Closing Sales Quotes  Selling without closing is just conversation. (Personal Selling Power)  It ain’t over until it’s over. (Yogi Berra)  Selling is 10% insistence, 90% persistence.  The greatest failure is the failure to try. (William Ward)  Success is 90% failure. (Soichiro Honda)

The Joy of Victory or the Agony of Defeat?  During a recent interview for a sales trainee position Janelle was asked: “Which of the following is your stronger emotions: 1) your hatred of losing or 2) your enjoyment of winning?” Why do you suppose Janelle was asked this question? Was there a preferred answer?

1 is a Fast Ball, 2 is a Curve  Mark a sales supervisor was accompanying Jake, one of his new sales reps, while Jake made sales calls one day. Mark was riding along not only to provide technical support but also to provide constructive criticism. After the first call of the day, Mark suggested to Jake that he may have missed a ‘signal’ that the prospect was ready to buy. What had Mark noticed that Jake had not?

The Cart Before the Horse?  Angela is a veteran sales rep for a Fortune 500 company. During her last sales call, she asked the prospect ‘when she would prefer delivery’. The prospect had not agreed to purchase anything yet. Did Angela make a mistake?

Lower Price to Sell More?  Joe is the district sales manager for Agri Green. He has five sales representatives, each with their own geographical territory, reporting directly to him. One of his reps has noted it has become increasingly difficult to compete against other products with the company’s current stance on maintaining relatively high prices by industry standards. The rep has proposed permission to cut price by 10%. With current prices, the company’s profit margin is 25%. The sales rep is confident he/she could sell 50% more product with the 10% price reduction. Should Agri Green give the sales rep permission to sell at a 10% lower price?

The Close is...  Finishing the presentation (analogies: race, baseball)  Getting the order  Accomplishing the sales call objective  When you find out if you’ve made a successful presentation  Transforming a prospect (a maybe) into a customer (a yes)

The Close is...  Motivating the prospect to buy  Obtaining commitment from the prospect  A win-win situation (i.e. results, pay div, jackpot)  Scary and unnerving (moment of truth; succeeded or failed?)

Closing – General Suggestions  Prepare several closing methods and practice  Don’t force customer to buy; give them reason to buy (e.g. the benefit they seemed to have biggest + reaction to)  Deal with anticipated objections prior to close  Be alert to resistance (  may need to probe for uncovered objections)

Closing – General Suggestions  Avoid negative surprises for your customer  Plan to ask for the order more than once Majority of customers say ‘no’ 4x before ‘yes’ Majority of salespeople don’t ask for order  Look for buying clues  Evaluate your closing performance

Closing – General Suggestions  Show confidence and positive attitude Strong voice Eye contact Use hands Move closer/lean forward  Be ready to close when buyer is ready to buy May before you are done talking Don’t bore a buying buyer or unsell a willing buyer

Buying Clues/Signals  Indications or signs that the prospect may be favorably inclined to buy, is responding positively to your proposal Examples 1. Verbal (a) questions that suggest prospect is thinking about buying “Do you have a quantity discount?” “Would you be able to deliver by next week?” “What kind of warranty goes with this?” “What kind of payment options do you offer?”

Buying Clues/Signals (b)positive statements “I like the way this looks.” “I’ve always wanted one of these.” “Custom application sure would save me time.” “Your price seems reasonable.” (c )requirements/condition statements “We would need delivery by next week.” “I would have to have a separate billing statement for the landlord.” “I’d need to have some assistance with installation.” “My office manager will need to look at this.”

Buying Clues/Signals 2. Nonverbal -facial expression -nodding in agreement -leans forward -examines product closely -hands/arms open

When to Close  No precise formula for determining this  Anytime buyer is ready to buy  After a buying signal  After successfully handling an objection/concern  After presenting strong selling points  After successful trial close

When to Close  + response to a question that gives you a clue the prospect is thinking about buying  Is NOT an explicit question (yes or no) asking customer to buy

When to Close  Example trial close questions “Do you prefer this variety or that one?” “What application rate would work best for you?” “Would you want me to supervise installation?” “Does our price seem reasonable?” “When would you prefer delivery?”

Other Trial Close Qs  Do you like what I’ve showed you?  Does this sound good to you?  This is a pretty good offer, don’t you think?  How are we doing so far?  Have I NOT explained anything well?  Does this look like it will meet your needs?

Specific Closing Methods (examples) 1. Assume 2. Limited choice (multiple options) 3. Concession 4. Benefit (summary or key) 5. Balance sheet (comparative) summary 6. Direct (straight forward) 7. Combination of any methods above

End of Close  Prospect DID buy: Reassure customer they made a good decision (helps reduce buyer remorse, post-purchase dissonance) Make sure customer knows what will happen next Order paper work/process Price/cost and payment (credit) options Delivery What you will do (check back, etc.) Ask for referrals (use caution; may be best to wait) Compliment customer again and leave as soon as possible

Assume Close  You (and often the customer) assume the customer wants to buy from you  Appropriate when Dealing with established, repeat-business customers There has been little or no resistance A genuine need has been found that you can satisfy  Begin to write order after asking question that assumes the customer is buying “What quantity do you want me to put you down for?” “When would you like this to be delivered?” “Should I just put this on your account?”

