Marketing chapter 12a closing begins the relationship

Main Topics, cont... Close Based on the Situation  Research Reinforces These Sales Success Strategies  Keys to Improved Selling  The Business Proposition and the Close  Closing Begi

Closing Begins the Relationship

Main Topics

 When Should I Pop the Question?

 Reading Buying Signals

 What Makes a Good Closer?

 How Many Times Should You Close?

 Closing Under Fire

 Difficulties With Closing

 Essentials of Closing Sales

 Prepare Several Closing Techniques

Main Topics, cont

 Close Based on the Situation

 Research Reinforces These Sales Success

Strategies

 Keys to Improved Selling

 The Business Proposition and the Close

 Closing Begins the Relationship

 When You Do Not Make the Sale

The Tree of Business Life:

Closing

Guided by The Golden Rule :

 Look for buying signals

 Be confident in your suggested order

 Prepare several closes for each call

 Do not take “No” personally

 Remember that a successful close begins your relationship

 You now prove your value with

When Should I Pop the Question?

decision that will benefit them

 There are no magic phrases and techniques to

use in closing a sale

 Close when the prospect is in the conviction stage

of the mental buying process

Exhibit 12-1: Close When the

Prospect is Ready

When is it time to close?

Close When the Prospect Is Ready

Reading Buying Signals

does to indicate that he is ready to buy

 Asking questions

 Asking another person’s opinion

 Relaxing and becoming friendly

 Pulling out a purchase order form

 Carefully examining merchandise

Exhibit 12-2: Answering a Prospect’s

Buying Signal Question with a Question

What Makes a Good Closer?

 A good closer:

 Asks for the order and then remains quiet

 Gets the order and moves on!

Exhibit 12-3: The Moving Selling Process

 A positive response to

the trial close indicates a

move toward the close.

What Makes a Good Closer?

 Have strong desire to close each sale

 Have positive attitude

 Know their customers

 Tailor presentations to meet each one’s specific needs

 Spend time preparing

 Are alert

 ABC

What Makes a Good Closer?

 Ask for the order, and… be quiet (Shhhhhh)!

 Must put prospect in position of having to:

 Make a decision

 Speak first

 Respond to the close

 Get the order, and… move on

 Continuing to talk, may give

information that changes

How Many Times Should You Close?

 You must be able to use multiple closes.

 _closes is a minimum.

 You will learn how without being pushy

Three to Five

Closing Under Fire

 The first “no” from the prospect isn’t necessarily an absolute refusal to buy

Closing Under Fire

 You must be able to ask a prospect , who

may be in a bad mood or may appear

hostile toward you, to buy

Difficulties With Closing

 Closing is the easiest part of the presentation

 Salespeople may fail to close because:

 They are not confident in their abilities to close

 They determine that the prospect does not need the

quantity or type of merchandise or that the prospect

should not buy

 They may not have worked hard enough to develop a

customer profile and customer benefit plan

Essentials of Closing Sales

 Be sure your prospect understands what you say

 Always present a complete story to ensure

understanding

 Tailor your close to each prospect

 Everything you do and say should consider the

customer’s point of view

 Never stop at the first “no”

 Learn to recognize buying signals

Essentials of Closing Sales, cont…

 Before you close, attempt a trial close

 After asking for the order, be silent

 Set high goals for yourself and develop a personal commitment to reach your goals

 Develop and maintain a positive, confident, and

enthusiastic attitude toward yourself, your

products, your prospects, and your close

Exhibit 12-5: Twelve Keys to a

Successful Closing

Prepare Several Closing

Techniques, cont…

 The alternative-choice close is an old favorite

 The assumptive close assumes the prospect will

buy

 The compliment close inflates the ego

 The summary-of-benefits close is most popular

 The continuous-yes close generates positive

responses

 The minor-points close is not threatening

 The standing-room-only close gets action

 The probability close

 The negotiation close

 The technology close

Prepare Several Closing

Techniques, cont…

0-50%?

