Are Closing Techniques Like Diets?
James Muir
??Helping Ambulatory Improve Financial Performance, Gain Access to Top-Tier Talent & Lower Total Cost to Collect ?? | Senior Vice President of Sales - UnisLink ????? | Bestselling Author | Keynote Speaker
I am a fitness buff, and unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 30 years you know that there are countless diets and other dietary or nutritional products promising all kinds of miraculous results. In my quest for better and better fitness, I have learned (and tried) many of these diet and fitness solutions. It's now a hobby to analyze each new diet, gadget, and technique to understand their underpinnings and how much truth, practicality, and hype exist in each.
Unfortunately, a huge percentage of these products are garbage. Many of them have an idea or principle that is valid, but the results are blown way out of proportion in relation to what can truly be achieved using these solutions. On the other hand, some actually work…
If It's Too Complicated No One Will Use It
Take diets for example, there are quite a number of them with merit. The problem is that some diets are ridiculously complicated and too difficult to maintain, let alone adopt as an ongoing lifestyle. All the current leaders in fitness and nutrition now agree that the ease of going on and maintaining a diet is a major factor (if not the major factor) in the creation of a successful diet. If people can’t effectively start or maintain the diet, it doesn’t matter how effective it could be because they won’t be able to sustain it. And that, my friends, is why I am going on and on about diets in an article about advancing the sale—because closing techniques suffer similar complications.
Name any book on closing, and odds are, I’ve read it. There are books with hundreds of sales closes in them, each with their own clever name, like the board of nails close, or the one-dollar-for-one-hundred-dollars close, or my all-time favorite the Atomic-what-would-Jesus-do-BOMB close (no, I’m not kidding).
Someday, to give you a good laugh and protect the innocent souls out there who might actually consider using one of these gems, I’ll put up a website with a Sales Closing Wall of Shame listing all of the ridiculous closes I’ve collected over the years.
Closing Confusion
Just like the diets, most of these closes are garbage—and by garbage, I mean counter-productive. They will actually hurt your chances of closing the sale. But also like the diets, some of these techniques actually work from time to time. And thus, the confusion sets in.
Some of these old-school closes are very elaborate, are specialized for particular situations, and require intricate setups. Some take hours to execute. This is again where they are like diets. If there is too much to remember, or they are too complicated to execute, then no one will use them. Who wants to take the time to memorize one-hundred-and-one closes—one for every possible situation? What if in the heat of the moment I use the wrong one? Oh, the pressure!
It’s a waste of time and effort to use what amounts to a counter-productive close 90% of the time. It is also totally unnecessary.
The Criteria For a Good Close
A good closing approach should meet the following criteria:
- It should pace at the rate the customer ready for
- It should be facilitative & non-manipulative
- It should be easy
Sadly the above criteria, simple as it is, eliminates 99% of the closing techniques out there.
That last point is what we are focusing on here. The approach must be easy enough to follow so that when it comes time to actually use the approach, it's natural and simply second nature. That eliminates all the stress and frustration associated with closing that we sometimes feel.
CLOSING TIP: Helping a customer move towards their goal is an act of service. It shouldn't be difficult or stressful at all. It should be easy.
About the Author: James Muir is professional sales trainer, author, speaker and coach. He is the Best-Selling author of The Perfect Close: The Secret to Closing Sales that shows sales and service professionals a clear and simple approach to increase closed opportunities and accelerate sales to the highest levels while remaining genuinely authentic. Those interested in learning a method of closing that is zero pressure, involves just two questions and is successful 95% of the time can reach him at PureMuir.com.
Real Estate - improvement and investments
8 年Great article, I agree with the ingredients. I would add that it is important to include a petition of action in a question form to that list.
VP Strategic Account Management | Provider Group
8 年This is a fun topic to discuss, as you could fill an entire book.... But, James you have already done that. I have purchased it and all I can say is Bravo! It is a terrific book. One thing that has helped me and the sales executives that I have worked with is to make sure that you sell the way the buyer buys. Often sales people develop what they think is a great prospect sales strategy, and perhaps it is... but, is it the way their buyer prefers to buy? You should match the buyer's purchasing cycle, how they identify their own needs, how much pain are they experiencing, how they contract for like products or services and what type of politics is prevalent throughout their company (your contact may not have enough "juice" in the organization to carry the sale). In the end, the fun part is determining how the contracting process is handled from start to finish. If you lead them properly, they will make the decision that you've determined will solve their problems. By following these steps, along with solid solutions sales strategy, I have found that it will reduce a lot of heartburn and sleepless nights.
Helping Sales Organizations Prepare Today for the Future of Sales Tomorrow
8 年If you need a "closing technique" you don't know how to create an environment that inspires the buyer to buy.
Brian MacIver offers Sales Performance Improvement and Sales Consultancy.
8 年It's worth remembering that Behavioural Research has shown [and still shows] Closing, i.e. asking for the business, is more likely to generate an OBJECTION, than get an ORDER. Further, HOW we ask is far less important than WHEN we ask, or HOW OFTEN we ask. At the right time "Are you ready to go ahead then?" is the most successful close. When is the right time? When the Buyer is 'ready', and you can show, conclusively, WHY they should buy from you. And, THAT is the hard bit! Closing is easy to do and easier to get wrong. Time it badly and it becomes dysfunctional, the MORE you do, the LESS you sell!
Leadership and Sales Clarity Strategist | Talent Assessments | Sales Culture | Keynotes | Real Estate AZ High Desert
8 年As Peter Drucker said, paraphrasing, when marketing is done well, closing us effortless. Keep it simple and follow the client's wants and needs. Your advice is right on. Also your book is a must read for those in sales.