There are well-defined moments in the sales process when you absolutely must ask for the order. You can’t afford to have these precious moments slip through your fingers but unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens to too many salespeople in our system.
I have some advice that will protect you from becoming one of those salespeople. The key is to make closing automatic and you do that by knowing exactly when you must ask for an order.
“Always Be Closing”
Unfortunately, too many salespeople were mislead into believing that “Always Be Closing” represents the “ABCs” of salesmanship. Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth. You can’t always be closing because asking for an order is only one of the steps in the sales process. At a minimum, before you ask for an order you need to establish some rapport with your prospect, uncover a need for your product and present your solution. “Always Be Closing” may sound great in a movie but it is meaningless when you’re in your sales territory, attempting to sell something to someone.
Often, salespeople that think they should always be closing are, in reality, never closing. These salespeople do not understand the sales process because if they did, they would know when and how to ask for an order. Well-trained professional salespeople don’t have these problems because they follow a well-defined sales process. These professionals know exactly when the only thing left to do is close the business.
Fear Of Closing
I also work with another group of salespeople that need help with their closing skills. These sales reps need to overcome their fear of closing. After all, you can’t be a sales rep and have a fear of closing, just as you can’t be an electrician and have a fear of electricity! Salespeople close and if you are not closing you’re not a salesperson… you are just a conversationalist. Salespeople that fear closing just keep talking and hopelessly praying that at some point, the prospect will say ‘yes’ to the order. Guess how often that happens?
In my work, I’ve uncovered many factors that cause some salespeople to fear closing. Some sales reps don’t want to face the moment of truth. Other salespeople fear they may appear “pushy”. There are also other salespeople that assume, without any data to support their assumption, that the prospect is not ready to sign an order. I help these salespeople by making closing an automatic reflex reaction to certain events in the sales process. When closing is automatic, you don’t even have to think about it. You automatically ask for the business. This process helps most salespeople overcome their fear of closing.
Initial Close
At some point in the sales process, you’ll ask your prospect a series of questions to uncover a need for your product or service. You’ll then present your product and explain how the product addresses the needs you’ve uncovered. Once you’ve presented all the benefits your prospect will gain by using your product, you must close. You must ask for the order at this point in the sales process. Don’t think about it … just close.
Since this is the first time you’ve asked your prospect for the order, this closing attempt is called the Initial Close. Your prospect has two possible reactions to your Initial Close. Your prospect will either give you the order or, give you an objection. Obviously, if you get the order, you’ve accomplished your goal. On the other hand, if you get an objection, you still have some work ahead of you.
Overcoming Sales Objections
It is not the end of the world if you get some objections after your first closing attempt. In fact, you probably will get some objections after your Initial Close. Most prospects feel it is their duty to have some objections. So relax and don’t panic. Now that the objection has surfaced, you just moved one step closer to the order. Keep in mind that an objection is not rejection. An objection is only a request for more information. Your prospect is confused and unclear about something you said or something you failed to mention. By addressing the sales objection, you give your prospect new and additional information. Armed with the new information, your prospect is able to develop a new and favorable opinion about the decision to purchase your product.
Objections should not be ignored and must be answered in a way that completely satisfies the prospect. The salesperson should not get defensive or start debating the prospect. The goal is not to win an argument. The goal is to get the order.
The No More Objections Close
Once all objections have been successfully addressed, you must close the prospect and ask for the order. As with the Initial Close, don’t even think about it and make this closing attempt an automatic part of your sales process. I refer to this closing attempt as the “No More Objections Close”. Once the prospect runs out of objections, the salesperson must ask for the order.
Salespeople should always be direct and confident when closing a sale. The salesperson’s confidence makes the prospect confident about the decision to purchase. All objections have been successfully addressed and the salesperson must confidently assume the prospect is ready to do business.
You must remain silent after you ask for an order. The prospect must be the next one to speak. There could be an uncomfortable pause while the prospect thinks about the final decision. If you interrupt that pause, you greatly diminish your probability of receiving the order.
When You Must Close The Sale
As you now see, there are two moments in the sales process that call for a closing attempt. The first attempt is after you’ve presented the benefits of your product. The second time is after all objections have been successfully addressed. Implement this process and make closing automatic.
Republished from my earlier blog series in July 2008
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