WINNING CLOSING TECHNIQUES I

The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in which direction we are moving.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

SELLING IS NOT EASY. EVERY DAY YOU MUST BE UP AND about, prospecting, identify ing needs, making presentations, overcoming objections, and closing the sale. It is hard, hard work. The more way s you know to perform these functions, especially closing the sale, the greater success you will enjoy and the more quickly you will reach the income goals you have set for yourself.

Preparing to Ask for the Order

Before you ask a closing question, be sure that the prospect is ready. Ask a question to ensure that the customer has no lingering queries or objections: “Does this make sense to you, so far?”
If the prospect say s, “Yes, this makes sense,” you can say, “Well then, how soon do you need it?”
Another question you can ask at the end of your sales presentation is, “Mr. Prospect, do you have any questions or concerns that I haven’t covered?”
This is called a negative answer question. When the prospect say s no, he means yes. At this point, you can proceed and ask a closing question.

The Ascending Close

One of the best closing techniques you can learn is the ascending close, which is sometimes called the part-by-part close, or the automatic close. This technique involves a series of questions, each of which leads to the next, with all questions requiring a “yes” answer. For many y ears, before the Internet came along, the ency clopedia sales presentation was one of the most brilliant ascending close sales methods ever designed. Many people who started their careers selling ency clopedias went on to build successful professions and businesses in other fields with this method and approach to selling.

CAREFULLY CRAFTED QUESTIONS

According to the legend, a group of behavioral psy chologists sat down for six weeks and worked together to develop this presentation, word for word. They invested more than $250,000 on the background research and the labor necessary to perfect this process. The ency clopedia presentation consisted of forty -two questions, each requiring a “yes” answer. The questions would start from the most general to the most specific. Each question would more narrowly qualify the prospect in terms of interest and ability to buy.

For example, the salesperson would knock on the door of the home, either cold- calling or following up on a lead, and the first thing he would say was, “Hello, do you live here?” It seems like a simple question, but it helped the salesperson immediately determine whether or not he should proceed with the presentation. If the person who answered the door was merely a visitor, he would ask if he could speak to the person who actually lived in the apartment or home.

ASK EASY QUESTIONS

The second question would be, “We are doing a survey in this neighborhood for a national educational organization; may I ask you a couple of questions?”
Almost invariably, the prospect would say y es. People love to give their opinions.
The salesperson would then ask, “Do you believe in the importance of education?”
The prospect would predictably answer y es once more. The salesperson has now asked three “y es” questions. “Do you live here? Would you answer a couple of questions for our survey ? Do you believe in the value of higher education?”

“May I come in?

” Answer: “Yes.” “May I sit down?” Answer: “Yes.”

“As part of our public relations program, we will be placing a set of ency clopedias in a few selected homes in this neighborhood at no charge. Would this be of interest to you and your family ?”

Again, the prospect would answer y es. Every one likes the idea of getting something free. The salesperson would say, “We don’t sell these ency clopedias. What we do is place them in your living room so that when your neighbors visit and see them and ask where you got them, you tell them that you got them from us and refer them to us, so that we can come by and show them how they can get these ency clopedias for their homes as well. Would you do that?” And again, the answer is yes.

EACH QUESTION IN ORDER

This ascending close presentation marched through forty -two questions, each of which required a y es answer for the salesperson to proceed. If ever the prospect said no, the sales conversation would come to an end.
By the end of the presentation, which started off with the offer of a free set of ency clopedias as a public relations gesture, the prospect would have purchased a $3,000 set of ency clopedias, signed up for the y earbook for ten y ears, and received a free globe, bookcase, and set of sports and children’s ency clopedias. He would have written a check for a $500 deposit, signed a one-year pay ment plan, and would be looking forward to all the educational books that he would soon have in his home.

THE POWER OF YES

The reason the ascending close presentation is so effective is that it is based on the suggestive power of affirmative answers. When you ask a series of six or more questions to which the prospect says yes, the prospect will thereafter nod and agree with almost any thing you say.

If you can ask six “yes” questions at the beginning of your presentation, it becomes very hard for a normal person to say no later on. If you can ask six “y es” questions at the beginning of your presentation, it becomes very hard for a normal person to say no later on. If you can ask six questions that require a “y es” answer to the benefits that your product or service offers, the prospect will often be completely convinced of the goodness and value of your offer.

