SALES AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOPIC –

Techniques of trial close and closing the sale and follow up tasks –
Trial close and closing the sale formulates that if the salesperson has cleared or answered the
objections of the prospect satisfactorily, then it’s right time to close the sale. However,
closing of sale implies asking for the order, in addition implementing trial close is a positive
signal which is done before closing the sale.

TRIAL CLOSE –
It is basically an indication or a signal for the salesperson as to know how close he is to actual
close. It uniquely resembles the opinion of the prospect as it is an effective way of getting
feedbacks from the prospect. Since many of the times salesperson tries to close the sale by
asking for the order after answering all of the objections and if the prospect’s response is a
‘no’ then it would be very difficult to change the prospect’s mind, therefore trial close acts as
an essential tool to gather feedback, capturing prospect’s objections and to identify that
whether the prospect liked the benefits which is been offered by the product. Trial close is
merely an opinion of the buyer, whereas closing the sale is a buying decision of the buyer.
One of the ex. constitutes as ‘Out of the three models that are here, I think you liked the
model, am I right.?’. However, if the prospect has responded favorably then salesperson
know to close the sale and if there is any negative response ascertained from the prospect,
then salesperson should go back to the sales presentation instead of closing the sale.
Closing the sale implies asking for the order and in order to arrive at this stage, salesperson
should keenly understand the indications and signals about the buyer’s mental buying process
and readiness to buy the product. Some of the buying signals are as follows,
A] Examines the product B] Ask another person’s opinion C] Asks questions D] Becomes
friendly

CLOSING TECHNIQUES –
Coming to a close without summarizing makes the presentation abrupt. Such summary
should inculcate the brief understanding of the benefits passing / flowing to the buyer. Some
of the major techniques for closing are as follows,
1] Alternative choice close – Under this technique, prospect is provided choice between two
or more items and not between buying and not buying. EX- ‘Which of the three models do
you prefer.’? This technique is effective, if used correctly.
2] Minor points close – There are many minor points that fascinates prospects in order to
make a bigger decision on whether to buy or not to buy. This helps salesperson to cleverly
lead into the prospect’s decision to whether buy the product or not. Example – ‘If you buy
this Air conditioner. Which model do you prefer? How soon you like it to be delivered? or
would you like to pay on installment basis.? Such, questions establish a positive inclination
towards buying the product.
3] Assumptive close – Under this technique, sales person assumes the sales are made, he
gradually proceeds to the questions such as spelling of names, prospect’s middle initials,
respective addresses, color, quality and then enforces prospect to sign the order.
4] Summary of benefits close – This technique is popular, simple and straight forward, this
technique involves steps which begins with finding out the important benefits of the product
or service which will have a direct impact on prospect’s specific needs, then summarizing
these benefits by using FAB (features, benefits, advantages) approach and using SELL
sequence (show the feature, explain the advantage, lead into the benefit and let customer
talk). Example – Refrigerator has high efficiency rating(feature), due to which less electricity
consumption (advantage), and which ultimately result to saving in the electricity (benefit).
5] T account or balance sheet close – Under this technique, T shaped account is created by
the salesperson on the piece of paper where left column depicts benefits and right column of
the account depicts drawbacks or the negative points. For example – A washing machine with
speed motor(feature) works very fast and with less efforts (advantage) and with immediate
delivery and easy payment options(benefits). Such favorable points should contribute towards
the left side whereas if prospect comes up with the question of having any other model in the
mind, hence such point will assimilate towards right side of the T shaped account.
6] Special offer close – After implementing the best efforts by the salesperson, if the prospect
resists, then under such case a special offer or any specific deal may help to close the sale.
For example – If you purchase this smartphone today, I will provide you a special discount of
five percent.
7] Probability close – Under this technique, salesperson allows the real or hidden objection to
come out by asking the prospect, the probability in percentage to anticipate the possibilities
of closing the sale. If the probability is more than fifty percentage, then salesperson will try to
convert the objection into sales whereas probability percentage lower than the fifty resembles
lower chances of closing the sale. However, such percentage mark is not rigid and it do vary,
although salesperson should focus on keeping the mark more than fifty if possible.
8] Negotiation close - It is clear that the attitude and style of negotiation by the salesperson
determines the outcome of negotiation. Out of the various styles of negotiation, salesperson
should use ‘both of us win’ style as it helps to build a long - term mutual relationship between
buyer and the organization. Hence, it is highly necessary for salesperson to possess skills of
negotiation.

