What exactly is meant by selling?
The Oxford Dictionary of English says: “to have a stock of (something) available for sale”.
It is not enough to have something available to sell. You have to get it SOLD to win. The act of selling, ONLY becomes SOLD when the sale gets CLOSED. When you close the buyer the exchange occurs. He gives you his money or buys it on a credit or signs to be invoiced later. A salesperson who doesn’t get a CLOSE fails at his job.
It is not enough to do presentations, and/or get friendly with the customer, show him/her your interest, have a nice chat and exchange phone numbers, and hope someday he/she will buy.
A professional salesperson is the one who gets the CLOSE.
You can be excellent at rapport building and making friends, but what separates a mediocre salesperson from a top salesperson is the amount of closes on his sales.
A basketball player is only considered professional when he gets paid for his work.
It is the same with salespeople.
So what does it really takes to get a great amount of closes?
Asking! It is not enough to present, talk and use all of your skills. You still have to ask: “how are you getting our product/service today Mr Smith, will it be cash, credit card or electronic payment?”
Or: “To get your deal secured at this lowest price, Mr Johnson, I need you to sign here and there”.
But how many times do you ask? Always ask at least one more time!
The buyer says “we are not ready yet”, “I need to speak to my partner”, “we never make rushed decisions”, etc. – the list is endless.
How do you handle that? A skilled salesperson is equipped in an arsenal of closes. Buyers are scared to buy on the spot. Why? There is a big chance that he/she made the wrong decision in the past and then later regretted it.
Possibly, the “not-so-great salesperson,” or better said “conman,” persuaded your customer to buy something fast and then the product was faulty and never got fixed, or the service he/she received was bad. It is essential to find out what was his/her previous experience and make the person see that what happened in the past is not what is happening now, and ensure the customer that this thing won’t happen again with you.
Keep your customer interested in your product, and repeat to him what great features it contains, how it will make his/her life better, and what he/she told you about it!
For example: The customer said “we need this product and service to be such and such to solve this and that problem”. You repeat to him/her “Sir/Madam, when I came to your office you mentioned that you need this product/service to solve this and that problem. I am here to help you solve this problem today, so it doesn’t get any worse, and so you don’t have to worry about this problem later. There are many things you need to take care of, and I am here to save you time and money. You told me you need this. Will that be cash or card”?
Make your customer feel that your service is unique and that he/she won’t get the level of your service anywhere else. Price is rarely a real reason for complaints. When someone says “it is too much money”, what he/she really is saying to you is “it is too much money for the product/service you are offering”. He doesn’t really believe in the worth of what you are presenting to him.
Question your buyer, find out what his/her objections are. Let him/her talk. Learn to listen. Give him/her your attention. Don’t answer messages when you talk to people. The less talking you do the better. Find out from your buyer what is the worst thing that will happen if he/she signs up today or buys today. In most cases nothing will happen because he is ready to buy. The fear inside him of past/potential bad past experience is manifesting in front of you, when the time comes for him/her to separate with his/her money.
Disregard the fact he/she is nervous, ask questions, and ask for the CLOSE: “Will it be cash or card”? “I need you to sign here and there”.
STAY IN THE CLOSE
Do you know that place where everyone gets a little uncomfortable when it comes to asking for money? People get emotional when it comes to money.
If you encounter great difficulty in taking people’s money, the first person to address is yourself and not the buyer. To make it in sales, you must be able to take money and be able to ask for money.
Unless you ask for it, you won’t get it.
Practice the close using role play. Keep practising it until it feels natural to you, until you feel calm and confident asking for the close, and have learned a variety of ways to do so, with confidence.
Practice asking for money, practice closing the customer. Use your office colleagues to practice the role play practice or record yourself on a video camera. Watch for your attitude when handling people.
You must be willing to be uncomfortable when your buyer gets emotional. Stay in a close to the end. Don’t be afraid to be told “no”. What will happen when you get a “no”? The possibility is that you get a “yes” if you ask enough times. If you never ask, the chances that “no” becomes a reality are close to 100%. Be willing to ask for the close and always ask one more time!
Blog based on materials of Grant Cardone “Sell or be sold”.
