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The No. 1 Secret To Closing More Sales
by Gerry Robert
"It's not that those tricks don't work, unfortunately they do sometimes.
But in today's environment, the relationship is primary. Referrals
are the way of choice for us now. If you have to use the tricks to close
sales, you might succeed once but you can forget about the long term."
I WANT to introduce you to seven closers. Each one is an "expert"
closer. No, they are not really "power closers" as they liked to be called.
They each have their own way of performing this mystical part of the sale.
Each one is well-known and they want you to use their method of closing sales.
Some have even gotten into the seminar business. Some of these "closers"
have written books on how to "clinch" the sale. They write magazine
articles, produce videos and push cassette tapes by the truck load on the
subject of how you can "close every sale".
I figure if I can expose my seven friends for what they are, I can save you
countless hours of grieving in the sales profession, not to mention the
several hundred dollars you will have to dish out to get some of their advice.
1. MR OLD-TIME MOTIVATOR
Mr Old-Time Motivator says that for you to close more sales, you need to
close more sales, you need to practise his "old school" techniques.
"They worked for me in the 1950s, and by gum, they will work for you now,"
is his reasoning.
They only thing that Mr Old-Time Motivator says all you need to do is
memorise a series of language teachnique. If you have the right verbal
manoeuvres, you've got the sales, according to him.
So, instead of litening to what the customer is saying (not important to
Mr Old-Time Motivator) all you have to do is play a verbal game of chess
with your "victim".
Happily, you'll be seeing him less and less of him on "the circuit". He's
getting old and you sharp salespeople know that even though you can play
games with prospects, no one likes to be sold through intimidation or
manipulation. Which is exactly what Mr Old-Time Motivator is selling.
Rationale:
"If the customer say's this ..... you say that ....."
- Mr Old-Time Motivator
2. MR CON MAN
This person makes me ill. You'll feel the same in a minute too! Just keep
reading. This trickster says that you do "whatever you have to" to get the
sale. At all costs, don't leave without the order.
I was speaking at a large conference in Canada and Mr Con Man was addressing
the audience just before me. I was in the back of the roon when he said
something that caught my attention.
"When you have made your presentation and you're about to go in for the kill
(close the sale)," he said. I wondered if he was teaching them to sell or
hunt, "use the most powerful weapon in my arsenal: The Pen Close!"
I thought" What is the clown going to say next?" He continued, "When you
hand over the order form, drop the pen on the lap of the prospect."
As he saying this to the audience, he drops his into the lap of the person
to the in the front row, who naturally picks it up.
"Who's got the pen now?" Wink, wink, wink! I coundn't believe my eyes.
He was actually teaching people to drop pens onto prospects and because
they have the pen in their hands, they'll sign the cintract. Give me a
break!
This type of garbage is faor play for Mr Con Man. He thinks to get sales
you have to use trickery. Trust is not important getting the sale is.
Mr Con Man has workded for 44 different companies in his long, boring,
poverty-in-fested sales career.
The minute a prospect senses that you have been trained by Mr Con Man or
one of his cohorts, they will drop you like a hot potato and rightly so.
Rationale:
"Get the sale, at all costs! They have my money in their pockets
and I have their product in my car. Do whatever you have to,
to get that product out of your car."
- Mr Con Man
3. SALLY SUNSHINE
Sally is a very lovely person. She is a little too wonderful for me.
Sally teaches that if you want to close sales all you have to do is
"think positive."
It's not that important if you are in front of the right perosn, if
they can affrod their prodcut or not, just visualise them signing
and guess what? Just like magic, they'll sign.
Sally quotes for (or misquotes) Stella Mann who said, "if you can
hold it in your head, ou can hold it in your hand."
So before each sale, Sally turns on the New Age cassette recorder,
listens to ocean waves and whales singing, wraps "white light"
ariund the mental Utopia in her mind and builds a "subconscious
picture" of success. She is convinced that this is all she has to
do to close sales.
Wake up Sally! Welcome to the real world. I'm not saying that
positive thinking and all she practises (everything from candles
to voo-doo) is not somewhat productive, it might be.
What I an saying is that unless you put the customer first, not
your commission, no matter how "touchy feely" you wrap it mentally,
you won't close sales.
Rationale:
"I think I can , I know I can, and by gosh I can!
I think I can, I know I can, and by gosh I can!
I think I can, I know I can, and by gosh I can!
- Miss Sally Sunshine
4. SLICK WILLY
You can see Stick Willy coming a mile away. He's the most
stylish iof the group. He practises the "Glitz" method of
colsing the sale. What distinguishes Slick Willy from everyone
else are all the accessories.
Slick has paid a small fortune for his gold pen. "it's the
salesman's tool," he chants. "You've got to have class if you
want to close sales."
