Secrets of Closing Sales

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In this issue:

s Grasp . . .the secrets that enable

th e top 20 percent ofsa lespeople to close 80percent of all sales.

s Unleash . . .the power of 16 proventa ctics for closing salestha t can easily be adaptedto your own personality,products, and pr ospects.

s Analyze.. .th e nine t ypes of customersso you understand what

makes them buy and th encraft a sales presenta tionth ey can t r esist.

s Hone. . .your sales skills by observ-ing seven mast er closers a sth ey successfully select t heright techniques for eachclosing situa tion.

s Confron t . . .the t hree fears most peo-ple encount er when they

sell to groups, and use fiveproven techniques to closethe sale to several buyersat once.

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Secrets of Closing SalesbyCharles B. Roth and Roy Alexander

A summar y of the or igina l t ext .

The authors of Secrets ofClosing Sales, Char les

Roth an d Roy Alexan der,ha ve distilled th e best field-test ed met hods of tying upth e sale stra ight from thefiring line. These techn iquescan boost pr oductivity forth e seasoned pr ofessiona land increase income forsalespeople in a ll ar eas.They've un covered th e ar tan d science that separatesthe master closers from theth un dering herd. Char lesRoth has t rained more tha n30,000 people in closingtechn iques. For ten years,Roy Alexan der was editorof Marketing Times maga-zine, a na tiona l journ alth at provides persona lselling information to salesan d m ark eting executivesworldwide.

This business-testedtr easu ry of ideas will revealclas sic closing k eys an dhow to apply them, th ean swers t o solving bu yerproblems by tur ning theirweaknesses into yourstrengths, and the ins andouts of effective groupselling. You'll a lso ben efit

from t he h ighly deta iled,point-by-point descript ionssuccessful sales scenariosstr aight from th e rea l-lifeencoun ter s of seven ma stesalespeople.

Here's th e top secret ofclosing. You must be

willing t o tr y to close eversale. And the plain tru th ?salesperson wh o can 't go oan d make up customers'minds for th em or overcomtheir procra stination isn't salesperson at all. He or is a business conversa tionist, or a visitor, a t best. Tha llma rk of great execut ivis their desire t o sell some-thing better to customers.Those who can ma tch needan d solution a nd balan ce t

ever-cha nging ta stes oftoday's finicky bu yer will rto the fore.

It's widely kn own th atth e upper 20 percent of salpeople close t he lion's sha rof sales. What we'll examhere is how they do it .

You're about to hear ma ny

Volume 10, No. 12 (2 sections). Section 2, December 2001

2002 Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries 12-24

No part of this publication may be used or reproducedin any manner whatsoever without written permission.

To order additional copies of this summary, reference

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definite a nd ta ngible closingechniques. And they're all

built on t his corn erst one:You mu st assum e tha t th ecustomer will buy an d th atyou will close every sale. Ifyou are positive in your ownmind, t his positiveness willhow. The cust omer will buy.

The only question is whenan d how much!

TH E SIXTEEN TI ME-TE S T E DCLOSING KE YS

Now, here a re t he 16 time-ested closing keys you an d

your sales force can usemm ediat ely. They work for

both products an d services,big ticket or sma ll. Thesekeys can be adjust ed to yourpersonality, your products,an d your prospects. Here are16 closing k eys to clinch a nyale:

1. The Beyond Any DoubtClose. You close byassuming the prospect'sgoing to buy. Take it for

grant ed the answer isyes. You are 100 percentcertain you canimagine no other out-come. You sweep th ebuyer forward with thispositive assum ption,beyond a ny doubt.

2. The Lit t le Question Close.By getting th e buyer todecide someth ing of sec-onda ry importa nce, likeuph olstery color in a nau tomobile, you m ak eth e prospect t ell you h eor she is ready to buy.("Will tha t be cash orchar ge?" "Sh all I sh ip itby UP S or F edX?")That's the little question.

3. The Do Something Close.Nine sales in ten should

be closed by ph ysica laction. ("J ust OK th isslip a nd I'll call th e plan trigh t now.") Act ion is th eeasiest, sur est, quickestway. It imp lies cons ent .J ust do someth ing.

4. The Coming Even t

Close. You an nounce animpending event tohasten the decision.("Pr ices a re going upnext month. Initial thisform now!") When yousuggest the possibility ofloss, the bu yer is putt y inyour hands.

5. Th e Th ir d P ar tyEndorsement Close. You

tell stories about, or getreferra ls from, happ ycust omers. ("Don't takemy word for it." "List ento wha t h appened to JoeWeaver !") It s not whatyou say, its wha t theysay the th ird part y.

6 . The Something forNothing Close. You en dyour presenta tion with

a sp ecial bonu s appealing to that some-thing-for-nothing hotbutton in each huma nbeing. Man y buyers,seeing themselves as thecent er of th e un iverse,will not sign un lessthey're getting somethingspecial. This can be, an dusu ally is, a t rivial thing.But it often locks u p th esa le somet hin g fornothing.

