Step Four: Close

Seal the Deal Today

The importance of closing the sale during your first contact with a prospect is no secret. This means more than not taking no for an answer or refusing to leave your prospect's home until they sick the dog on you.

The key is to offer the prospect something they need and give them incentives to take advantage of the deal you have to offer today.

The Best Way to Close

Many salespeople try to improve their closing rate by focusing on techniques and scripted lines they can use at the end of their presentation to overcome objections and even pressure their prospects into saying yes. In reality, it works much better to focus on closing from the moment you walk in the door. The best way to close is to give an exciting presentation with a dynamic demonstration that gets your prospect wanting your product before you even start measuring their windows and quoting a price.

Simply use the ideas and principles discussed in the Entry and Pre-Demonstration steps to learn about your prospect and their wants, needs and current problems. Your mission is to find out what these issues are because once you know them, you have the opportunity to address those issues (wants, needs and problems) during the Demonstration step before those issues can turn into objections during the closing process.

Positioning vs. Justifying your product

As soon as you learn about your prospect's buying criteria or the factors that weigh the most heavily on their buying decision, you have the opportunity to position your product accordingly during the remainder of the presentation. Again, this has been discussed in the Pre-Demonstration and Demonstration steps, but it is so important that it bears repeating. The alternative to being proactive by positioning your product is falling into the trap of being reactive or defensive and appearing to justify or even make excuses for your product or price tag while your prospect is making objections. If you reach this point, you also have lost a lot of control over the selling situation

Let's be honest though, no matter how well you learn about your prospects and position your product to them, you are inevitably going to run into plenty of objections or speed bumps on your sales calls, and even if you are more focused on preventing objections, you must be ready for them when they occur.

Create a Buying Atmosphere

Before you start executing the closing process, relax. Many salespeople put too much pressure on themselves and the prospect to close the deal immediately, but if you are relaxed, your prospect will be relaxed. If you are tense, your prospect will be tense. You must make the atmosphere comfortable for your prospects and for yourself, so you can keep control of the situation.

There will be emotional highs and lows during the presentation and closing process. For example, prospects are generally excited during the demonstration when they see for themselves the performance of your product, and prospects are generally on an emotional low when you quote the retail price, but a comfortable atmosphere must stay constant.

Yes Questions – Lead them down the path

Remember that the person asking the questions is generally in control of the selling situation. During the Entry and Pre-Demonstration you asked open ended questions to learn about your prospects wants, needs and problems, then you shifted to close ended questions to lead them through the Demonstration.

You asked questions like: "Can you see how this window is going to save you money on your energy bills every month?" or “It would be great to fill this room up with sunlight without worrying about UV damage wouldn’t it?”

These questions help prospects make small decisions that they want your product instead of being confronted with the large, daunting decision of answering the question “Do you want my product?” If you get them to answer enough of these questions positively, you have done a great job with your presentation and the close is little more than a formality.

If you get a negative response to any of these questions, it’s OK! It’s better to get their reservations out in the open so you can deal with them. Keep your positive mental attitude, relax and use the following ideas.

Overcoming Objections

Be quiet. When your prospect gives you an objection, pause for five seconds or so. Give your prospect a chance to say everything they want, and don’t allow yourself to jump in with a knee-jerk reaction to their objection.

Ask them to elaborate or explain further. Ask questions to make sure you pinpoint the real problem on which they are stumbling.

Empathize. Explain to them you understand how they feel and they have a valid concern. Use the feel, felt, found method explaining that you know how they feel, you’ve had lots of customers that felt the same way, but here’s what they found – and then put them at ease about their concern.

Be Careful with Scripts

Ask for the Sale

Here is another fundamental point that is often shied away from by salespeople. At some point during the closing process, you must actually ask for the sale. Don’t count on the prospect to ask you to sell your window product to them. Asking for the sale can be done in a number of different ways

There are a few key things to remember here. First, ask for the sale at an emotional high point for the prospect instead of a low point. Ask the question in a way that you will either get a yes response or you will root out any lingering concerns or objections that they have kept from you so far. Don’t ask in a way that maximizes the pressure you put on them and puts you at a dead end if they answer negatively. Asking “Do you want to buy this product now” puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the prospect, and gives them the opportunity to answer with a blunt “no.”

Assume the Sale

Quote the Price and Create Urgency

When you quote the price, give them the retail quote, and the discounted quote available if they take advantage of your offer today. Make sure you offer real incentives for taking advantage of what you have to offer at this time instead of next week or next year.

Negotiating - Increase the Size of the Pie

Be creative in your negotiating. Many people view the negotiation process as a competition to see who can get a bigger "piece of the pie" while focusing mostly on the final price tag. Expert salespeople focus on increasing the size of the pie.

For example, if the prospect showed interest in a certain feature or style you have available while you were coming up with their quote, but they opted for a more economical choice, you could offer to include that feature or style for free if they take advantage of the offer at this time. You took the negotiation focus off of lowering your original quote, gave them extra incentive to purchase your product now, and they will be pleased that they received the extra value added feature free of charge.

Another common idea is offering a price discount for referrals or testimonials. They get the price discount they want, and you get the leads that can create sales making the price discount well worth it to you as well. Do anything to make sure you are creating a win-win situation for you and your customer. Remember that offering them a truly great deal will make them excited to share their pleasant experience with their friends and family, and you can't put a price tag on positive publicity and word of mouth referrals.

Prevent Buyer's Remorse

Don’t just make the sale and head out the door. Warm-down with your new customers and make sure they understand exactly what they will be receiving, exactly what and how they will be paying and the process of getting their new windows. Leave them with a written summary of all of this as well as your product literature. Along with that, leave the forms they filled out during the product demonstration

Don’t forget to ask for referrals. They just decided to make an investment in a great product, so they should have friends or family that might be interested in doing the same. If they are uncomfortable with this, it is a great opportunity for you to ask questions and get to the bottom of their hesitation – you may address a concern that would have caused them to cancel the order after you left. If they are comfortable and willing to give you the names and numbers of friends and family, it’s a great indication that they are comfortable with their decision.

Before you leave, ask them if they are happy with their decision. If you sense that they might still be slightly uncomfortable, get to the bottom of it and address it while you are still there instead of finding out tomorrow that they cancelled their order.