Closing the sale? Suggestions?

Hello everyone,
I've just joined the group. I'd like your opinions on this please.

While I love working with clients, and I like dealing with prospects that approach me first and already know they want to have me handle their projects, I get nervous approaching and asking for the sale from those who don't know me well.

Suppose I am talking on the phone with a new prospect and that they seem somewhat curious about my work. Many books say "make sure to ask for the sale!", how exactly is a person to word something like that with tact? I don't want to be a snake-oil salesman, I'm a very relaxed sort of softer sell.

Suggestions? How do you handle this?
Thanks,
Lynn
- Sign up for our free drawing by August 11th and you could win a custom designed web site. Professionally created, tailored to you. Someone will win! More about this on our site:
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My Assistant

Hi Lynn,

I'm not sure exactly what you do, but to me almost everything is about creating an offer, and then communicating it....

If you know their problem or what they need/want done - make an offer.... Say, I can do this for you, I'll do all these things, or give you all this stuff with these advantages for you, and it will cost this much....

I don't think about "making a sale" any more - I tend to think about "communicating a great offer." I like to break down business into two fundamental steps....

1. Having a good offer, or giving people a "good deal"....

2. Communicating your offer or deal to people.

I think the heart of most business is contained in these two categories....

(Of course, you have to deliver on your offer too - I guess I've taken that as an assumption....)

Product development, deciding what business you want to go into - that's all part of trying to create a "good deal" for people (where you will make a profit too).... A good deal doesn't necessarily mean "cheap" prices - it could also mean expensive prices for a valuable product, with extra support services thrown in or extra features - that sort of thing.

Offering a "good deal" is not necessarily straightforward - often it requires creativity, since you have to make a profit too. Just cutting your profit to offer "cheap" prices is definitely NOT what I mean here....

Communicating your offer - that's when you tell them or educate them on why your deal is good for them. This is where sales, advertising, and all that come in.... It also requires creativity too.

In my mind, however, it mostly boils down to those two essential things....

Maybe someone else here can also offer some suggestions....

- Dien

I have always used the technique called, "Assume The Sale!"

You've....
1) Discovered the prospects PROBLEM (getting HIM to admit the problem in HIS own words helps to cement in HIS mind that he does, in fact, have a problem)
2) Offer YOUR solution. Give benefits and "Reasons WHY" your product or service is the best solution to his problem.
3) Ask if he has any questions. Answer them then,
4) ASSUME he has bought your program!
a) If on the phone...ask him which address he wants your product sent or WHEN would he like the service to begin, tomorrow or the next day (Always give a choice)
b) If in person...whip out your order pad and begin writing up the order. He has to stop you. If he doesn't...just hand the completed form over to him and ask for his "OK"! (Never ask anyone to "Sign" something!)
If he says, "Hey! Wait a minute! I never said I was going ahead with this!" To which you respond, "Oh! I thought you didn't have any more questions. What is your question? (Answer the question and continue writing)

After training MANY salespeople, I found that MOST do NOT know how to "ask for an order"...so, the easiest way I've found to get them thru this crucial step is for them to simply begin writing in the prospects name, adddress...etc, on your order form. ASSUME the sale has gotten me THOUSANDS of sales.

Don ALm

> Hello everyone,
> I've just joined the group. I'd like your
> opinions on this please.

> While I love working with clients, and I
> like dealing with prospects that approach me
> first and already know they want to have me
> handle their projects, I get nervous
> approaching and asking for the sale from
> those who don't know me well.

> Suppose I am talking on the phone with a new
> prospect and that they seem somewhat curious
> about my work. Many books say "make
> sure to ask for the sale!", how exactly
> is a person to word something like that with
> tact? I don't want to be a snake-oil
> salesman, I'm a very relaxed sort of softer
> sell.

> Suggestions? How do you handle this?
> Thanks,
> Lynn
> - Sign up for our free drawing by August
> 11th and you could win a custom designed web
> site. Professionally created, tailored to
> you. Someone will win! More about this on
> our site:
> http://myassistant.bizhosting.com




$800 A Day Cleaning Wood Decks!

Hi Lynn:

> I
> like dealing with prospects that approach me
> first and already know they want

Don't we all! ;o)

> I get nervous
> approaching and asking for the sale from
> those who don't know me well.

> Suppose I am talking on the phone with a new
> prospect and that they seem somewhat curious
> about my work. Many books say "make
> sure to ask for the sale!", how exactly
> is a person to word something like that with
> tact? I don't want to be a snake-oil
> salesman, I'm a very relaxed sort of softer
> sell.

In my experience, "stress" and feeling like a "snake oil salesman" are results of being manipulative.

Just be totally upfront...

A prospect expressing somewhat curiosity is not expressing a WANT for what you offer. And you could end up spending large amounts of time satisfying prospects' curiosity.

Let me show you with an example...

Yesterday I got a phone call from a guy. The first words out of his mouth were "How are you?" followed by "Is this BusinessName?"

These two openings sent my salesman alarm off.

He started to get into his speil and I stopped him and asked "Are you trying to sell me something?"

He said "No. We are offering you a service that blah blah blah... and it only costs..."

At this point I interupted him and said, "You are trying to sell me something!"

He then admitted he was.

I asked him to tell me about it because I was

CURIOUS.

Did I want his thing?

NO!!!

I wanted to know more about it because I was curious about it. It seemed a novel and unique way to approach something I have no want or use for.

So he spent the next bunch of minutes telling me all about his wonderful service - for which I have no use or want.

But I was upfront with him about it. I told him I am not really interested but am curious about how it works.

This guy spent five or six minutes with me for no return.

If he had approached me like this...

"This is Joe Bloggs with ABC Computing. We offer (what they offer - the features and not benefits). Is this something you want?"

I have to answer Yes or No.

He finds out within thirty seconds whether he should spend any more time with me.

In your case it could go something like this:

"This is Lynn LastName with My Assistant. We provide business research and office assistance. Is this something you want?"

The person who answers the phone will know if they need/want what you are offering and will tell you Yes or No straight away.

If they say Yes, then continue to ask them the necessary questions to get your job done - just like you would ask them if they had called you first.

You could almost call this MacDonald's Selling...

Do you want fries with that?

Yes.

Do you want a large?

Yes.

If you say No, MacDonald's doesn't say... "Are you sure? They are really nice fries. Why don't you want them?" and try to uncover your objections to not wanting fries so they can counter and try to persuade (manipulate) you into buying fries. They accept your answer and move on.

Jaques Werth calls this High Probability Selling. You might want to check out his website at: http://www.highprobabilityselling.com/

He offers an article on Eliminating the Fear of Cold Calling and Rejection (the link is near the top right) as well as the first four chapters of his book.

Without realizing it, I have been using High Probability Selling offline for years. And the reasons were: I found it less stressful, less confrontational, somewhat enjoyable and it generated more sales than other methods.

To see an online example of this low key, low pressure method, click the link below. You will notice a lack of benefits on that page. There are some, but it's mostly features. We allow the reader to turn those features into benefits themselves. And we only get subscribers who want what we offer, instead of those who were talked into it.

Michael Ross


Click Here for a low pressure selling example