7. The Ask and Get Close.At t imes, the beststr at egy is ask ing boldlyfor th e order. Use thiscar efully, at th e r ighttime, un der th e rightcond itions. Man y peoplear e just waiting to beasked! One sure thing:

You don't as k, a nd youdon't get.

8 . The Choice Close. Don 'task if, ask which.("Which color do youpr efer?" "Which do youlike 30-da y or 90-dayter ms ?") Give your buyer

a choice where you wineither way.

9 . The Appeal to Pr ideClose. Paint a vividpictu re. ("Ima gine howyou'll feel driving up inth is fam ily van !") Pr ideis powerful.

10. The Future Dating Close.Your pr ospect is really

not rea dy to buy now?Pin down delivery thr eemonth s, or even a year,ahead. Better than let-ting a compet itor wa lkaway with it . That 'sfutu re dating.

11. The Colombo Close. Thepr ospect says no. Yousta rt to leave. Then youstop, as if inspired by

TV's LieutenantColombo, and sa y, "Oh ,one more th ing. I almostforgot to men tion a veryimport an t fact. If youplace your order t hismonth, you'll get one casefree. You simply can notafford t o lose out on sa v-ings like t ha t, can you?"One more th ing. Itworks for Colombo, it willwork for you.

12. The Summarize PlusPoints Close. Someprospects r espond t o anar ra y of plus point smar ching toward th em.("It 's all her e in blackan d white. This is th ebest product a vailable.You can 't sa y no to anoffer like this, can you?")

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Summ arizing th e pluses.

13. The Pros and Cons Close.With t he a na lyticalbuyer, write out th epr os an d cons of yourproposition, side-by-side.Na tu ra lly, you favor th epr os. But give a few

cons, too. Make sur e th eprospect a grees witheach listed item . Thepros an d cons.

14. The Logic Close. Thebuyer wants evidence.Give it in full measu re.("It m ust be clear to awoma n of rea son t ha t, ifthese a re your needs, thismu st be the r ight product

for you. Ther efore,there's only one thing forus to decide how soondo you wan t t hese booksin your libra ry? Willnext Wednesday be soonenough?") When th ebuyer starts answeringquestions about delivery,she's going to bu y.

15. The Whispering Close.

One h igh volum e buyersays his m ost effectivesupplier whispers at t heclose, a s if disclosing avalua ble secret . Said th ebuyer, "I leaned forward,not want ing to miss aword. The salesma n con-tinu ed to whisper. I con-tin ued to follow. Before Iknew it, he asked m e tobuy. Before I knew it, Iwhispered yes!"

16. The Silent Close. Onetoiletries sa lesma ndoesn't say a dozenwords. He mer ely showsmerchan dise. H e pointsto this featur e and th at.He demonstra tes. He letsth e product speak. Then,he start s writing up theorder and inquires, "How

ma ny?" Two words. Or,he ta kes out an orderblank, ma rks a n X on it,an d says, "Her e." Oneword. It work s. Th epower of silence.

Regar dless of who's selling orwha t's being sold, most sa les

will contin ue to be closedwith one, or several, classickeys. Tha t's a science youcan lear n. Knowing whenand h ow to use these keys t ha t 's an a r t. I t's an a r t t hatcan be mastered th roughpra ctice. Thr ough time itwill become n at ur al, like a ninborn reflex.

T H E N IN E TYP ES O FC USTOMERS

You've jus t a cquired sixteenclosing k eys us eful for wha tyou say and how you respondin closing cust omers. Tha t'shal f the equat ion in thebuyer-seller communicationprocess.

Now let's deal with t he otherha lf: What customers say an d how they respond t o you.

Here are nine differentcustomer types. Learn ing tospot th em an d preparingto cope with th em willdra ma tically improve yourclosing average.

1. The Tr ibalis t ic Customer .Recognize these cus-tomers by t heir lack ofpersonal buying values.They blind ly acceptbeliefs and preferences ofau th ority figures apar ent , husba nd, wife, orboss.

To sell th is pr ospect, bereassur ing of her pu r-chase decision not

free-wheeling, r at iona lor objective. Help herma intain good stan dinin her peer group byreinforcing th e cont inurespect she'll receivefrom higher u p th e chaof comm an d. The ThirPa rty En dorsement , su

as t estimonials frompu blic figur es, a re effetive in selling Tribalistbuyers.

2. The Egocentr ic Buyer.This rugged individuahas become his owntr ibal chief. He sa ys: hell with th e rest of thworld. I th ink formyself." Somet imes M

Egocentric believes salpeople ar e rip-offs. Hecoun ters by att emptinto rip you off first.Anyth ing goes in th eEgocent ric's effort todominat e and win.

