subject: Sales Closing Techniques: Process vs. Lists [print this page] Type "sales closing techniques" into a search engine, and you'll get nearly 300,000 results.
You could create quite a list from that much information.
But if you are interested in learning how to master sales closing techniques, you should give strong consideration to understanding the process of closing rather than memorizing lists of closing strategies.
So what's the basic process? It goes something like this:
Get the Prospect's Attention
Any attempt to successfully close an order must begin with effective communication that gets (and holds) your prospect's attention. The best way to ensure that happens, believe it or not, is to avoid the inclination to do all of the talking. If you're doing most of the talking, odds are your prospect is doing very little listening. Worse yet, he or she is likely to be planning an escape route to get relief from your incessant babbling. The bottom line: get your prospect to do most of the talking in a sales discussion through asking plenty of thoughtful questions.
Give the Prospect Reasons to Buy
Everyone who's been in the sales game long enough has heard of "fact, feature, benefit" (FFB) selling. Even in today's "value added" world, the basic premise of FFB still works. The key to making it effective is to focus more on benefits than either facts or features. That's because features and facts are nice, but they do little to answer the prospect's questions about what's in it for him. Remember, one clear benefit of your product or service may be all it takes to give your prospect all the reasons he or she needs to buy from you instead of your competition.
Ask for the Order
Once your prospect understands the benefits your product can provide, which won't be a problem since you've worked so hard to get his attention, it's time to ask for the order. Studies show that asking for the order only once doesn't work very well; in fact, some 60% of sales aren't made until the fifth attempt to close the order. Nevertheless, the same studies suggest that only 8% of salespeople continue trying to close after the fourth attempt. The lesson in all of that: be one of the 8% who is tenacious enough to ask for the order until your prospect either gives it to you or asks you to vacate the premises.
Salespeople who surf the web for tips about sales closing techniques are a dime a dozen. But for the few who are willing to embrace the central process behind effective closing, the rewards are great and frequent.
