The 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a Sale

The 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a SaleThe 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a SaleOne of the hardest lessons for new salespeople to learn is the importance of closing every sale. The close doesnt have to be as difficult as it landseems. If you did a good job of presenting the product and responded to the prospects objections, the close follows naturally. However, if things didnt go quite so smoothly, you may need to give the prospect a bit of a nudge to successfully close the sale. Here are a few strategies which may help when the simple approach fails. The Assumptive Close The assumptive close is the most generic and the one to use if you havent been able to fit the prospect to a more customized close. After making the presentation and answering the prospects questions, ask a question that assumes your prospect is about to buy the product. Here are a few examples? Would you prefer red or blue?Our standard delivery can have this to you by Tuesday, or will you need our rush delivery vorkaufsrecht?Will ten units do for a start?I can get you a 10% discount if you pay for a year in advance, would that work for you?Will you be having fries or onion rings with your meal? OK, you probably wont use that last one very often. It shouldnt be too difficult to come up with a handful of similar assumptive questions that fit your product(s) or service(s). The Time-Limit Close This is a good one to use if your prospect utters the fatal phrase Id like to think it over first. Pause for a beat, then nod thoughtfully and say something like this I can certainly understand your wanting to think about this, but I want to let you know now that the model youd like is a popular one and were usually understocked. Id hate for you to be stuck with a model thats not as good a fit just because this ones not available tomorrow Or mention a discount that will expire in two days or a promotion such as a gift with purchase thats about to end. Of course, this only works if such a limitation exists never lie to a prospect You may be able to work with your sales manager to come up with limited-time offers to use if you dont have company-wide ones. The Custom Close If youve qualified the customer well, youve probably gathered a lot of information about their preferences (color, size, features, quality level, the amount theyre ready to spend, etc.). When youre ready to close, look at your notes about the prospects needs and say something like this So, you need an LCD TV thats big enough for everyone in the living room to see clearly, that costs not more than $500, and youd prefer it in silver. Are there any other features youd like? Wait for the prospect to answer, then assuming they say no smile and say... Luckily our XCL 5560 is a perfect fit for you It has all those features plus it comes with our advanced sound system, and its yours for just $399. All I need is your signature and Ill have it delivered right to your home by the end of the week. Still smiling, hand over the contract and point out the signature line. Since youve already accounted for everything the prospect says they want in a TV, its unlikely theyll back out now. If the prospect does hesitate at this point, he likely has some unresolved objections. Youll need to find out what they are and help the prospect overcome them in order to close the sale.