Play the game by theEgocent ric's values. Ifhe plays con m an , be abetter con man . If he

plays tough guy, betough er. Don't dwell oproduct dependa bility,durability, cost savingsor gua ra nt ees. Mr. Egmore concerned aboutproduct a ppeara nce,delivery, sta tu s. Hewant s a product tosymbolize his ruggedindividua lism a nd powClose by praising hisleadersh ip "as first inyour field to ta ke t hisstep." Then use the A& Get key. Ask boldlyth e order; he's a boldbuyer.

3 . Conformis t Buyers .Identify the conformisby what he's not noa high roller, not aleader. Thes e people

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ha ve difficult y acceptingoth er values. They tr yto get others to accepttheir values valuesoften subordina te t o aphilosophy, cause, orreligion.

Conformists seek product

dependability, durability,cost savings, guarantees,bran d na mes from reli-able, sta ble compa nies.They aren't tr end-setters.They only reluctan tlymak e cha nges. With theconformist, be business-like a nd stra ightforwar d.Point out "everybody isbuying." Dr ess appr opri-ately. Avoid comments

on r eligion , politics, orsex. Set up an exacttime for the presentationan d be th ere. Close bySummarizing PlusPoints. Show it's all her ein black-an d-white with proof from h app ycustomers.

4 . Manipula t ive Buyersdon't need assertiveness

tra ining but t heyshould lectur e at th ecour se. They th rive ongamesm an ship, politics,compet ition, a nd an tics.They mea sur e success inpossessions, status, andmoney. They resp ond tofast-paced presentations.They don't n eed all thedeta ils. Simply presen tthe h ighlights an d waitfor questions. Make sureyou h old some ben efits inreserve you may wellneed them.

The man ipulat ivecustomer will often playstump-the-salesperson.Th ey'll sa y: "You dontmea n t o tell me . . ."Then t hey tr y to negoti-ate price. They deman d

a written contr act withescape clauses. Yourstra tegy: Let thembelieve they've won thegame while you m ake t hesale. Quietly ma nipulat ethe manipula tor . Useth e Somethin g forNothing key.

5. The Sociocentr ic Buyervalues getting along overgett ing ahead. In dealingwith a Sociocent ric, rela teyour product or ser vice tosociety. Play down sta tu ssymbols, power, or ma te-ria listic gains. Talkabout pr eservation of th eenvironm ent, good t ast e,respectability, social

responsibility, ben efits toth e public an d to thenation.

Sociocentrics preferyou a s a friend, not asupplier. When youma ke t he sale, Mr. Socioma y tak e you t o lun ch.Since you've made afriend, a void th e fronta lassau lt. Use the flan king

movement with TheLittle Qu estion friendto friend.

6 . The Exis tent ia l Buyer .Recognize her as a par -ticipant. She must beinvolved in the sale. Shecan not stand by as anobserver. P resen t th eproblem, give her accessto inform a tion. Build apar ticipatin g role for h erin your demo.Emphasize problemsolving. Her e, pr ice is ofseconda ry importa nce.

Be flexible an d spont a-neous. Str ess simplicityan d personal ethics.Avoid conven t iona lity,status symbols, conformi-ty, pr ofita bility, power,

an d short-ra nge benefits.Let conver sa tion flow.Don't t ry t o forcestru ctu re. Slant benefitstoward accepta nce ofyour self, your compan y,your product, and itseffect on the customer.Use the Do Something

key. Let her opera te,test , try, smell, tast e.Give her a ha nds-onfeel for th e pr oduct orservice.

7. The Dedicated Delayer.He fears being pressuredor tr icked int o buying.He want s the last word,his self-respect a ndintegrity inta ct. This

prospect h as been t ellinghim self and fam ily oras sociat es he will notbuy the da y you pr esent.He ha s built a shieldar oun d himself. He can ,an d does, come u p withfantastic excuses for notbuying, rea l AcademyAwar d ma ter ial. Comba tth e Dedicat ed Delayerwith pr os and cons on

pap er. Thr ow inSomethin g for Nothing:"only if you OK thistoday."

8. Mr . Wh it e H at .Recognize t his self-righteous personalitywho could h ave been atelevision evangelist.This leading ma n seeshimself as t he good guyall th e way. He's going tomake a decision heha s the power to gra ntthis sale (or deny it).He's pulling a ll th estr ings. He sees you asThe Black Ha t. Thu s, ifWhite Hat stretches thetru th or m isleads BlackHa t, it 's all fair. Play toth e ego. Congra tu latehim on his judgment.

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Use th e Win/Win Choicekey. Don't ask if, askwhich . Play the gameun til you can sa y:"Please pu t your initialsright h ere, Mr. WhiteHa t. You ha ve th e rightslant on t his problem."

9 . The Greedy Customeroften sta rt s by saying "Ican get a better buysomeplace else." S hewant s the best dealpossible a nd she'll useevery tr ick to get it. Thisbuyer not dishonestexactly wan ts t o useher money to fullestadvantage. Comeup with a bottom-line-

oriented close to feed thegreedy. Since sh e's forpr ofit a nd sa vings, offerher both .