He has memorised all the books on dressing for success. He
is actually convinced that his suit will impress prospects so much
that they won't see the shallowness of his glizy image. He thinks
that his expensive German car will make the differnece.
His kids and wife know how empty he is but as long as he can keep
that away from customers, he'll close sales.
Rationale:
"Dazzle prospects, and you'll have them eating rigth out
of your hand."
- Slick Willy
5. MISS NEVER GIVE UP
Her nickname is Miss Persistence. No matter what, you have to simply
not hear the word "No". She conducts seminars where she teaches that
"The best salespeople are just like kids. Kids simply don't hear
the word no." Her logic (the little that is there) says that all you
have to do is keep asking for the order and sure enough, you will
get it.
Miss Never Give Up's favourite tactis is the "Yes, Yes" trick for
losing sales. She teaches that for you to close sales what you need
to do is get the prospect saying "Yes" to 20 or 30 questions before
you ask for the order. She thinks that if the prospect's head is
bobbing up and down "yes, yes, yes..." that when you ask for the
order, the prospect won't be able to say "No, no. no!"
Rationale:
"I must never, never, never give up.
"No" doesn't exit. Just kep askig for the order."
- Miss Never Give Up.
6. MR CALIFORNIA
Mr California is crisp, hot and sexy. He comes over here to Malaysia
to enlighten the "unenlightened". He is the classical New Age Closer.
He takes everything old and makes it new with "psycho-babble" language
terminology.
His techniques are complicated, psychological mind games that only
the swiftest of PhDs can follow. His idea is that you can and must
control the thinking of the prospect.
So, he teaches you to anchor, pre-frame, de-frame and neo-frame the
language to cause people to buy. He sometimes even warns people
that his methods are lethal if not used properly.
He teaches you to look at the prospect's eyes. The eyes tell you
what's going on inside. If the prospect looks up, that means
something special. If they look side to side that means something
else. If they look down, that means even more.
Now, you are trying to serve the customer and sell but you have
to watch their eyes, their breathing and body languaue. It is so
funny to watch his close sales.
When the customer touches his chin, then Mr California does too.
This is a "powerful" technique called "matching and mirroring"
Oooooohhh!
Rationale:
"Just find out how the prospect thinks and re-wire them
right before you very eyes."
- Mr Carlifornia
7. MISS T.N.T.
T.N.T. stands for Trust, Not Trickery. She has been trained by me.
This lady has modelled her closing skills from the client's point
of view.
She knows that the No.1 thing prospects want when they are buying
something is trust. They are justifiably nervous about parting
with their money. This fear goes up proportionaly to the amount of
the sale and the lack of knowledge they have about the object or
service they are purchasing.
Miss T.N.T. knows that at times customers need incentives and
ethical assistance to move them into a buying decision. She never
crosses that line however. You know that line I am talking about.
The line that any customer knows.
She is not into pressure or gimmicks to close sales. She is
interested in the long term not the one-shot sale. She is positive.
She has the prospect's interest uppermost in her mind.
She is someone you would like to buy from. She is honest,
turstworthy and confident.
If she believes that the prospect's best interest is to buy the product
now, she will firm share her opinion with them.
She never backs down if she feels that the prospect would honestly
benefit from this side.
Sure she is strong but never manupulative.
There you have it. Seven Closers, seven different philosophies of
closing. I've been understandably harsh to illustrate the point.
Don't misunderstand me, some of this stuff is okay, but it's never
right if it is used to manupulate in order to close sales.
FORGET ALL THOSE SILLY TRICKS, AND SALES GIMMICKS TO CLOSE THE SALE
- If you have done your job well, you have worked on installing
rapport; the customer feels comfortable with you and is ready to proceed
in the buying cycle. You have listened well and done a thorough
investigation;
- rather than talking, you realise that listening is much better than
talking. You could not present information yet without the prospect's
input. You feel that the custoner has received a "Yes" answer to the
question he is asking him/herself which at this point in the sale is,
"Do they (the salespeople) understand my needs?"
- You then present solutions to the client;
- you now know what the customer wants, needs can afford and what their
Dominant buying Motive is, so you are ready to present your solutions.
Still remember that listening is always the best approach. You then
deal with the prospect's concerns;
- by doing a solid presentation you will have alleviated most of the
concerns the prospect had. They will never approve the sale and
commit to you unless they get a "Yes" answer to the question.
"Are all my concerns dealt with?" Once you have successfully met
their concerns, closing is a natural outcome of a proper sales job.
- Don't be nervous, forget all the stupid tricks and assume the sale.
It's not that those tricks don't work, unfortunately they do
sometimes. But in today's environment, the relationship is primary.
Referrals are the way of choice for us now. If you have to use
use the tricks to close sales, you might succeed once but you can
forget about the long term.
- Remember my Cardinal Rules of Closing; We must never do anything to
jeopardise trust and customer referrals.
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