REPHRASE THE SAME QUESTION

You can often ask the same question with slightly different words. For example: “Mrs. Prospect, would you like to increase your profits?” Answer: “Yes.”
“Are you interested in cutting your costs?” Answer: “Yes.”
“Would you like to operate your business more efficiently ?” Answer: “Yes.” “Would you like to get more done in less time?” Answer: “Yes.”
“Would you be interested in a cost-effective method that more than pay s for itself over time?” Answer: “Yes.”
“Would you like to get started with this right away ?” Answer: “Yes.”

OFFER THE SAME BENEFIT

When the prospect say s y es six times in a row, she will respond positively to almost any thing you say, even if the questions are the same benefit, just phrased differently :

“Is one of your goals financial independence?”
“Would you like to earn the highest return possible with minimum risk?”
“Would you like to earn a much higher return than you would get from a savings account or money market fund?”
“Would you like to see an investment that is the favorite investment vehicle for thousands of sophisticated investors like yourself?”
“If you found something that gave you all these benefits, would you want to get started with it right away ?”

Every time you ask a question, the interest of the prospect goes up. Every y es increases the desire for what you are selling. Every time you ask a “y es” question, you are throwing fuel on the fire and intensify ing the emotion of the prospect.

CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY

On the other hand, every no decreases buy ing desire. It is like throwing water on the fire. This is why it is important that you structure each question so that the only answer you get from a qualified prospect is affirmative. They must answer yes.

Properly designed and practiced, the ascending close is one of the most powerful way s of selling ever developed. It is used successfully to sell investments, life insurance, professional services, educational products, software, computers, high tech of all kinds, and many other things. Even vacuum cleaners and home repairs are sold using the ascending close presentation.

When you ask enough “yes” questions, starting from the general to the particular, moving logically from one point to the next, the prospect’s buy ing desire mounts and mounts. Finally, at a certain point, he will burst out with, “I’ll take it. How much is it? How soon can I get it? Where do I sign?”

BUILDING BUYING DESIRE

Each time you describe a benefit in a sales presentation, purchasing desire increases. Here is an example. Imagine a friend was describing a new restaurant to you. “I’d like to tell you about a new restaurant I went to. First of all, the food is fabulous. They have a great wine list, and the prices are very reasonable. The decor is beautiful, with classical music play ing and a pianist in the main dining room. The service is incredible. The manager is a really nice guy, and every one, including the waiters, treats you as if you owned the restaurant. There is lots of free parking right next to the restaurant, and it’s not even crowded y et, because not too many people know about it.”
As your friend describes all the desirable features of the restaurant, your desire to go there as soon as possible increases dramatically. Soon you can hardly wait to get to a telephone and make a reservation.

DESCRIBE THE BENEFITS

When you are describing the benefits of your product or service to your prospect, and you are positive and animated, eventually the prospect reaches the point where he say s, “How soon can I get this?”
The more logical and preplanned your ascending-close presentation, the faster and easier you will be able to sell. It takes a little work to design and perfect such a presentation, but once you have it perfected, it is almost irresistible.

The Invitational Close

The invitational close is one of the most influential techniques used in modern selling. At the end of your sales presentation, you simply issue a direct invitation to buy what you have just described.
In its simplest form, you first of all ask, “Do you like what I have shown you so far?”
When the prospect say s, “Yes, it looks pretty good,” you immediately go into an invitational close and ask, “Well then, why don’t you give it a try ?”

When you encourage a person to “give it a try,” it sounds like an easy decision to make. Prospects who are reluctant to buy the product are often at least willing to “give it a try.” Your job is to issue him an invitation.

UNCOVER LINGERING OBJECTION

Occasionally, when you say, “Why don’t you give it a try ?” the prospect will think of a reason that might be causing her to hesitate. Simply slow down, answer the objection clearly, and ask, “Does that answer your question?” Then proceed to ask her to buy once more.

If you are selling services, ask, “Why don’t you give us a try?” When you use the word us in this question, it implies that your entire organization will wrap its arms around the customer and work to ensure that he or she is satisfied.

If you are selling services, ask, “Why don’t you give us a try ?” When you use the word us in this question, it implies that your entire organization will wrap its arms around the customer and work to ensure that he or she is satisfied.

If you are selling a tangible product, like a car or a refrigerator, you can use the invitational close by say ing, “Why don’t you take it?” or “Why don’t you buy it?”