Ask: "Do you want thegreat er sa vings from atwo-year payment planor th e great er conve-nience of a t hr ee-yearplan ?" Also th row in theComing Event . Let her

kn ow th e deal is onlyavailable until nextThursday.

There you have nine cus-tomer-types. When you goin armed with this psycho-logical edge, combin ed withth e right closers, you st ar twith a powerful advan tage.


SECRETS OF SELLING TO GROUPS

Even for the best of closers,there are specific challengesto mastering the group sellingsituation. When facing severalbuyers at once, be prepared toconfront three psychologicalfears which must be tamed ifyou want to maintain effectivecontrol of the meeting.

Fear #1 is being outnumbered.Well, there is only one of youand several of them, right?

Fear #2 is a lack of feedback.You do tend to get lessresponse from a group, and,with less feedback, there's lessfor you to work with.

Fear #3 is the fear of beingput on trial and cross-examinedto the point of losing yourconfidence and initiative.

These unfavorable conditionscan be turned around when you,the outsider, become an insider.As you integrate yourself intothe group, the boundariesbetween you and them blur. Thedynamics of group psychologyshift in your favor. The ultimate

goal is to put yourself inside sofar that you become the groupleader.

Here's how to do it:

Analyze the participants.Who will be there? Who isyour likely ally or opponent?Who must be influenced andhow do you plan to do it?What roles do the individu-als play? How can youtransform the meeting to a

shirt-sleeve gathering tomake it easier for you to fitin? Know your group. Askin advance about the com-pany's history, membershipand corporate culture.

Ask your prospects to helpyou make your presentation.This is a daring move, but itworks well when you areclose to the contact. Toenlist client aid in present-ing, you need to be honest

about your need for help. Ifyou're just being slick, forgetit.

Use and understand sellingpresence. Presence is diffi-cult to define, but powerfulin effect. John F. Kennedyhad it. So did Martin LutherKing, Jr. When they spoketo an audience, they madeeach person feel like theonly one. Power presenters

bring the audience into thepresence. That's the key tgetting on the inside of agroup and staying there.Selling presence is beingconfident and comfortablewith the clients and makinthem comfortable with youThe key is knowledge. Knwho's dominant in the groand pay a little more attention to that person. On thother hand, don't ignore agroup member. Be your oself just enlarge yoursefor your group audience, lan actor in a theater.

Put words and actiontogether with style. Beenthusiastic. It's conta-gious. Draw out prospectwith questions. Be detail

Assume the prospect knonothing so you won't missales-clinching point. Grathem in your opening witha bold statement. Don'tspeak in long sentences.The ear needs simplicity.Stay lively. Remember,nothing is worse than aplodding presentation.

Finally, here are some keyto fielding group questionAvoid defensiveness. Th

is particularly important ingroup selling. If you maksomeone feel uncomfortain front of his colleagues,you may win the battle anlose the war. Don't use pdowns by saying things li"No, that's really not validPut-downs do not stimulasign-ups! Be fully groundin your subject. If you lacthe necessary knowledgebring along a specialist.Address the specific

question that's been askeA long answer may boreothers.


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LESSONS FR OM TH E MASTERCL O S E R S

Let's continu e our field t ripwith some r eal-life calls witheven ma ster closers. See

how they select t he best k eyspossible t o suit t heirprospect, their product and

he indust ry in which th eywork. Mast er closers, likeperformers, use classic tech-niques again an d again unt ilh ey become second n at ur e.n t ime, as you m ove int o a

closing situation, the correctechniques emerge almost

au toma tically. When youma ke classic closing keyspar t of your businesspersonality, th ey emerge by

eflex at t he right time,with the r ight impact .

Mast er Closer #1: Selling theFina ncial Benefits

Bob Horner r acked up a topecord as a Mercedes closern N ew York, t he world'soughest and richest car

ma rk et. He sold 100 cars ayear. He earn ed a place in

an elite membership limitedo 200 sales folk at any givenime.

Horner closed sa les byalways assuming hisprospect was money-minded.Said H orn er, "No mat terwha t your p roduct or service,work in a finan cial benefitand sell that . This is par t ic-ular ly tru e if you sell tobus iness execut ives. Tohem, the world is money."

Horner always did hisfinancial homework beforeh e cust omer face-off. One

day, the president of a manu-factu ring compa ny wasn 'tesponding to Horner's

appr oach on a n ew car.Horner took figures out of hispocket.

"Mr. Leit er," he sa id. "I'vejust done some ar ithm etic foryou. If you ta ke th is $40,000car by trading in last year'scar for $31,000, you canma ke up t he extra $9,000 inta x savings. Her e's how th efigures work."

The ma n signed up. SaysHorner: "I even had cus-tomer s I could sh ow how tomake money by tra ding cars."Horn er sa ys, "How's th at fora benefit?"

Bob Horn er n ever sells cars.He sells financial benefits.

