ART of Closing

The art of closing

if we can talk you can tell, if you can close you can sell

Its a myth
Closing is about exerting pressure on people for buying things they dont need, thats not the case. Pressure is unnecessary, if salesperson is professional enough to explain the relevant benefits and most importantly help the potential customer to buy

How can we help the customer buy?

Its pretty straightforward, in fact very simple, we ask for ORDER..

Lets start with few Qs.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Do I understand the importance of closing? Do I close often enough? Do I use silence after each close? Have I ever lost a sale because I didnt close enough? How many people out of each ten I see say Yes to my proposals? When did I last learn a new close? How many closes do I know? How many closes do I use consciously? Do I listen actively to other sales people to learn new closes? Do I practice my closing skills?

Closing is like this story

One Saturday morning a man woke up with a toothache and called of friend of his, who was a dentist, to see if he could have a look at it. Im sorry, said the dentist, Im going away for the weekend, but Ill see you in the surgery at 8.00 am on Monday morning. OK, said the man, and suffered all the weekend. Bright and early our hero arrived at the surgery on Monday morning, anticipating the pain to come, he sat in the dentists chair. Open wide, said the dentist. Erm, it will have to come out. Will it hurt much? asked our hero, in a trembling voice. Not too much, said the dentist (they always say that, dont they). How long will it take? said the man, gripping the arms of the chair even tighter than before.

Closing is like this story

Just one minute, said the dentist, looking around for some of torture. How much will it cost me? asked our hero. About $50, replied the dentist, looking around for some instrument of torture. $50! exclaimed our hero, For just one minutes work? The dentist smiled, paused and said, I can take as long as

(contd)

you like!

Closing is like this story

So dont you want to extract your _________ as smoothly, as painlessly and professionally as possible, so that our customer enjoys the experience and looks forward to the next visit to our _______ chair?

(contd)

We are going to do this all by CLOSING

3 reasons why people dont close

1. They dont know how. 2. They haven't mastered the skills. 3. They are scared of rejection
---- do you want one?? (damn it..) If youre not convinced, you cant convince!!

A collection of closes!

1. The IF close
Does this work under water? It would be extremely simple for those of us in selling to respond with Yes and we could have a lengthy conversation with every customer constantly giving away with the yes. Suggestion is that: stop saying Yes and start saying If. Does it work under water? OR Is it important to you that it works under water?

The customer will say Yes. Then you would be able to say: If am able to arrange it so that the product will work under water, would you like the one?
You might use this powerful word' If in the question: If ever you were to order, what would make you do it? again, this may uncover some major buying motives.

2. The Straight close

Shall we go ahead then? Will you order one?

3.

The Alternative close

This is probably the best known close in selling and is simply a matter of suggesting to the customers that they take one of two choices. For example: Do you want the red one or the black one? with delivery (Do you want the delivery next week or the week after?) or with the number of products (Do you want three of these. Or six of these?).

4. The Non-Alternative close

Customers would invariably respond with Yes. I would then say: Car phones come in four colors, black, black, black or black. Which one would you like?. On every single occasion when I use this close with a broad smile on my face, the customer would say, Ill have the black one! Id say Great (and really mean it), take out my order pad and the business was concluded.

5. The Enough close

Enough is one of those little words in the language which, although six letters long, can be tremendously powerful in selling situation. Do you think that the six drums will be enough? Of course if the customers said Yes, I then had an order for six. If the customers said No, they wanted more than six.

6. The Minor Point close

We use the Minor Point close to obtain the customers agreement to a minor point concerning the sale. Will need the A3 paper-feed with your new copier? if the customer says Yes, he or she is obviously thinking very strongly about buying the copier. Why else would the customer be agreeing to have an A3 paper-feed?

Any other example!

7.

The Hurt & Rescue close

Mostly sales people frighten us with their first statement or question and then rescue us with a softer option.

When I sold car phones I would say to the customers , again in a jocular fashion (remembering by now Id build a good relationship with the customer) because of the conversation we were having: Were going to fit an aerial to the back wing of your car (these were the days before hand held phones) and were going to need to drill a hole in your wing about this big. Id hold my hands up showing a hole of some four or five inches in a diameter.

