Newsletter Archive - Sales / Marketing
Mastering The Close
01/21/2010 - You've done your fact finding. You listened carefully. You nailed the recommendation dead on. You got all of the right buying signals from the customer. So why aren't you walking out with that sale as often as you should? Closing is simple, isn't it?
There are a whole slew of articles from experts that have all kinds of cute techniques and suggestions on how to close the sale. Here are some more fundamental suggestions we culled from them in a simple checklist format which you can use for the next two weeks. If you follow these base fundamentals, your closing routine will come more naturally, and your success rate should increase:
- Did you do the fact finding to discover the key issue or two in the advertiser's buying decision (e.g. you are the new business in town, your company lacks name recognition in the market, your company seems to be too much like the ABC company, etc.)
- Did you uncover the key benefit(s) that your client wants/needs from their advertising/marketing program??
- Did you describe all of the benefits of your products and what they do, the value they bring to the advertiser's needs?
- Did you hear ready to buy signals? A customer might indicate they're ready by asking questions about ad sizes or the book timing. Other signs include complaints about previous advertising programs and interested comments such as "Really?" or "Good idea."
- Did you ask the advertiser for the sale? I'm kidding right? Nope. One of the single largest problems low closers have is simply not just asking outright for the sale.
- Did you help the advertiser during the discussion with a series of little closes so they had the opportunity to make smaller, progressive decisions, rather than expecting one single big threatening buying decision??
- When you thought the sale was lost, did you make one more try?
Yes, closing can be simpler. Why not try the list above and bring that sale home.