect's office or off the telephone
• Don't talk yourself out of the order

SUMMARY

• Always be getting commitment
• Avoid the no-go words and don't break your rapport
• Listen, and look, for buying signals
• Use different closes don't be repetitive
• Thank the prospect for his/her business
• Tie up loose ends such as delivery, training and then leave or get off the phone!

Thanks to IAN FARMER for sharing his thoughts with me to create this article