8. The Ownership Question close

This is sometimes called the assumptive close. If we ask the customer questions based on their having already ordered the product in question and, having taken delivery, they are using the product, moving them past the point of sale will be extremely simple. For example: Imagine you are selling a copying machine and the customer has a two floor office block. You might say, Will the downstairs staff also be using the copier? If the customer says Yes, the customer is already picturing the copier in use: if No, the customer is still picturing the copier in use but there may be an opportunity for second sale.

9. The Oh, Well close

You ask the customer a question regarding the time-scale of ordering or using the product. For example:' When were you thinking of placing the order, in three months or six months time? When were you anticipating delivery, a week or three weeks time? or some similar question. Oh,well, wed better get the paperwork sorted out today, smoothly taking out your order pad.

8. The Ownership Question close

This is sometimes called the assumptive close. If we ask the customer questions based on their having already ordered the product in question and, having taken delivery, they are using the product, moving them past the point of sale will be extremely simple. For example: Imagine you are selling a copying machine and the customer has a two floor office block. You might say, Will the downstairs staff also be using the copier? If the customer says Yes, the customer is already picturing the copier in use: if No, the customer is still picturing the copier in use but there may be an opportunity for second sale.

9. The Oh, Well close

You ask the customer a question regarding the time-scale of ordering or using the product. For example:' When were you thinking of placing the order, in three months or six months time? When were you anticipating delivery, a week or three weeks time? or some similar question. Oh,well, wed better get the paperwork sorted out today, smoothly taking out your order pad.

10. The Similar Situation close

I understand how you feel, I had another customer who felt that way, but what the customer found was..

11. The Testimonial close

Testimonial letters..easy to obtain, ask for them.

Mr. Customer, if I was able to bring into this room six other managing directors (for the sake of this discussion we are talking to a managing director) and they were able to say to you they had tried the product and were extremely happy with its use,would you believe them and go ahead? You respond with: Well, as you will understand, it would be extremely difficult for me to arrange for six people to attend here all at the same time. However, what I do have is letters from six of my customers confirming that the product/service did live upto their expectations and that they are delighted with it.

11. The Puppy dog close

The children, Johnny & Marry want to buy a puppy, Mum and Dad aren't so certain and so the pet shop owner gives them the dog and simply says: Take him home for the weekend and bring him back on Monday morning if you dont want to keep him. Mercedes Benz car dealers use this idea and, if they believe you are a serious purchaser, they will lend you a Mercedes for a weekend so that you fall in love with it and wont want to go back to your old car.

12. The Benjamin Franklin close

Sometimes called as Winston Churchill close, is extremely easy to use. It is a matter of drawing a line down the centre of a page to create two columns and labeling those columns either for and against or plus and minus.

++

--

13. The Test' close

Also called the temperature close .
How do you feel about that?, How do you think about that?, Is that OK? On a temperature scale of 1 to 10, how hot are you at the moment about going ahead?

14. The Invitational close

Mr Customer, why do not you give us a try?

15. The Take Away close

Let me just check if it is in stock? I once knew someone who sold personalized car registration plates, and who used this idea on a regular basis. When anyone ever phoned about a car number-plate he would always say (though it was not the truth): I think its sold.

16. The Approach close

Mr.

Customer, I will show you why other customers have bought our product: will you please look and tell me either yes or no?. This is to focus the customers mind on the fact that he or she has to give you a decision at the end of demonstration. Wouldn't it be a great situation if we knew that, after every demonstration, the customer would decide?

17. The Mathematical Extension close

We are able to break the price down to a minor amount over a relevant use period, this can make it easier for the customer to buy. For example: you sell a machine that costs $5000. The machine will last the customer a minimum of 5 years. The customer makes a product with this machine. You could explain the cost as: First asking questions. Q1:What is the retail price of the product that you will sell on this machine? Ans: $3 each Q2: How many per hour will the machine make for you? Ans: Four Mr. Customer this machine will cost $5000 and will last a minimum of 5 years. Thats $1000, a year before tax relief. Say. $20 a week, over a 40 hour week, about 50 cents per hour.

Surely Mr. customer to get sale of $12 (4X3) you can afford 50 cents per hour , cant you?

Silence
Having asked a closing question we need to give the customer time to make a decision, and therefore we need to shut up.

Thank U