The Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action
Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton
-
To Close or Not to Close -
Are
you choking when it comes time to close the
sale?
Here are some approaches that will make it
easier.
Shakespeare
might have put it this way:
To
close or not to close, that is the question!
Whether 'tis nobler to suffer possible
rejection
Or to invite the prospect to take
action...
Independent
Professionals have suffered the angst of
closing ten thousand times more than Hamlet has
recited his famous soliloquy on stage.
Two
reasons:
1)
Fear of rejection and
2) Not knowing exactly what to say when closing.
The
good news is that, if you understand number two,
number one lessens considerably. In today's
eZine I'm going to share several closes for various
selling situations.
First,
imagine that you've had a good sales interview with
the prospect. You've listened to their
situation, know where they want to go, and you feel
confident that your service is a good fit for them.
You've explained how your service works, and now
it's time to pop the question. But
first...
What
not to do:
I
had a client who did the following every time:
"OK, that's how my services work. Why don't you
think about it and get back to me and let me know
what you'd like to do."
No,
no, a thousand times no!!
They'll
think about it alright. They'll think
themselves out of it. And when you get back to
them, they'll tell you to call in three weeks or
three months.
You
need to ask. But you don't need to blurt out:
"Well, would you like to work with me?" No, you can
be more subtle than that and still close the sale
comfortably. Here are a few ways to do
that:
Assumptive
Close
This
is where it looks quite certain the prospect wants
to move forward. So just assume they are ready and
close like this:
"That's
how our services work and I'm confident we can
help you achieve the objectives you've outlined.
Why don't we look at a time we can get
started?"
Most
often, they'll open their calendar and look for a
time. If they have questions, they'll let you
know: "Before we schedule something I have a few
more questions."
Once
you answer the questions satisfactorily, go back to
the assumptive close. "So why don't we schedule
a starting date and I'll send you some preparation
materials before our first meeting."
Budget
Close
You've
discussed everything but price. You have a
fixed price for your service or have figured out
your price beforehand. This is one of my favorite
closes - especially if I'm selling by
phone.
"OK,
that gives you an overview of what coaching
would consist of and the results you can expect.
The fee is $1500 per month. Does that work for
your budget right now?"
If
it doesn't work for their budget, they'll let you
know and you can work with that. It's not
unusual that people will say, "Well, no, but I need
to do this anyway."
The
Proposal Close
Use
this when you cannot get the final agreement until
you have submitted a proposal with a price.
However, you must have conceptually agreed on
everything else - problems, needs, objectives,
value and your approach.
"We'll
that sums it up. Your objectives are XYZ and we
can definitely help you achieve them. I know I
need to give you a final price, which I'll send
in a proposal. If that's acceptable to you, I
can start the project in about two weeks. Will
that work for your schedule?"
If
they say "Yes, looks good, I hope we can work
together," then you simply need to deliver a
proposal with an acceptable price tag. If they have
other issues, they will bring them up: "Can you
tell me a little more abut how ABC will
work?"
Trial
Close
This
is not a final close, but a test to see if you are
on track in the sales process.
Prospect:
"Does the training come with any follow up?"
You:
"We can certainly do that if you want to measure
before and after performance. Is that important
to you?"
If
they say "Yes," your trial close has confirmed what
they want and what they are likely to buy. A
trial close is often used to follow up the answer
to a question. Use trial closes throughout the
sales interview. Here's another:
Prospect:
"I'm not sure our people will be willing to do
that."
You:
"Many people are concerned about that, but we
structure things so that we get very high
participation. If we can do that, it will really
improve results, won't it?"
The
answer might go something like, "Well, if you
can do that, it would definitely make a
difference." You are building agreement and buy-in
with every trial close.
*
The
More Clients Bottom
Line:
You don't need a lot of closes. Once you've
settled on a couple that work for you, continue to
use them, with minor adjustments, at the end of
every sales interview. Soon you'll be confident
that you can close in a natural, confident way
every time. I promise your sales will go
up!
Do
you have a favorite close that you use? Please
share it with us on the More Clients Blog
at:
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
*
This
Week's Featured Products:
Filling
the Pipeline through Relationship
Marketing
Yesterday
I hosted one of the most information and
value-packed TeleClasses I've ever done with Andrea
Nierenberg.
We
looked at every step of the relationship marketing
process, or what I call "the Relationship
Pipeline." What I love about Andrea is that she
does a lot more than give information.
She
shares techniques, systems and stories that
illustrate exactly what you need to do to build a
never-ending stream of qualified prospects. And she
makes it look easy and fun.
You
can listen to the first 17 minutes of this program
online if you go to the link below.
http://www.actionplan.com/fillpipeline.html
Until
next week, all the best,
Robert
Middleton
ACTION
PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
www.actionplan.com
210
Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790
Contact
by email
©
2006 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You
are free to use material from the More Clients
eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include
complete attribution, including live web site link.
Please also notify me where the material will
appear. The attribution should read:
"By
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please
visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources on
marketing for professional service
businesses."
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