CLOSING TECHNIQUES AND SALES SITUATIONS –

Sales person can review the customer profile by using the matrix on closing techniques and
sales situation in order to anticipate better understanding of the clients and thoroughly use the
techniques to close the sale. EXAMPLE OF SITUATIONS AND TECHNIQUES -
1] If buyer is hostile – Use technique of negotiation and probability
2] If buyer has certain opinion in advance – Use technique of negotiation, probability and T -
A/C.

FOLLOW UP AND CHECK CUSTOMER ODER –

Successful salesperson should follow up a number of related tasks as their job is not over
after the receipt of the order. Once receiving the customer order, the salesperson should also
check the details such as delivery period, address and any advance payment if mentioned.

FOLLOW UP VISIT AT THE TIME OF DELIVERY –

Planning a follow up call, once ordered item is delivered by the salesperson should be
formulated. Such visit should mainly focus on, checking the product is received on time and
without any damage in transit. This visit is important to detect any problems or complaints
faced by the customer and to ensure customer satisfaction.
Also mentioning some buyers suffers from post purchase anxiety about the wisdom of the
purchase decision. For example – Buyers of newly launched car ‘Indica’ suffered post
purchase anxiety due to certain technical problems. Hence, immediate corrective actions from
the company are taken to reduce the dissonance substantially.

ACCOUNT PENETRATION AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING –

Account penetration implies working and contacting people throughout the account and
discussing about the selling firm’s product and services whereas relationship marketing tells
salespeople to build and maintain long term mutually beneficial partnerships with the key
customers in order to gain new customers and moreover building loyal customer base
thereon.

APPLICATION ON EUREKA FORBES –

Closing is referred to as the task of asking for the order. It is, typically, referred to as an
attempt to make the customer sign on the dotted lines of the order pad and making him pay
for the water purifier. This stage signifies that the prospect, having gone through the
demonstration process, has been convinced enough to make a buying decision. Usually,
objections do crop up at the first few closes. If these objections are handled properly and
demonstration or presentation carried out systematically the final close faces no resistance
and sales take place. Although, it is very rare that the first close would yield an order;
therefore, the salesperson needs to be prepared with objection handling techniques and keep
on trying multiple closes in any demonstration. Salespeople also need to know how to
recognize closing signs (or buying signals) from the buyer including physical actions,
statements or comments, and even questions.
The salesperson should, also, schedule a follow-up call for a time after the delivery would
have taken place so as to ensure proper installation, instructions and servicing. Follow-up and
maintenance take care of reducing any cognitive dissonance or post-purchase remorse. These
steps, if carried out with sincerity and earnest, it may also generate good leads in the form of
referrals. If the salesperson wants to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business follow-
up and maintenance is a must.

TECHNOLOGY AFFECTED CLOSING SALES AND FOLLOW UP –

1] Since, iPad has millions of apps that help us make sales faster and easier. For example, we
all know that Salesforce helps sales teams, but what about an app like Conference Pad. When
giving a presentation, we can impress our audience with the power of changing each page on
all iPads at once, this will ensure free flow of information and therefore creates greater
possibility of converting sale.
2] Automating the follow ups by creating sequences to send a series of emails to prospect
over time. Software like ‘HUBSPOT’ allows us to personalize and track each and every
message. Fortunately for lead follow-ups via email, there is a Gmail plug-in called
Boomerang, that allows us to schedule when to send follow-up messages to prospective
clients. Importantly, Boomerang also allows us to set reminders to follow up with a prospect.

PICKING UP FROM VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE - https://youtu.be/NRF-

Dgb1Jco
“THE #1 EASIEST WAY TO LEARN CLOSING” –
Under this video, Dan Lok stresses upon the situation when it especially comes to closing
under covid – 19, where people are working more remotely, hence most of the closings are
either done on phones, skype or zoom calls, which is absolutely critical. In order to learn
closing appropriately, creator urges upon four steps, where first step defines about ‘learning’,
that is learning about fundamental or foundation principles of closing. Second step implies
‘understand’. Third stage says about ‘mastering’, where mastering implies practicing the
roleplay, where you are creating scenario that pretends a sales call.
Whereas, the fourth stage means ‘Forgetting it’ that means when you are closing, you need to
forget the script, in order to say it with right tonality and the best way to lead from first stage
to fourth stage is through roleplay, as it helps you to learn new distinction, new objections,
new obstacles and new developments as well with the person you practice who are engaged
to close.

Submitted to,
DR. SR SINGHVI SIR

Submitted by,
NIPUN MAHESHWARI