Mast er Closer #2: Using th eCus tomer s Un ique Life

Experience

What better way to get onth e prospect 's side tha n t orecognize t he viewpoint ofhis ethn ic group? None, saysH.G. Gardn er. Gardnerpresen ted a sa les promotionser vice to Car los Gonzalez,hea d of a firm th at employed100 driver-salespeople.

Gonza lez said h e'd buy ifGar dner could convince histwo sales ma na gers. Butthese two men refused to buy.Ah-ha! Gardn er suspectedth e boss ha d secretly toldth em to say no. Catch 22!

Gar dner, a coura geoussalesperson, went back toGonzalez an d sa id: "Am Icorrect in assum ing tha teven if your sales ma na gersrecomm end m y progra m, youwon't buy it?"

On t he spot, Gonzalez said,"I didn't rea lize how expen-sive it was. Our budgetwon't a llow it."

Gardn er needed a chan ge ofpace. He ask ed Gonzalezhow he had sta rted the

business always a goodquest ion. Gonzalez ha d cometo the United States as ayoun g ma n. He worked hardan d succeeded. But he neverforgot h is comp at riots belowth e border. He providedmany jobs for Latinos.

Gardn er complementedGonza lez on a fascinat ingstory. Then h e added: "But Iwonder if you ha ven't over-looked one t h ing? You'vebeen good to Latinos. You'vehired man y. But ha ve yougiven t he a mbitious peoplewho work h ere all the ma te-rials th ey need for success?Ha ve you pu t th em on alevel playing ground with

competitors?"

Gonzalez sa id: "Un omomento. I 'm going to buyyour program !"

Gardn er got on th e ethn ic sideof his cust omer's experience.It works.

Master Closer #3: Pitt ingEm otion Against F acts

Gayle Fr eeland is a closing-orient ed World Book sa lesma na ger in Memphis. Sheloves to hear prospects a skhow her pr oduct compa reswith h er fam ous competitor,En cyclopedia Br itan nica.Her str ategy is not to knockher compet itor's a ut hority.

John Dixon, a prominentbusinessman, askedFr eelan d t o come to h is officeto explain wh y her pr oductwas better tha n Britan nica.

"Mr. Dixon," sh e sa id. "WorldBook is widely known for itsvalue in edu cat ing children.On th at point, it has n o peer.So I assum e tha t your con-cern is why World Book isbetter for adu lts?"



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Dixon nodded . GayleFr eelan d was calling on th eLogic key t o build up t o anEm otiona l Event.

"Well, Mr. Dixon," she said."When you wa nt to look upsometh ing in Brita nn ica,it 's ther e, all right. I wont

preten d oth erwise. But it 'snot easy to find. Why shouldyou h ave to work t hat har dto get it? After a ll, your timeis valu able. World Bookma kes it easy. That 's whyWorld Book is bet te r. Afte rall, World Book has 60percent of the global encyclo-pedia mar ket . The other 40percent is divided among allthe others. There must be a

reason!

"There's also a reason why Isell World Book. I could beselling Britan nica. But wealwa ys h ad World Bookwhen I was small. There'sno way we could h ave donewithout it. I believe inWorld Book."

Thus you ha ve it . A powerful

side-by-side sum ma ry. Sur e,th e compet itor is famous.Sure, it 's au thoritative. Butth ere a re people who believein World Book. She playedthe Third Pa rty Endorsementkey. Maybe ease-of-accessha s someth ing to with it . TheLogic key again.

Dixon bought . GayleFr eelan d proved tha t emo-tion-based closing dependson the closer, not the fame ofth e pr oduct. And , she closedwithout once mentioningprice, yet her product is ha lfth e cost of her competit ors.She wa s ta lking to a pr ospectwho could ea sily afford a nyproduct he wan ted. Does herlack of emphasis on pricegive you a clue? It shou ld!

Mast er Closer #4: Gett ing InYour Prospects Shoes

In ma king a joint presenta -tion with a colorful cha ra cter,be prepa red for su dden sh iftsand learn to recover quickly.Walter H . J ohn son lear nedth is workin g for th e leg-

endar y Marion H arper, CEOof The In ter public Group.Harper had hired Johnsonaway from an airline salesma na gement job.

One da y, Har per t ooled intoJohnson's office on the 44thfloor of th e Tim e-LifeBuilding a nd said, "I'mmaking a presentation toAmerican Cyanamid tomor-

row morning in N ew J ersey.Can you st ay in town tonightan d h elp?"

No one ever sa id no toHa rper. Walter phoned hiswife: He wouldn 't be hometh at evening. Then , Walterdiscovered Harper hadn'teven started the Cyanamidpresentation. At 9:00 p.m.th e two men went t o work.

Dat a from compu ter s flowedin, and rough charts rolledfrom t he gr aph ics st udio, onall-night alert.

By 4:00 a.m., the proposalwas finished an d th eydepart ed to near by hotels.They met a t 8:30 a.m., th efinished pr esent at ion in tow.

