Alec Baldwin put it best in his famous scene from the classic movie Glengarry Glen Ross: “ABC – Always Be Closing.” When it comes to sales it is all about the close because sales are very easily measure. If a sales person made the sale and made money, they succeeded. If they didn’t, then that’s wasted time that could have been spent on a client that would buy.
Closing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. While a sale can be won or lost sometimes in the opening or the main presentation in the middle of a phone call, the close is where some sales people really shine and others struggle. Getting comfortable with the following sales closing techniques will make sure that a sales person gets a lot more sales and the commission checks that come with them.
This close should be used on every single call or meeting. Assume the sale. The sales person has the solution for a client, and that client wants the product or service. That attitude not only makes for a stronger and more confident presentation, but this close alone will often push the scales to buy. It can also be used with a variety of other techniques – so this one need to become second nature with any sales person!
This combo creates an incredibly effective close when used properly. When the sales person is transitioning into the close ask the customer for their honest opinion, and frame it in such a way that it’s really hard to say no.
A great example would be: “Now level with me, have I shown you just how valuable this service can be for you?” People naturally want to be helpful and positive, and this question not only encourages both, but it creates two main options. By phrasing it this way if they say they aren’t convinced, the sales person then gets to dig out the customer’s objection or get a second shot to make the close. If the person says yes, they just admitted it is valuable to them and it’s time to assumptive close.
This won’t always be a viable option, but can be powerful when money seems to be the final sticking point. If the customer keeps mentioning the total price it could be time to re-frame it.
For example if they want to only spend $500 for the year but the minimum is $600, remind them “We’re not talking about $600, we’re talking about $100 over 12 months – do you really want to lose this benefit over 30 cents a day for a year?” Re-framing can be a very powerful tool to overcome a price objection.
When it comes to finding the best quality sales closing techniques, each individual person is going to find their own style and tone. The same good hard close might sound a touch pushy from a strong young male voice but come out as soft and gently persuading from a young female – but the same push to close is made. There’s no question that a sales person with more closing techniques will have that many more tools to get a good final sale whether by phone or in person.