JUST ASK

Even if the prospect is say ing things like, “I’m not sure, may be I should wait until later,” or “I don’t know if I can afford it; let me think it over,” you can say, “Yes, I know all that. But it’s a superior product at a good price. Why don’t you just take it?” And then remain perfectly silent. You will be amazed at how many customers have run completel yout of sales resistance by this time. They are just waiting for you to invite them to make a buy ing decision. When you do, they are almost relieved. They will often say, “Oh, all right, I’ll take it.”

SEVERALWAYS TO ASK

Some of the standard invitational closing questions are:
“When would you like delivery ?” “How soon do you need it?”
“Would you like to have this sent to your home or your office address?” “Which color would you prefer?”
“Which size do you prefer?”
“When would you like to get started?” “Do you need this right away ?”
In every case, when you use an invitational close, the prospect must either agree and go along with you while you wrap up the sale or give you an objection that you are prepared to answer with something like, “How do you mean exactly ?”
By using the invitational close, you keep control of the sales conversation. “Are you in a rush, or would Tuesday be all right?” If the prospect say s, “Tuesday would be good,” you have made the sale.

Dealing with Price Resistance

We talked before about price resistance. Every one has problems with price. These price concerns often go back to early childhood, to all the emotional issues surrounding money that you have dealt with all your life. The good news is that price is seldom the reason for buy ing or not buy ing a product or service. Price is important, but there is almost alway s something else that is more important.

POINTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT PRICE

1. No one can afford it. No one can ever afford the price the first time it comes up. No matter what the price, it usually costs too much, more than the prospect expected to pay. More often than not, this is either because the prospect had no idea going in what it would cost or he has not budgeted for it.

Not long ago, we were promoting a two-day, weekend seminar. From the stage, I said, “This seminar is only four-ninety- five per person.” Many people went immediately to the back of the room or phoned us later and said they wanted to go to the seminar that was only $4.95 for the weekend, all inclusive. Instead of 495 dollars, they thought that we were talking about four dollars and ninety-five cents. And even then, they asked for a discount. They had no idea how much it cost to put on a two-day seminar in a first-class hotel or convention center, and as a result, they were shocked when they heard the real price. This is quite common.

The fact is that the amount of money that any one has is limited. When you give a price, this amount represents all of the other things that the prospect could buy with the same amount of money. This is called the principle of the excluded alternative. Every choice implies the exclusion of something else. For every thing you buy, there is something else that you cannot buy.

Each person values the freedom of choice very highly. When you buy something, you give up a certain amount of choice. You limit your options because you reduce the amount of money that you have available. This is why, when price comes up, no matter what it is, people automatically say, “I can’t afford it.”

When you first tell your prospect what the product is going to cost, he will be surprised. This is why you must spend a good deal of time building the value of your product or service before you ever mention price for the first time.

2. Willingness and ability are different. Willingness to pay and ability to pay are two different things. No one is ever willing to pay any price that you ask. No one ever wants to part with her money and thereby cut off her options.

But whether one can afford to pay is a totally different issue. Most people can buy a product or service if they want it badly enough. Your goal is to increase the willingness to pay by building buy ing desire. Repeating and emphasizing the benefits that your prospect will enjoy from your product or service will accomplish this goal. The more the prospect wants what you are selling, the less sensitive she will be to the price.
Convince the prospect that the value of your product is far greater than the cost. She must be fully persuaded that the advantages she will receive are vastly greater than the money you are asking.
Put off the discussion of price whenever you can possibly avoid it. Instead, talk about benefits. When you come to the price later, it will not seem as high.

3. Price out of place kills the sale. That is a fundamental rule in selling. If you bring up the issue of price before the prospect has decided that he wants to own and enjoy your product or service, he will lose interest, and the conversation will be over.

Often the prospect will ask at the beginning of a sales conversation, “How much is it?” At this stage, he has no earthly idea what you are even selling. He has no understanding of the features and benefits you offer or how much better off he would be by owning what you sell. If you give the price before the prospect knows these things, he will have nothing to relate it to. The price will then become the most important issue in the conversation, and he will predictably state, “That’s too much; I can’t afford it.”