As th e limousine h um medth rough Lincoln Tun nel,Ha rper said, "I've cha ngedmy mind. You're going toma ke the presentat ion."

"Oka y," J ohns on sa id, won-dering about the last-minutechange.

At Cyana mid, the twomen went directly to the

conference room. Six corpora te people filed in a nd tooseats at th e other end.Instead of sitting besideJ ohn son, Harper sat with tCyana mid people an d ta lkNew Jer sey politics. Onceeveryone assembled, henodded for Walt er to begin

As the presentation movedalong, questions ar ose some critical an d ha rd t oan swer. Har per also askedquestions some of thetoughest.

Though t Walter : "He's jointhe client!"

The presenta tion lasted le

th an a n hour. After a briesilence th e cha irman said,"Would you m ind lea ving ufor a few minutes, Mr.J ohn son, so we can discussyour pr oposa l?"

J ohn son left t he r oom, butHa rper didn't move. Afterminutes, they called Johnsback. They ha d signed thebusiness. Ha rper ha d, in

effect, joined th e client an dhelped ma ke th e decision.

Now, tha t's rea lly gettinginto your prospect's shoes!

Master Closer #5: Plan ninAhea d t o Cont rol the Sa le

Bru ce Alexan der, th eTennessee real estate expebelieves the ace closer melma ny major an d minorkeys in a dvance plan ning control th e sale. Her e's hiadvice:

In rea l estat e, always taketh e prospect t o see th e proert y in your car. You ha vecontrol in their car. They decide when th ey've seenenough. Keep cont rol.



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Take t he best route to thepropert y. Don't drive byvacan t lots an d eyesores.Choose th e most scenicout e. This is part of your

close.

Use the t ime en route toa lk about t he property's

disadvanta ges, such a s "I t 'san excellent value but n eedspaint ing inside and out."

f you don't m ention it ah eadof time, the buyers are goingo lay it on you wh en t hey

get ther e. If you ar e going tohow property tha t 's a mess,

ma ke it an even bigger mess.Say: "The walls ha ve gothis and t he carpet needs

ha t an d the lawn is thishigh. Oh, wow, it 's in ter ri-ble condition. Bu t I'll te llyou one thin g: It's about$6,000 under th e mar ketprice. It's a fan ta stic buy, ifyou d on't min d fixing it up."

When t he pr ospects geth ere, th ey're excited a bouth e ter rific price. When theyee t he propert y, th ey'll say,

You kn ow, it 's not th at bad."

Ant icipat ing objections a ndheading them off is part ofh e closing att itude.

f th e buyer is not soldenough to go right t ocont ra ct, use th e balanceheet close.

Tak e a piece of pa per a nddra w a line right down th emiddle. Say: "Let's writeon t his ha lf of the pap er a llh e rea sons for owning th is

propert y. On th is side, we'llwrite down a ll th e rea sonsyou should not own thisproperty."

This property certainlyuits your needs, doesn't it?"

Mary says: "Gee, I like it."Write that down. Propertysuits needs.

When you finish, th e posi-tives should out weigh t henegat ives th ree or four toone.

Then a sk th e prospect whereth e preponder an ce of evidencelies. Tom an d Mary ar e goingto judge th e evidence.

Conver t all gener al objectionsto specifics. For exam ple, agener al objection: "I wan t toth ink it over." Ask: "Wha tpa rt concern s you?" Thenget the prospect to say: "I'mconcern ed about th e lack of a

second bedr oom." Now, th a t'san objection you can workwith.

Now, sup pose you cannotclose on t he h ouse t ha t da y.The buyers pose a legitimat equestion. You can an swer ittomorrow but n ot today. Sayit's 2 o'clock in th e a fter noon.You don't want Tom andMar y to look at a ny other

pr opert y today. Somebodyma y sell th em. You wan tth em to go right h ome.

On t he way back, stop an dget ice cream . Sa y: "I'd likeyou to ta ke t his little gifthome. The kids ha ve been sogrea t. They'll enjoy it."

Now there's ice crea m in t hecar. Tom an d Mar y mu st gohome before it melts. Whenth ey get h ome a nd give th ekids th e ice crea m, th ey'renot going to feel like goingout again. They're off th ema rket u nt il the next day.Fr ozen assets ma y be a prob-lem in finance, but in closing,it's t he way t o out -fox yourcompetitor.

Notice how the following

closing keys applied to Toman d Mary are so int egra tedth ey're almost in visible, butall th e more effective.

Do Something. He getsth e prospects t o writedown advant ages an ddisadvantages and then

ma ke th e final judgment .

Third Party En dorsement.Who better as endorserstha n th e prospects them -selves? Let them tell youhow wonderful it is.

Somet hing for Nothing.The ice cream. But itcomes with a double-wham my: They must

get it home quickly an dcan not see a compet itiveproperty.

When your closing keysbecome second n at ur ethey become interwovenseamlessly.

