"Sales 101" cont'd...

[Ankesh]

As Phil says - tweak the idea to make it work for you.

Doesn't assuming the sale work for every product? It could if you changed your technique a bit.

Instead of asking "would you like that in Maple or Cherry"

you could simply pass the order paper over to them (thats pre-filled with their name and address and order info) - that requires their signature. Don't say a word. Assume that they will sign it. And you'll see how often they sign.

Got this idea from another master salesman - Frank Bettger.

He used to sell insurance. He had a very hard prospect who would always tell him to come back later. So what he did is one day fill out the order form before he went to see that prospect. And as soon as he saw the prospect - he gave him the paper and shut up.

Usually - he would ask something like "So what do you think about the plan we discussed last week" - but this time - he just shut up - and he made the sale.

The point is this - not every one will buy when you assume the sale. But more people will buy than if you wouldn't have assumed the sale.

What assuming the sale does is - simply weakens one dreaded objection - "let me think about it some more."

* Note: assuming the sale won't work at all if you haven't made a good sales presentation before and taken care of all their other objections.

To assume the sale or not isn't the real question. The real one is 'how well do you know your prospect?'. You see, any fool can go in, give a canned spiel, and then assume the sale...and get escorted to the door the majority of the time. It's not that simple, as others have stated.

The only way that 'assume the sale' works is if you've been paying attention and really communicating with your prospect. There comes a time in most sales presentations when assuming the sale becomes nothing more than following through with the next logical step...if you've done things right.

To break out 'assume the sale' from the entire sales process, does an injustice to folks who are just learning their trade and even old timers who want to update their skills.

You can compare the assume the sale part to a dinner party. You can welcome folks, get them seated, start the conversation ball (or keep it going), serve the food etc but, until someone picks up a glass or utensil to drink or eat, it's just a fancy setting...and nothing more. Same difference. At some point the pen is the logical next step. Just choose the best way to get there and assuming the sale loses importance in and of itself.

Sandi Bowman