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The Myth Of Closing Sales
For years, sales managers and sales trainers have focused on the importance of ‘closing the sale’ or ‘getting the order.’ Closing the sale should not be the end of the sales process, but the beginning of the relationship with that customer. I would like you to shift your mental gears for a few minutes and see the close as not the end or the goal, but just another aspect of the overall sales process.
When a salesperson has ‘closing the sale’ as his focus, he will tend to look at the overall process in a short-sighted way. He may unconsciously say or do things that he would not do or say if he were thinking longer term.
Let me illustrate.
When a salesperson is giving a presentation on the product or service, he will make any number of statements, promises or commitments to get the prospect to buy. He wants this prospect to order for any number of selfish, as well as professional, goals. Selfish – making a commission or winning a contest, professional – in that the prospect gets a solution to a problem or a need.
Just look at some of the language of the past and you will see my point. • Hot button • Closing room • Manipulate • High pressure • Hard sell
(By the way, if some of you are still using these words or phrases, get into the 20th century before it is too late for you.)
These words do not paint a pretty, let alone professional, image.
Professional and successful salespeople of today focus not on the close of the sale or the end of the presentation, but on the beginning and qualifying and probing.
“You will never turn a poor prospect into a customer with a good product, slick presentation or tricky close. However, a well qualified prospect will make up for your incompetence and or inexperience.”
Compare the sales process to building a house. What is more important – the foundation or the bathroom fixtures? (Yes, I know we need bathroom fixtures. My point is that, if the foundation is out of square, it will have a negative impact on the balance of the construction. It will be hard to fix this problem later as the construction proceeds. The same is true about the sales process. It is hard to make up for a poorly qualified prospect at the close of the sale.
It is my opinion that the close of the sale should be the easiest part of the process – if you have done everything else up to that point correctly. This implies that you are selling this prospect for the long term and not a quick buck.
About the author:
Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That’s Life, Peace Of Mind, 91 Challenges Managers Face Today and Your First Year In Sales. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com
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