50-85%?

85-100%?

Exhibit 12-7: Techniques for Closing the Sale: Which Close Should be Used?

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

1. Alternative Close – is an old favorite

Example: The Alternative-Choice

Close is an Old Favorite

 “Would you prefer the Xerox 6200 or 6400 copier?”

 Study this question – it assumes:

 The customer has a desire to buy one of the copiers

 The customer will buy

 It allows the customer a preference

 It provides a choice between products, not

between a product and nothing

 By presenting a choice, you receive a “yes”

“Would you prefer the Xerox 6200 or

 If you see the customer likes both 6200 and 6400 and appears indecisive, you can ask:

 “Is there something you are unsure of?”

 This question probes to find out why your prospect

is not ready to choose

“Would you prefer the Xerox 6200 or

6400 copier?”

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

2. Assumptive Close – assumes the prospect

will buy

2 “I’ll call your order in tonight.”, or “I’ll have it shipped to

you tomorrow.”

3. Compliment Close – by complimenting them,

you get them to listen and respond favorably to

your presentation

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

4 Summary of Benefits Close – summarize the

product’s benefits in a positive manner so that the prospect agrees with what you are saying; then ask for the order

1 Three basic steps

2 Determine key benefits that interest prospect during

presentation

3 Summarize these benefits

4 Make a proposal

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

6 Minor-points Close – similar to alternative choice

close; except it asks prospect to make a low-risk decision

on a minor, usually low-cost element of a single product

such as delivery dates, optimal features, etc.

7 T-account or Balance Sheet Close – based on the

process people go through when making a decision;

weighing cons against pros Same as debit and credits, act

or no act, etc Modified T – only lists reasons to buy

(Continuous.

8 Standing Room Only Close – indicate if they do not

act now, they may not be able to buy in the future – should only be used in complete honesty

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

9 Probability Close – ask prospects who are delaying

what the probability of doing business at a later time is This permits prospects to focus on and discover own hidden objections.

Three categories of prospect’s response

Prepare Several Closing Techniques

10 Negotiation Close – finds ways for everyone to

have a fair share

11 Technology Close – incorporates appropriate

technology to close sale.

There are Eleven Closing Techniques in

This Chapter, Each:

 Is different

 Can be used with other closing techniques

 Helps you be a better communicator

 Helps you better serve others

 Should be carefully studied

If You Close and Receive an Objection, What Should You Do?

Find out what the objection is.

After You Find Out What the Objection Is and Answer It, What Should You Do Next?

Ask a trial close to determine if you have overcome the objection.

If You Have Closed, Had an Objection Arise and Effectively Handled the Objection, What Should You

Do Next?

 Close again!

 This is why you need a multiple-closing

sequence.

Prepare a Multiple-Close Sequence

 Different closing techniques work best for certain situations.

 Multiple closes incorporate techniques for overcoming objections.

Prepare a Multiple-Close Sequence,

cont…

 Keeping several closes ready puts you in a better position to close more sales

 For Example:

 You could begin with a summary-of-benefits close.

 If the buyer says no, rephrase the objection and then

use an alternative-choice close.

 If the buyer says no again and does not give a reason, you could use the five-question sequence method for

overcoming objections.

Exhibit 12-9: Multiple Closes Incorporating

Techniques for Overcoming Objections

Exhibit 12-9: Multiple Closes Incorporating

Techniques for Overcoming Objections, cont…

Close Based on the Situation

 Different closing techniques work best for certain

 Customer has predetermined beliefs

 Customer is greedy, wants a deal

Exhibit 12-10: Examples of Closing

Techniques Based on Situations

Research Reinforces These Sales

Success Strategies

 Common salesperson mistakes resulting in

unsuccessful sales calls

 Tells instead of sells, doesn’t ask enough questions

 Over-controls the call, asks too many closed-end

questions

 Doesn’t respond to customer needs with benefits

 Doesn’t recognize needs, gives benefits prematurely

 Doesn’t recognize or handle negative attitudes effectively Makes weak closing statements, doesn’t recognize when

Keys to Improved Selling

 Ask questions to gather information and uncover

needs

 Recognize when a customer has a real need and how the benefits of the product or service can

satisfy it

 Establish a balanced dialogue with customers

 Recognize and handle negative customer attitudes promptly and directly

The Business Proposition and the

Close

 For some salespeople, the discussion of the

business proposition provides an excellent

opportunity to close

 The Business Proposition

 Chap 5 – costs, markups, ROI, etc.

