 Sales
Best Practices
Assume the
Sale
Did you get the order? If
not, here’s why! By Jeffrey Gitomer
Everybody wants to close the sale. You want to close the
sale. Your manager wants you to close the sale. Your
manager’s boss wants you to close the sale. Your CEO
wants you to close the sale. Your accounting department
wants you to close the sale. I want you to close the
sale.
Everybody wants you to close the sale – except the
customer. They don’t want to be closed, and they hate
salespeople that try to close. Customers want to buy.
You know my mantra: People don’t like to be sold, but
they love to buy.
Historically in the sales progression, the close comes
at the end of the sales cycle. BUT, what you have done
at the beginning of the sales cycle will most likely
determine what will happen at the end of the sales
cycle. You can’t say to the customer at the end of a
6-week courtship, “I know I haven’t been really good at
presenting a compelling message, and I know I haven’t
proven my value against the competition, and I know our
price is higher, so do you want to buy?” No! They’re not
going to buy; they’re going to laugh at you. They’re
going to throw you out on your elliptical.
What you have done before the close will determine the
outcome of the closing process.
The words “close the sale” have been around for a
hundred years. I think it’s time to change them. I think
that if you view the close as a logical and emotional
progression of the selling process, you might then
understand that what has lead up to the close will
determine your fate. It’s more of a “conclusion of part
one” of the relationship building process.
Most salespeople blame the prospect when they can’t
close a sale. Or when the prospect won’t order your
product or buy your service TODAY. It’s not their fault,
Sparky. It’s yours. You have to start with your own
outlook, and your own self-confidence. You have to
visualize the sale taking place before you walk into the
room, and you have to be prepared to make it once you
enter.
TRY THIS: Change your mindset. Don’t close the sale.
Assume the sale. A good ending must be decisive, set-up,
and inevitable. YOU have to be engaging, believable,
passionate, and offer a compelling message. You have to
be prepared with testimonials from other customers, and
you have to prove that your future customer will realize
a positive outcome for their business. And you assume
the sale is yours.
The assumptive position is the strongest selling
strategy in the world. By definition, you believe you
will make every sale you attempt. It sounds simple. It
is simple. But it’s not easy. In order to utilize the
assumptive close, you must be qualified.
There are two major prerequisites that make the
assumptive close possible:
1. Your personal
preparedness. In your company, people assume that
everything revolves around your product or service. But
that’s not true. You have to find a balance between
product preparedness and mental preparedness. You must
display self-confidence, have total product knowledge,
have a positive mental attitude, exude so much
enthusiasm that it’s contagious, and have a desire to
help that exceeds a desire to earn money.
2. Your sales preparedness. That means that the needs of
your prospect have been determined. The buying motives
of the prospect are known to you. You’re established as
a person of value in the mind of the prospect. The
prospect has confidence in you. You’ve removed any
objections, barriers, or perceived risks they may have.
And you’ve built solid rapport. Your job is to know
everything you can about your prospect’s business - its
market, needs, customers, and people. Know its buying
motives, how it profits, and how it produces.
Now you’re ready to “close”
the sale. Better stated, you’re ready to create the
logical and emotional progression of the selling process
to a happy ending. The actual close of a sale is the
delicate balance between your words and actions, and the
prospect’s thoughts and perceptions. And a sale is
always made -- either you sell them on yes, or they sell
you on no.
Is there one best way to close a sale? No, there are a
zillion ways to close the sale. All you have to do is
find the one that works best for you.
If you are interested in the
eight personal barriers that you create before or during
the sale, go to
www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time
visitor, and enter the word BARRIER in the GitBit box.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of
Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers.
President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives
seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts
Internet training programs on sales and customer service
at
www.trainone.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112
or e-mail to
salesman@gitomer.com
© 2007 All Rights Reserved - Don't even think about
reproducing this document without written permission
from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer . 704/333-1112
www.gitomer.com
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