LOSING THE SALE

When the prospect say s, “Just tell me the price, and I will tell you if I am interested,” he is attempting to speed up the information process and shorten the conversation. If you answer this question now, you will kill the sale.
He has no value to compare your price against, no clue what he gets for the money. When you put the price out in front of the prospect, all alone, before you have presented values or benefits to offset it, the prospect has no choice but to say that it costs too much.

SIDESTEP THE PRICE QUESTION

When I was telephone prospecting, I found that there is an expression that is common to virtually all buy ers in America. It is the words how much is it, compressed into a single phrase: “Howmuchisit?”
When I was starting out, I often gave the price just to get the prospect to listen to me. But as sure as I did, I would hear, “I’m not interested.” Slam! And she would hang up on me.

I soon learned that if I gave the price before I had a chance to give a presentation, I would not even get to first base. I therefore developed an alternative way of handling this question on the phone.
“How much is it?” say s the predictable prospect.
“Ms. Prospect, that’s the best part!” I would reply cheerily. “If it is not just right for you, there’s no charge.”
“What do you mean?” (Again, as predicted.)
I would then say, “Ms. Prospect, what I’m calling you about, if it’s not exactly right for you, you are not going to take it, are you?” The prospect would say, “No, I’m not.”
“Well then, Ms. Prospect, if you don’t take it, then there’s no charge.” This would alway s trigger the words, “Oh. Well then, what is it?”
“That’s what I’d like to talk to you about. I just need ten minutes of your time; I have something I have to show you.” I would then go on to arrange a ten-minute, face-to-face appointment with the prospect.

THE COMMON DENOMINATOR

There is a reason that people ask for the price at the very beginning. It is because money is the common denominator in our society. The monetary unit, whether it be the dollar, the euro, or the franc, is standard across all transactions. We relate to products and services by finding out how much they cost. The cost tells us where the product or service exists in our universe. We ask the price so that we can fit a particular product or service into our world of experience.
Why do you think people talk about the weather? It is because every one can relate to the weather. It is another common denominator in our society. It affects every body in the same way. Asking the price of any thing is just like commenting on the weather. But you must avoid the question if it arises too early in the sales conversation.

THE REASON FOR PRICE RESISTANCE

Price resistance is how a prospect tells you that you have not given him enough evidence that the benefits outweigh the price. For this reason, never argue about price. Never say that your price is “good” or “reasonable” or “fair,” or any thing else. Whatever the prospect say s about your price, agree. Then go on to say something like, “Mr. Prospect, this product is definitely not cheap. However, there are good reasons for why it costs what it does. Let me explain to you why we charge what we do.” Or “There are good reasons why thousands of people like you have examined this product carefully, compared it with our competitors, and decided to pay more for it, even when they knew they could get something similar for less. Would you like to know what they are?”

BE PROUD OF YOUR PRICES

If you charge a high price, be proud of it. If the prospect say s, “That’s sure expensive!” you say, “Yes, Mr. Prospect. In fact, we are the highest-price supplier of this product in this market. And we are selling more of this today than ever before. Would you like to know why so many people are buy ing our products and using our services even though we charge more?” You will usually get a y es to this, and a chance to explain why your product or service is as good as it is.

DIMINISHING PRICE RESISTANCE

Here is a common experience. A woman goes into a swanky retail store or boutique, looks at a dress, and sees that the price tag is $800. She say s, “My, that’s a lot of money.”
The sales associate agrees and say s, “Yes, this is an expensive dress. It’s a St. John’s Knit. There is a good reason why they charge so much for this. First of all, it is made from the finest materials, hand stitched, with beautiful buttons, collars, and lining. When you wear it, you feel as if you are one of the most expensively dressed women in America. It holds its value. It is timeless in terms of tailoring. You can wear it y ear after y ear, and it alway s looks great. This is why it costs $800.”

When a potential buy er learns all the reasons that a particular product is as expensive as it is, her price resistance declines as her buy ing desire increases. That’s why countless hundreds of millions of dollars of high-fashion clothes are sold every y ear. It is because of the focus on value rather than price.
If you charge a high price, be proud of it. Alway s justify the price with sound reasons. Explain carefully why it costs as much as it does. Never discuss price without mentioning the value and benefits of your offering at the same time.

PUT OFF PRICE UNTILLATER

Let me reemphasize: do not bring up price at the beginning of your talk, under any conditions. When a prospect say s, “Well, that looks very interesting; how much is it?” you reply, “Good question. Can I come back to that in a minute?” or “The price is the best part. I’m going to come to it in just a minute, and you’re going to be very pleased when you hear it. But before I do, may I ask you a couple of questions?” Then go on to ask questions and take control of the sales conversation.