 Follows FABs and Marketing Plan

 Use a visual aid to close

 Visual aids work well for both discussing

Closing Begins the Relationship

 When you make a sale for the first time, you

change the person or organization from a prospect

to a customer

 Follow the Golden Rule in order to earn the

opportunity to sell to the customer in the future

The Last Key to Successful Closing is to “Leave the Door Open Act as a Professional.” How Can That Be Done?

 Always place the customer’s needs first

 Treat a customer as you would your grandmother

 Be a person of character, integrity, and

trustworthiness

 If your product will help the person, then you will

be back another day

There are Eleven Closing Techniques

in This Chapter, Each:

 Is different

 Can be used with other closing techniques

 Helps you be a better communicator

 Helps you better serve others

 Should be carefully studied

Which Closing Technique Should I Use?

 To answer that question you should first:

 Determine your approach

 Create your presentation, then

 Determine how best to close

Assume You Have Completed Your Presentation

and are Getting Ready to Close

 You remember to use a trial close before you ask

the person to buy – if objections or questions arise, what phase of the prospect’s mental steps is the

buyer probably in? (Choose one)

 The buyer is in the desire stage

 Which stage should the buyer be in before you

close? (Choose One)

Assume You Have Completed Your Presentation

and are Getting Ready to Close, cont…

 Ideally, the salesperson should wait for signs that the person is in the conviction stage because a

buyer in this stage typically:

 Has a strong conviction that you can be trusted

 Feels the product will fulfill needs or solve problems

 Will reveal real concerns due to trust

Assume You Have Completed Your Presentation

and are Getting Ready to Close, cont…

Closing Begins the Relationship

 When you make a sale, you change the

person or organization from a prospect to a customer.

 You have helped the customer

 Now, how do you earn the opportunity to

sell the customer in the future?

 Make sure you have followed the Golden Rule in

selling the correct product and providing exceptional

 Know that you

If After Your Presentation You Received a Positive

Response to Your Trial Close, What Would You Do?

Approach Presentation Trial Close Determine Objections

Meet Objections

If After Your Presentation You Received a Negative

Response to Your Trial Close, What Would You Do?

Approach Presentation Trial Close Determine Objections

Meet Objections

If After You Meet the Objection You Received a Positive Response to Your Trial Close, What Would You Do?

Approach Presentation Trial Close Determine Objections

Meet Objections

Approach Presentation Trial Close Determine Objections

Meet Objections

If After You Meet the Objection You Received a Negative Response to Your Trial Close, What Would You Do?

Approach Presentation Trial Close Determine Objections

Meet Objections

If After You Close You Receive a Negative Response,

What Would You Do?

Summary of Major Selling Issues

 Be prepared to logically and clearly respond to your prospect’s objections

 Basic points to consider in meeting objections

 Plan for them

 Anticipate them

 Handle them as they arise

 Listen to what is said

 Respond warmly and positively

Summary of Major Selling Issues,

cont…

 Objections are classified as hidden, stalling,

no-need, money, product, and source

 Objections help you determine if you are on the

right track to uncover prospects’ needs and if they believe your product will fulfill those needs

 Objections show inadequacies in a salesperson’s presentation or product knowledge

 Closing is the process of helping people make

 Tailor your close to each prospect’s personality

 Close in a positive, confident, and enthusiastic

manner

 Plan and rehearse closing techniques

 A good closer has a strong desire to close each