Thank Goodness It's Monday #303

CLOSE EARLY …

CLOSE OFTEN …

CLOSE LATE

“What separates an order taker from a consummate sales professional?

Closing Power! No matter what sales methodology you may be a fan of … no matter how consultative and value-added your process … no matter how complex or low key the product or service you’re offering, as the legendary Yogi Berra intoned –



from Yogi's 1948 Rookie Card



“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” A sale’s not “made” until you’ve locked up the buyer’s commitment. In other words, no matter how “consultative” the process you employ, the job of a sales professional (and, as we know, everyone sells), isn’t over until the prospect says so.

And since most folks are naturally reluctant to finalize that commitment, it’s the task of the person on the selling side of the equation to get the job done.

Trouble is, many even quite successful sales pros tend to hang tough and postpone the “close” until they believe they’ve detected the one and only psychologically right moment when the buyer is ready to buy.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Sell yourself, and sell any sellers you can influence, on the idea that every presentation has not just one or two but many closing opportunities.

Consistently high producers know there are actually dozens of Close Early … Close Often … Close Late opportunities and the professional who acts on each is the one who will come away with the most business most efficiently.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Here’s a roundup of just a few times when a trial close can and should be attempted. Compare them to similar moments in your sales process. Share and discuss them with others and lay out your own best practices.

►Close Early! You’re just settling down to begin your presentation and are laying out your sales materials when the prospect picks up the spec sheet for the line your pre-call research suggested suits his needs.

Stop right then and start closing. You’ve just be flashed a buying signal. Obviously your counterpart has done preliminary digging as well. For whatever reason, he’s beyond where you expect him to be. You’re seeing indications of readiness to buy. Go immediately to the details you would ordinarily have postponed to the end of any presentation. Close now!

►Close Often! Oops, it seems that the spec sheet reader is not quite convinced. So it’s back to the presentation of product benefits. You go on. And a few minutes later the prospect asks, “How fast are your deliveries?”

Stop right then and start closing. The prospect has just announced he can use your product. Don’t waste any more time gilding the lily (and endangering the sale by saying something that can undo your success). Close the sale, now!

“Well,” says the waffling prospect, “we’ve bought from the same source for the last five years. I see no reason to change.”

Great news: This classic comeback is no surprise for the prepared sales professional. You whip out the testimonials from other satisfied buyers who have switched, hand them over and –

Stop right then and start closing. “These other long-established accounts found it profitable to adopt our product,” goes the counter. Then the close: “Would you like to start with a month’s supply or take advantage of the discount for a bulk order.” (Maybe not that overt, but you get the idea.) Don’t kill the sale with too much extraneous talk. Trust your testimonials to be convincing and close, now!

Important reminder: Every objection is a natural bridge to a trial close. Overcome the objection and go for it. The worst that will happen is that the prospect will put up another objection that then can be dealt with.

►Close Late! You have to keep moving the prospect. Few prospects are ready to tumble right at the start. But most are inclined to decide in your favor; otherwise they wouldn’t have seen you in the first place.

TGIM Takeaway: It’s up to you to keep the ball in play. Close, and if you don’t lock up the business then and there, go back to the drill and keeping selling … consulting … providing value and information. Sooner or later the prospect will say or do something else that gives you the opportunity to move in again and make the sale.

Q: Have I sold you on the idea of Close Early … Close Often … Close Late? I hope so, because as Yogi also said –

“If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer.”

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “Dispatch is the soul of business and nothing contributes more to dispatch than method. Lay down a method and stick to it inviolately, as far as unexpected incidents may allow.” Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) advised that in a letter to his son on February 5, 1750.