CHOOSE YOUR TIMING

In my sales presentations, I alway s have a specific point at which I explain price for the first time. By that point in the conversation, the customer fully understands what I am selling and why it is the best choice for him, right now. Only then do I say, “I’ll bet you would like to know how much this is going to cost.”
You must increase her buying desire by emphasizing results and benefits. You do not increase buying desire by arguing about the price.

But price does not come up until that point. I don’t mention it until I decide that it is appropriate to bring it up. If the price question comes up earlier, I put it off.
To reduce price sensitivity, continually focus your presentation on the value received rather than on the money charged. Talk about what the product does for the customer instead of its cost.

The Sandwich Close

When the time has finally come to address the question of price, don’t simply tell a prospect a certain number of dollars. Instead you use what is called a sandwich close. With this close, you sandwich the price between two descriptions of the value and benefits the customer will enjoy with this product.

For example, “This machine, including these benefits and features, plus these attachments, a supply of basic materials and fuel, and a ninety -day warranty, will cost you X number of dollars per month once it is in operation. Not only that, we provide complete training and customer support for you until we are sure that you are getting maximum value from this product.”

In this case, you are sandwiching the price in between two descriptions of customer benefits. This descriptions of benefits keeps the customer focused on the value she receives rather than its cost. Here is an important rule in selling: increased buying desire reduces price sensitivity. The more the prospect wants what you are selling, the less concerned she will be about the price. You must increase her buy ing desire by emphasizing results and benefits. You do not increase buy ing desire by arguing about the price.

Compare Your Prices with Those of Your Competitors

You can minimize price resistance by comparing the price with more expensive articles. When a prospect says, “It costs too much,” you can answer with, “Compared with what, Mr. Prospect?” Often he has no idea what he is talking about. He knows nothing of your product, or of products similar to yours. He may have never bought one of your products, or has not bought one for several y ears. He doesn’t realize that prices may have gone up substantially since his last purchase.

When you ask, “Compared with what?” the prospect could say, “Well, compared with ABC’s product, yours seems expensive.”

You reply, “As it happens, ABC’s product, which is similar to ours but lacking certain features and benefits, costs $275 more than ours does. As a matter of fact, here’s their recent price sheet.” Show the prospect written price comparisons. Logic does make sales. Give the prospect the evidence that he needs to feel confident in proceeding with your offer.

COMPARE APPLES TO APPLES

It’s essential that you find out what prospects are comparing you with. For instance, if you say, “This Mercedes costs $105,000,” and they say, “Wow! That’s a lot,” you then ask, “Compared with what?” If they are comparing your Mercedes to a Honda, yes, your Mercedes costs a lot more. But there are very distinct reasons a Mercedes is more expensive than a Honda. “Would you like to know what they are?”

Alway s compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Find out what your competitors are charging for what you sell, and the reasons for any price differential.

When a prospect says, “That seems awfully expensive,” you can say, “Mr. Prospect, here are our major competitors. These are the products they offer, and this is what they are asking for them. You can see that, in comparison with these other suppliers, our products are very fairly priced.”

Stretch It over the Life of the Product

You can reduce price resistance by stretching the price over the life of the product. If the prospect feels that your price tag is too high, you can point out that it costs $300 more than the competitive offering, but your machine has a five-y ear life.

“Even though you pay $300 more,” you can reason, “it works out to about $60 per y ear, which is about $2 a month more for all of the additional quality, features, benefits, and accessories that are built into our product. Is it worth $2 more, or six cents a day, for you to have the best product of its kind on the market?”

Business Is Bad

Sometimes people say, “Business is bad.” Even in boom times, folks complain that business is not as good as they expected and that they don’t have enough cash. The reason for this is that during the slow times in business, people become accustomed to complaining about how bad business is. When business is booming, they retain the habit and continue to complain, even though their complaints are no longer valid.

When a prospect say s that she cannot buy at this time because business is bad, it simply means that you haven’t given her enough reasons to buy. You have not aroused enough buy ing desire. Keep focusing on the results and benefits of your product, of what it does for your prospect, and how it improves her life and work.
Intensified buy ing desire reduces price sensitivity.

