GAINING COMMITMENT AND CLOSING - are you actually asking for the order?
June 12, 2020WHY 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! | DO SAY! |
SIGN CONTRACT ORDER COST AUTHORISE DECISION COMMITMENT APPROVAL PRICE |
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!