Need sales help? Try a Trial Close
– In fact try several.
© David Peterson - 2006
I’m actually writing this article to
remind myself of the fundamentals of selling. Even after 20
years of selling I still need to remind myself to follow the
basic outline of sales:
- Open
- Qualify
- Probe
- Present
- Close
- Follow-up
I need to remind myself of the fundamentals because after 20
years of selling I still go through sales cycles. There are
two tricks I would like to share with you that help me even
out these cycles.
#1 When sales are good “pedal as fast
as possible.” When you are at the top of a sales cycle
don’t stop. In fact when things are going great – go
faster. Your attitude, your presentation, your ability to
close are so much better when you feel good and it seems
everything is going your way. You will need these prospects
you gather when you are at the top of your game for when
things are not going as well as they could be.
#2 When sales are flat quit complaining
and find out what is wrong. There is a possibility that the
product you are pushing is not right for you. If so move on -
you will never have real success at selling a product that is
not right for you. More than likely the product fits you like
a glove but your not moving enough of them. If anyone around
you (notice how I didn’t say everyone) is having success
selling the product then the problem is you.
What is wrong with you? The answer is
probably that you have forgotten the fundamentals like the
ones listed in the outline above. The outline is one I have
been following for years but you can find any number of them
in contemporary books on the subject. Also the outline at the
top is only meant to help you move the prospect in the right
direction. Within every category of the outline there are
subcategories. I want to focus of the Probing category and
look specifically at a subcategory called the Trial Close.
Trial Closes are meant to steer your
conversation in the right direction, and determine if you have
a prospect or a suspect on the other end of the phone. They
are also meant to find out if your prospect is listening. If
you do them right the prospect will close himself at the end
of your presentation.
Most
of the time your prospect is multitasking and not really
listening to you. Get them into the conversation. The sales
process is a two way street, you take control of the
conversation and the prospect follows. You need to know if
your prospect is really listening to you. The easiest way to
find out if they are listening and more important if they have
any real interest in your product is by using a Trial Close.
The following Trial-Closing statements
should be used all over your probing questions:
- How does that sound to you?
- Will that work for your situation?
- If I could do that for you, would you
purchase the product?
- If I can fix that problem for you
would you be interested?
- Does this fit into your budget?
- How about I do this for you…
Now there are 100’s of Trial Closes you can use. The point
of all of them is that they set up the prospect to give you a
buying signal. If you get a strong buying signal you can
present your solution and the close should naturally happen.
If you get something other than a buying signal you should
start thinking that you have a suspect and not a prospect.
If you don’t use Trial Closing
statements you end up trying to close a suspect. Trying to
close a suspect is a complete waste of time and lowers your
closing average. When I’m at the bottom of my sales cycle
this is typically what I catch myself doing – pitching
suspects. It takes me a few pitches to get back on track and I
do it by using trial closes. Why waste your time, throw out
the trial closes often to find out your prospect’s interest
level throughout the probing stage. The object of selling is
to close – not pitch for the sake of pitching. Now why
couldn’t I have thought about that on Monday instead of
Friday evening!
Sincerely,
David
Peterson
Author
of:
Been There - Done That
David
Peterson's Search Engine Optimization Guide
Please
send all correspondence to: questions@usreference.com
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