Offer Alternatives

Sometimes prospects will say they are “short of cash.” In response you can ask, “What if we could offer you terms, and you could pay if off over an extended period of time?” Or try these:
“What if we could take your existing product as a trade so that you need no cash to begin using our new product?”
“What if we could delay pay ments until your next budget period?”
“What if we could extend pay ments over a five-y ear period rather than a three- y ear period, thereby lowering the monthly pay ments?”
When the prospect brightens up and becomes interested in your counteroffers, it means that he is capable of buy ing; he is just looking for a way to make it work. This is where you use your creativity at its highest level.

Buying a Mercedes

Some years ago, I saw a successful businessman my age driving a silver-grey Mercedes Benz 450 SEL four-door sedan, with blue leather upholstery. From that moment on, all I could think about was owning such a beautiful car.
One day I was calling on a car dealership. In the middle of the conversation, the general manager said to me, “I have the perfect car for you. Come over here and look out the window.” Just below the second-story window was a silvergrey Mercedes 450 SEL sedan. It was my dream car in every respect. But my first reaction was ty pical of most buy ers. “Sorry, I’m not in the market. I can’t afford it. It costs too much. It looks great, but it’s not for me.”

FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK

But the general manager had cut his teeth in car sales. He was a consummate professional. He said, “You may be right. It may be the wrong car for you at this time. But what if we could take your existing car as a trade-in so that there would be no cash out of your pocket at all to drive away in that car?” My heart leaped in my throat. “Well,” I said, “I couldn’t afford it.”
He then said, “Brian, what if we could finance the whole purchase for you?”
When he calculated the monthly pay ments, I replied, “I can’t afford that much each month.”
He replied, “Because this is a Mercedes, we can stretch the monthly pay ments over five y ears rather than three. Could you afford that?”
I never had a chance. They took my car in trade for the full down pay ment.

They financed the balance of the cost through one of their own banks and spread the pay ments over five y ears. Because I bought it through my company, I was able to write off the interest and depreciation. My cost out of pocket for the Mercedes came out to only $125 per month. It was one of the most beautiful cars I ever owned.
My point is that there is alway s a way to make a deal work if the prospect wants the product badly enough. You have to be creative. Once your prospect has expressed an intense interest to own and enjoy what you are selling, find way s to make it work for him.

Dealing with Budget Limitations

Prospects often resist buy ing because of “budget limitations.” The prospect say s, “We don’t have it in the budget. Our budget is all used up.”
You can counter with, “Here is a solution. We will sell you the product now, but we won’t send you the bill until your next budget period. How does that sound?”

If the customer really wants it, she’ll almost without fail agree. As an alternative, you can take something else in trade, or a minimal down pay ment, or offer a cheaper product that does the same thing, or even try to get the customer’s budget expanded to include your product at this time. Find a way.

You Get What You Pay For

From time to time, when the price is above the customer’s expectations, he will say, “That’s more than we expected to pay. Can’t I get it for less?”
Here is how you respond. First, you ask, “Mr. Prospect, did you ever get something for nothing?”
He will admit that he never really got something for nothing.
You then ask, “Mr. Prospect, did you ever get any thing cheap that turned out to be any good?”
Again, after a few seconds, he will concede that he never got any thing cheap that turned out to be of any value.
Finally, you ask, “Mr. Prospect, isn’t it true that you alway s get pretty much what you pay for?”
Never forget that, in the eyes of a customer, salespersons’ assertions are not proof. Just because you say something is true does not mean that it is true in the mind of the prospect.

When he agrees that this is true, you can then say, “Mr. Prospect, this is a great price, and this is a very competitive market. We are selling this product for the lowest possible price we can and still stay in business. If you want a great-quality product that is going to last a long time and do the job for you, sometimes you have to flex your budget somewhere else to get the money you need. Isn’t that true?”

Salespersons’Assertions Are Not Proof

Never forget that, in the ey es of a customer, salespersons’ assertions are not proof. Just because you say something is true does not mean that it is true in the mind of the prospect. You know that you would never lie, but nobody else knows that. Customers are accustomed to believing that you will put the very best light on your product and that you will even exaggerate the benefits of your product if that’s what it takes to get the sale.

When you say to a customer, “This is very competitively priced,” it doesn’t mean a thing. But when you present a price comparison from a recent newspaper or magazine or a price list from your major competitor, this is accepted as valid evidence.