Limited Choice (Multiple Options) Close  Ask prospect to choose between buying alternatives (not to choose between buying and not buying)  The choices offered should be logical alternatives that you believe will meet prospect’s needs  Example choices “Would you want this delivered tomorrow or the next day?” “Do you want this with or without the maintenance contract?” “Looks like we may have it narrowed down to the Bin- Buster or Yield-Beater models? Which one do you think will work best for you?” “Would you prefer to have this with or without the Scotch Gard?”

Concession Close  Offer extra incentive (concession) to buy now  Examples: If you buy now... I’ll let you try it for a week, and if you’re not satisfied, you can return it at no obligation to you. You’ll be eligible for the drawing for the FREE trip to Hawaii. I’ll throw in a 30 lb. Butterball turkey at no extra cost. I will personally come back to calibrate the machine at the time of delivery.

The “Economics” of Cutting Prices to Sell (i.e. New Q Required to Maintain π) (if  P) Let π 1 =initial profit w/initial P π 2 =profit w/new P P 1 =initial price, Q 1 = initial Q sold P 2 =new price, Q 2 = new Q sold C=cost per unit of Q sold π 1 =(P 1 – C)Q 1

The “Economics” of Cutting Prices to Sell (i.e. New Q Required to Maintain π) (if  P) π 2 =(P 2 – C)Q 2 π 1 = π 2 => (P 1 – C)Q 1 = (P 2 – C)Q 2

P Cutting Conclusions  The  in Q sold required to maintain same π level  s as 1. The % P cut  s AND 2. The profit margin  s

P Cutting Example C =.75 P 1 P 2 =.9P 1 => Q 2 must be at least 67% greater than Q 1

Benefit (Summary or Key) Close  Ask for the order after you have presented a key benefit of apparent interest or after a summary of several benefits  Helps the prospect, who has raised few concerns, review and see the total picture

Benefit (Summary or Key) Close  Example summary: “OK, Cy, allow me to review some of the things we’ve discussed that you like: 1. Our ongoing research can provide you with the most up-to-date information on feed results so you will know what to expect 2. Our 2x per wk delivery will mean fresher feed, greater consumption, bigger gains. 3. Our electronic record keeping system will simplify your management system and save you time 4. Our medicated feed additive will reduce labor demand for vaccinations and free up time for you and your workers “Can we get started with our program today?”

Balance Sheet (Comparative) Summary Close  Similar to benefit summary close EXCEPT it also recognizes some negative issues  Helps the prospect, who has voiced some concerns, weigh the benefits against costs, advantages against disadvantages  Often effective if done on paper

Balance Sheet (Comparative) Summary Close For (+)Against (-) Step 3) ask prospect to list things they like (provide lots of assistance) Step 1) ask prospect to list concerns (with little or no help from you) Step 4) review list with prospect (+s should easily out number -s) Step 2) ask prospect if there others (most won’t come up with more than 2-3) Step 5) ask for order

Direct (Straightforward) Close  Ask for order and wait for response  Example: “Bob, I’d like to be able to do business with you. How about giving me a chance to show what our product can do for you?”  Asking is the easy part; waiting (positively), even if only for a few seconds, is the hard part  Likely to work best if prospect has not voiced many concerns

End of Close  Prospect DID buy: Reassure customer they made a good decision (helps reduce buyer remorse, post-purchase dissonance) Make sure customer knows what will happen next  Order paper work/process  Price/cost and payment (credit) options  Delivery  What you will do (check back, etc. Ask for referrals (use caution; may be best to wait) Compliment customer again and leave as soon as possible

End of Close  Prospect did NOT buy: Do not take ‘no’ personally  They have not rejected you  They have only rejected your offer Do not take ‘no’ to mean ‘no never’  Prospect meant ‘no not now’  Don’t close door, try to get permission to come back

What do these words have in common? 1. Gracias 2. Dankie 3. Mahalo 4. Obrigado 5. Paldies 6. Salamat 7. Kia ora 8. Kiitos 9. Diolch 10. Xie xie 11. Arigato 12. Spasibo 13. Multumesc 14. Dziekuje 15. Merci 16. grazie

‘Most Important’ Words to Live By? 5. You did a great job! 4. What do you think? 3. I was wrong. 2. Thank you! 1. We or please.

End of Close Thank prospect for their time and leave as soon as possible Analyze the call  What did you learn about prospect  What went wrong  What will you do next time

Closing Sales Quotes  Ask and ye shall receive. (John, Chptr 16)  Going to great lengths to sell a prospect something he does not want is a clumsy way of trying to get money. I have never really had to sell at all – only to explain the favor I expected to do the prospect. (Harvey S. Firestone)  How we handle disappointment is often more important in reaching success than our focus on success itself. (Abraham Zalezik, Harvard prof)

Closing Sales Quotes  To judge your success, take into account what you had to give up to get it.  When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.  No sale is complete until the money has been collected.  No one has ever made a sale by walking away forever.  I sold the prospect on the idea that I would return and try again. (Anon)  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again. Then give up. There’s no use being a damned fool about it. (W.C. Fields)

Closing Sales Quotes  The joy of winning and the rewards of winning are in proportion to the difficulty of winning. One of the major difficulty factors in selling is rejection. If you never experience rejection you will never experience or appreciate the victories. (Lloyd Allard, Personal Selling Power, Nov/Dec ’92)