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Recently I conducted an unscientific verbal survey of several dozen salespeople consisting of one simple question: How do you define closing?
The answers I heard were interesting. Some examples include:
+“The close is when you seal the deal and put them on the books.”
+“It’s when they say ‘yes’ and sign the papers.”
+“Closing is getting the order in writing and picking up a check.”
+“The close is when I ask them to buy and they agree.”
+“I close a sale when I convince someone they need my product and they sign up.”
+“Closing is getting people to agree to buy and prove they have a way to pay or finance it.”
That should give you a good idea how most salespeople define closing.
I got some interesting comments and weird looks when I responded with MY definition of closing, which is:
Continually agreeing on logical next steps that will advance the sale
I followed that statement with an analogy from football. How often do teams score touchdowns on their first snap from scrimmage? Of course the answer is, rarely. Teams focus on achieving first downs in order to keep control of the ball and move down the field, eventually scoring a touchdown.
From there I described what I call two types of closes; first downs are achieved by closing with a ‘little c’ and touchdowns are achieved by closing with a ‘BIG C.’
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Examples of ‘little c’ closes are realizing that:
-Each contact must be closed, by taking a next step for an (appointment, demo, presentation, etc.)
-Each presentation and proposal that didn’t buy initially, must be closed by setting follow-ups (firm second appointments, video chats, conference calls, etc.)
-Each follow-up and subsequent follow-up to that follow-up must be closed; see above, rinse and repeat until the ‘BIG C’ is accomplished. Of course the ‘BIG C’ close is what the salespeople questioned above described during my verbal survey.
These logical next steps are the first downs that lead to the ‘BIG C’ touchdowns necessary for your take home pay to take you home.
But there’s more… The ‘BIG C’ continues as you close for referrals and testimonials after the work is completed. It’s not good enough to simply say, “If you talk to anybody else who might need my help, please send them my way.” You must close with a ‘BIG C’ by scheduling a QA follow-up visit to ensure the work was done properly and the customer’s needs have been met as you promised. At that point you have earned referrals and testimonials but must close for them in order to trigger future second and third generation sales.
In conclusion when is the right time to close with the ‘BIG C’?
-It’s when the prospect is ready to buy.
-They will be ready when their needs uncovered by you during discovery have been met and satisfactorily explained.
-To advance the ‘BIG C’ close listen closely and observe all verbal and non-verbal signals.
-When you determine the prospect appears ready, stop and close. That means asking the prospect to buy your solution. BTW, don’t spend any of your time buying back what you just sold over the past few minutes because you haven’t trained yourself to zip it!
So I hope you will agree, closing is more involved than simply asking prospects to buy something after giving a proposal.
————I Get It Now————
“Doug, in our recent ZOOM session when you taught us that every prospect encounter has to be ‘closed,’ that made so much sense. I had never thought about it that way. Closing with a ‘little c’ will be a major strategy for me going forward. Thanks Doug.” Steven Polson, Orkin Dothan, AL.
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