MO R E LESSONS FR OM TH E

MASTER CL O S E R S

Mast er Closer #6: OfferingFree Counsel

Al Wall dispen ses free ad viceto his cust omer s. For th atreason, Hollywood willpr obably never cast Al Wallas a sa les man ager, but t hen,movies often lack rea lity. AlWall has r acked up a suc-cessful selling record , sellingdecorative home accessories.So mu ch so, hes becomena tiona l sales ma na ger ofthe MaLeck Group, a leadingcompan y in t he field.

Al uses t he Somethin g forNoth ing closing k ey bygiving his customers freecounsel. He meet s regular lywith group bu yers from



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depart ment store cha ins, notto sell, but t o ta lk about t heirpr oblems. "Fu nn y, you nevertr y to sell us your pr oducts,"a buyer sa id to Al one da y.

"No, I don't ," Al sa id. "I'mher e to find out a bout yourproblems a nd to find solu-

tions. Now some of th osesolutions probably includeour compa ny. If I only soldproducts, I'd be just as goodas m y last sale."

Al Wall calls it rever se sell-ing. His cust omers feelthey're getting advice forfree. No wonder Al's sa lesrise st eadily, year after year.He is appea ling to a un iver-

sal human weakness thedesire to get something fornothing.

Mast er Closer #7: Comin g atThem F ully Loaded

Good closers are not born,th ey develop t hem selves.That 's what ma kes a profes-siona l: per fectin g your cra ft.But n o ma tter what you sell,

you benefit from exposure toexpert closing. Pu t closingadvice u nder a microscope,an d you'll begin t o see th ekeys emer ge. They're closingkeys to you, but to th e buyer,th ey're r eassu ring a dvice, orhelpful inform at ion, or a r ealsolut ion to a problem.

Pa y close att ention to thenu mber of closing k eysDavid Boue's class ic closeillustrates.

He a rrives at t he pr ospect 'soffice fully pr epa red to useany (or all) of his closers.Sa ys Boue: "I amprepar ed to draw on a ny of25 responses. I don't knowwhich one I'll need . Butwhat ever it is, I 'm ready."

Does th is mea n Boue forgetshomework and plays it byea r? Absolut ely not. Hesells a complicat ed bu sinessser vice in a volum e of$750,000 a year. Thisrequires inten sive prepara-t ion. He must know hisservice inside-out , know th e

client's business a nd k nowhis closing k eys.

Does tha t sound like anenormous a moun t of work ?Yes. But it pa ys off in spadesor, more pr operly, in dollar s.Learn what ha ppens whenDave Boue calls on WhitelawCham bers, general mana gerof a compan y tha t m akessolar products for t he h ome.

Boue sells a sem inar serviceth at dra ma tizes productbenefits to th e pu blic. It 'sintan gible, new to man yprospects, hard to grasp.

This is Boue's second call.On h is first call, he leftChambers a plan a nd budget .

Boue ar rives at Cha mbers'office at 8:45 a .m. He kn ows

th e day gets complicat ed asit wears on at th e compa ny.

Before meeting Chambers,Boue stopped in t o seeCha mber s' boss, VickorsReilly, to make a valuablesuggestion on a completelyunrelated mat ter. Soon he 'sseated with Cha mbers.

Cha mber s ask s Boue: "Canwe get you coffee?"

But Boue sa ys: "No, th an ks.I brought my own." Fr om hisbriefcase, he takes a smallcompa ct coffee ma ker an d asma ll silver cup. He tellsCha mber s, "I ha ve a specialblend ma de in Bra zil. Wan tto try m ine?"

In wonder, Chambers nods.

Boue picks u p th e string asays, "Very appropriate weshould be talking about sopr oducts today, Whit. I wajust r eading t his ar ticle inThe New York Times lastSunday."

Naturally, Chambers is

interested. Later Boueexplained: "It's am azing hmany business executivesha ve not read key ar ticlesuse th is to advan tage."

Boue su mm ar izes th e Timcomment s. Solar productsonce considered a novelty,ar e now a necessity to manconsumers.

"This is th e solar era. Butas you kn ow better t ha n I,you're in a n ease-of-ent rybusiness. Almost an yone cset up in a gar age and callhimself a solar productsmanufacturer.

"The nu mber of compa niesth e field h as gr own by 500percent in t he past year,according to the Solar

Products Association.Ther e's a power stru gglegoing on r ight n ow. A fewcompan ies will emerge a sleaders in the public mindMan y more will be left by wayside."

Cham bers nods. What Bosays is provocative.

Boue contin ues: "To est ablleadership, your compa nymust m ake a dra mat ic, bulegitimat e, gestu re. Now, itr ue you pu t on a pu blicdemonstration about 18months a go when th e indutr y was mu ch youn ger. Anyou benefited from tha t. Byou m ust decide when youcan be on th e give and wheyou can be on t he ta ke."