When you say, “You’ll be very happy with this product,” the prospect may say, “Yes, I’m sure I would.” But she will be skeptical. However, if you can back up your statement with a testimonial letter from one of your happy customers, that letter is considered conclusive proof.

Lowest Common Denominator

You can reduce price resistance by breaking the price down to its lowest common denominator. Compare the price of your product with a Coca-Cola or cup of coffee. Some people compare their products to a bottle of wine or a case of beer per week. Some compare it with a dinner out one night per month. Compare your price to something that your prospect consumes on a regular basis.

The Ultimatum Close

A source of great frustration in selling is when prospects procrastinate on the buy ing decision. You will continually deal with customers who drag their feet. They won’t say y es, and they won’t say no. They are “thinking about it.” They are talking it over with someone. They are reviewing it with their accountant, and so on.

This can become a real problem. You have now invested many hours in calling on this prospect, and calling back. You don’t want to lose your entire investment, but you are not making the sale and you are not earning any commissions. What do you do?
In this case, you can use the ultimatum close. Sometimes it is called the end of the trail close or the sudden death close. It enables you to take control of the process and resolve the sale, one way or the other.

FISH OR CUT BAIT

Here’s how it works. First, fill out the sales contract, exactly the way you have discussed it in the past. Then call the prospect and tell him that you need to see him about something that has come up. You have been there so many times that he will almost without a doubt agree to see you.

When you sit down with the prospect, look him in the ey e and say these words: “Mr. Prospect, I have given this a lot of thought, and either this is a good idea for you, or it’s not. But one way or another, let’s make a decision right now. What do you say ?
“I’ve filled out this contract exactly the way we’ve discussed it, and if you’ll just authorize it, we can get started on it right away.”

You take the completed sales contract, put a tick mark by the signature line, put your pen on top of the contract, and push it over to the prospect. Then remain perfectly silent and wait.

According to studies on the use of this closing technique, 59 percent of prospects will look at your contract, look back at you, look back at the contract, and eventually sign it. The sale will be made. The other 41 percent of prospects will go through the same process and then push it away and decide not to buy. But in either case, you will now be free to get on with the rest of your sales career.

Bridge the Gap

Sometimes the best answer when a prospect say s, “That is more than I expected to pay,” is, “Mr. Prospect, how far apart are we?”
Or you can ask, “Mr. Prospect, what do we have to do to make a deal today ? You tell me the very most you can afford to pay, and I will tell you, one way or another, whether or not we can make this work.”
In many cases, you are not far apart. The sale could be just within your reach. But you must know the number that is going around in the customer’s mind. Often, customers cannot emotionally pay any more than the number that they have settled on. You must find out what it is.

A SMALLDIFFERENCE

One of my students was a landscape architect. He was invited to submit a proposal to a homebuilder to do the landscaping for a new home. The contractor told him that he wanted the very lowest price possible. The landscape architect really wanted the work, so he sat down and put together a very tight proposal. He complied with all the specifications of the contractor and put in his bid for $7,025.

The contractor became very emotional. He blew up and said, “Absolutely not! It’s too much. It’s far bey ond what I expected to pay.” He rejected the proposal and slammed down the phone.

My student asked for my advice. I told him to go to the phone, call the contractor, and ask, “How far apart are we?”
At the break in the seminar, he went and did this. He came back with a big smile on his face. The contractor had budgeted exactly $7,000 for this job. My student was only $25 out of the ballpark. He quickly adjusted the size of a couple of the plants in his proposal, rewrote the bid, and got the contract the next day.

How Important Is Price?

We’ve already mentioned the customer’s attempt to shorten the sales conversation. He say s, “Just tell me how much it costs, and I’ll tell you if I’m interested.”

Here’s a good response: “Mr. Prospect, is price your only concern? Are you going to make a buy ing decision on something as important as this solely on the basis of the cheapest price?”
When you put it like this, almost all prospects will answer no.

You continue with, “I know price is important to you, but so are quality, guarantees, warranties, delivery, and follow-up service. We may not be able to give you the lowest price, but we can give you the very best deal on the market today, of which price is only a part. How does that sound to you?”

Your willingness and ability to ask for the reasons behind customer hesitation will open every door for you. Your readiness to ask for the sale whenever you see an opportunity will move you into the top 10 percent in your field. The arts of answering objections and closing sales are essential selling skills that you can learn and perfect with time and practice.