Closing the Sale
Closing refers to the achievement of the desired outcome, which may be the exchange of money or the acquiring of a signature.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Outline “closing the sale” importance, characteristics and types
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Points
- Closing is distinguished from ordinary practices such as explaining a product ‘s benefits or justifying an expense. It is reserved for more artful means of persuasion.
- Situations where a closing attempt is logical include when a presentation has been completed and all objections have been answered, or when the buyer indicates an interest in the product by giving a closing signal.
- The assumptive close is one of the most commonly used closing techniques. The salesperson assumes the customer has made the decision to buy, so the salesperson will tell them what they are going to do to complete the sale.
Key Terms
- assumptive: Forward or presumptuous.
Closing the Sale
Closing is a sales term which refers to the process of making a sale. The term can also be used to refer to the achievement of a desired outcome, such as the exchange of money or the acquiring of a signature. Salespeople are often taught to think of targets not as strangers, but rather as prospective customers who already want or need what is being sold. Such prospects only need to be “closed. ”
Closing the Sale: Signing a contract indicates a commitment to buy, so the salesperson is said to have “closed. “
Closing is distinguished from ordinary practices such as explaining a product’s benefits or justifying an expense. It is reserved for more artful means of persuasion, which some compare with conning. For example, a salesman might mention that his product is popular with a person’s neighbors, knowing that people tend to follow perceived trends. This is known as the Jones Theory. Nonetheless, closing is a key part of the sales process.
The evaluation of salespersons is based heavily on their ability to close sales. Certainly, other factors are considered in evaluating performance, but the bottom line for most salespeople is their ability to consistently produce profitable sales volume. Individuals who perform as salespeople occupy a unique role: they are the only individuals in their companies who bring revenue into the company.
There may be several opportunities to attempt to close during a presentation, or opportunity may knock only once. In fact, sometimes opportunities to close may not present themselves at all and the salesperson must create an opportunity to close. Situations where a closing attempt is logical include: when a presentation has been completed without any objectives from the prospect, when the presentation has been completed and all objections and questions have been answered, and when the buyer indicates an interest in the product by giving a closing signal, such as a nod of the head.
Most Common Closing Techniques
Assumptive closing – This technique is most commonly used in cold calling after impulsing a customer. This involves making the assumption that the customer has made the decision to buy. The salesperson will tell them what they are going to do to complete the sale. For instance, the salesperson might say, “Just pass me your credit card and I’ll start the paper work for you. Thanks. ”
Direct close: simply ask for the order – Examples of this technique include: “Do I have your authority to proceed with this order? ” / “When would you like delivery? ” / “Would you sign this order form please? ” / “May I confirm your delivery and invoice address are correct for this order? ”
The either / or choice close – Examples of this technique include: “Would you like red or green? ” / “Would you like the standard or the enhanced package? ”
The half Nelson hold close – This technique is used to “strong arm” a prospect after he or she requests something. For instance, the salesperson might ask, “Will you go ahead if we can provide that? ”
Duke Of Wellington close – In the Duke Of Wellington close, you make a list or table of positive and negative points, then take each negative in turn and convert it into a positive. For instance, the salesperson might say, “Yes, it does look expensive, I agree, but if you take into account the reliability of the product, then over time this is actually a much cheaper option than taking the cheap and cheerful rubbish that only…”
Ben Franklin close – Similar to the Duke Of Wellington close, but the prospect lists feelings vs. thoughts. In one column, they write what they feel the benefits of owning the product would be. In the other column, they write what they think could be reasons to not own the product. Very often the list of benefits is somewhat longer than the list of cautions. The combination of personally writing the list and the psychological element of comparing feelings vs. thoughts will often help the prospect see the true value in owning the product.