As I mentioned in my last blog, closing the deal is the most important exercise in business. More important than pitching, even more important than having a quality product or service. Although you want to have a quality product or service people get ripped off all the time because they have been closed by an expert. 

Closing is an art form. Pitching is what most people associate with selling and in all truth it is only about 20% of selling if that. 30% in my opinion is that the persons is likable. And the other 50% is knowing how and not being afraid to close.

 

So what is a close? Simply put a close is asking for the money. If you don't ask for the money people will not buy. PERIOD! You can have the greatest pitch in the world but if you don't ask for the money they will sit and listen to you and when you come to the end they will look at you with a deadpan look. You think educating them on how your product is the best or greatest is how you get the deal and it isn't. Closing and asking for the money is how you get the deal.

So how do you close? Well your pitch needs to set it up. Lets use cars for our example. You pick 3 of the major feature of the car and focus on that during your pitch. Before you pitch you qualify your prospect by asking them what they are looking for. You then focus your pitch on those 3 things about your product or service.

So using the car example as if you just met someone on the lot. You introduce yourself in a very friendly manner and LOOK THE PERSON IN THE EYE. Think of it like an interview. Keep all those things in mind. Dress well, look the person in the eye, firm handshake all those things you know about a good interview and sound like you know what your talking about.

So you ask the person what they are looking for. The person replies that they want a sporty SUV with leather and all the bells and whistles. You take them to that vehicle on the lot and do the following. You pitch that your vehicle is one of the sportiest on the market. Spend a minute or so explaining why and at the end as a question that they MUST SAY YES TO. Do that with all 3 topics they gave you. Have them sit in the vehicle in the leather and tell them how great the leather feels and smells. “And you wanted leather RIGHT?” of course they have to say yes. And show them all the bells and whistles. This has all the bells and whistles RIGHT?” They have to say yes. Each time with all 3 topics. End each with a question they have to say yes to. Now you have them in the yes mode setting them up for the close.

Now for the close you review the 3 topics. “You have to admit this vehicle is really sporty, right? “yes” And it has beautiful leather interior, right?” “ yes” and it has all the bells and whistles you wanted, right?” “yes.” AND THEN YOU ASK FOR THE MONEY. Depending on your business if it is selling cars you gently nudge them towards your desk and say “Well, lets start the paperwork and get you in it!”

THEN THE MOST IMPORT PART OF THE CLOSE! SHUT UP! Because the next person that talks loses. And if you talk before they do you don't know how to close them. Take what they say and turn it right around on them and then ask for the money again. Then SHUT UP again because you have to hear what they say so that you can close them again and ask for the money. You keep going though this until they either buy or walk out on you. Usually they will buy if you are not obnoxious about it.

In your business there are what as know as “objections”. The reason people give you way they won't buy. Like in the car business it is “I have to talk to my spouse” What you need to do is compile a list of these and then have a ready answer for them and cover them during your pitch. Like, “well you spouse knows you are here” in casual conversation. This is the vehicle you wanted, sporty, leather and all the bells and whistles, right?” “yes” well, if it is what you want they want you to have what you want so lets get the paperwork going and get you in this beautiful vehicle” Now you have eliminated that excuse. You have to keep going until they run out of excuses.

You use this technique no matter what you sell. The selling process is the same. You need to have a plan for selling and it isn't something you do by the seat of your pants. You qualify the sale by asking the buyer what they want, you qualify the sale when you are pitching them by asking questions to get the typical objections heard in your business so you already know the answer and you bolster that during the pitch. “your wife would love this leather and GPS, right?” But keep in mind, use something they give you you know the answer to already. Like during the pitch they might mention “my wife really wants a GPS”. LISTEN to your prospect. They are going to tell you how to sell them. Then at the end you use all that to turn every objection around to rebut what they have said and turn it into a positive or eliminate it. Then ASK FOR THE MONEY and SHUT UP! Or you won't know how to close them. Do this and I guarantee you that your sales will increase.