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Cham bers wants to know:Give? Tak e? How does th atwork?

Her e Boue st ops th e action,eemingly, to tell Chambers

a story from hist ory. WhenNelson Rockefeller wasu nn ing for re-election as

governor of New York , hispolitical enemies circulatedu mors t ha t Rockefeller

was on th e give, tha t he wasgiving money to certaingroups to swing votes.

Then Boue na iled down th epoint : "This contr ast s withhe usual political charge of

being on the take. Natura llyt wouldn't be credible to

accuse a Rockefeller of beingon th e ta ke. Who could offerhim m oney he doesn't a lreadyha ve? So th ey accused him ofbeing on the give."

Cha mber s, who followspolitics closely, chimed in:On the give tha t 's pretty

good."

But ther e's a moral here,"

Boue sa ys, "th at app lies tohe solar industr y" in onedeft st roke, he shifts ba ck t oclosing.

Says Boue: "When you ma deha t public demonstr ation

18 month s a go, you were onh e give, giving th e publicnformation and instructiono help buyers ma ke deci-ions about solar izing h omes.

People appreciate th at .When t hey get rea dy to buy,hey turn to tha t helpful

company th at put on th edemonstration."

Since th at time," Boue t ellsCha mbers, "your compan yha s been on t he take."

Boue adds: "You've beenea ping th e benefits of th at

early demonstr ation. Butyou can 't go on being on th etake forever. Now you've gotto go on th e give again. Thispublic demonstration is themost dramatic, legitimateway t o go on t he give."

Chambers is nearly con-

vinced. However, th ere's th ema tt er of cost.

Sa ys Boue: "Let me pour youanoth er cup of coffee and I'lltell you how we plan to saveyou money over th e pr eviousquote."

Boue t hen details a planwhereby Cham bers can renta meeting site a t less money

by bartering closed-out solarproducts in exchange forspa ce. Sa ys Boue: "This willredu ce your cash outlay by$4,200."

J ust th en, Cha mbers' boss,Vickors Reilly, comes into theoffice. Sa ys Reilly, "Sorr y tointerru pt. I just wan ted tocatch Dave before he left.Dave, tha t's a good sugges-

tion you ma de today. We'removing out on it. Tha nk s alot."

Dave says, "Glad to help."Then Cham bers says: "Bythe way, Vickors, I want tosee you a litt le lat er about anew plan for a public demon-stra tion. We want to ma ke adecision on this right away."

Reilly agrees a nd leaves.Boue asks Cha mbers todecide which products hewant s to bart er. He thengets Chambers t o initial thecont ra ct. The sale is closed.

Lets a na lyze how Boueclosed t hr ough out :

Off th e cuff? Fa r from it.Dave Boue went in loaded for

bear. Cann ed presenta tion?No. Boue stored a nu mber ofprepar ed elements in h ismind, but th e presentat ionmoved like a skilled per -form er on a ta lk show. Bouedrew on reh ear sed compo-nen ts. He filled in betweenth e bricks with pleasing an d

convincing conversationalmortar.

Are you willing to prepa re t oth at extent ? Do you knowyour closing keys so wellth ey pop up as n eeded,almost but n ot quite byreflex? Well, ma ste r closer sdo. Here are the clos ingkeys David Boue drew frommental inventory.

First, he set th e time to suitth e buyer s mood (in t hiscase, ear ly in th e morning)to close in the right psycho-logical clima te. He brough talong a distin ctive coffee potan d offered h is cust omer adrink from a silver cup the Do Something key. Thisinsured customer inter est. Itset Da ve aside from 999

other salespeople Chambersma y have known.

Dave was selling a n event , sohis Coming Event key wasbuilt-in. His well-prepa redman ner assumed he'd get theorder th e Beyond AnyDoubt key. He usedCha mbers' own boss to gethis Third Par tyEndorsement. Of course,Reilly coming into Chambers'office was a stroke of luck.Or was it? Good closersma ke th eir own luck!

Boue a lso used t he ComingEvent in talking about th eindustry shak eout a nd howsome compan ies will be leftby the wa yside.

Becau se he ha s investigated



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a less expens ive way forCha mber s to buy, he wasrea lly offerin g Somet hin g forNothing.

Boue even worked in t heLittle Question key by askingCham bers which products h ewan ted to bar ter. Not if,

but which a mu ch easierdecision to ma ke.

Of cour se at th e end Bouetrotted out Ask and Get time for Ch am bers to sign.He signed.

Clear ly, Boue's m ost impor-ta nt move was stopping thesale to tell a r elated st oryabout Nelson Rockefeller.

Storytelling is par t of th eThird Part y Endorsementkey. But once he told hisstory, Boue immediatelymoved back into the close.

In th is one close, Boue inter -wove seven ma jor k eys intohis presenta tion. He used anu mber of special keys, plusmuch good common senseand good close-ability. He

was total ly prepared. A trueprofessional closer at work.

The ma jor closing keys a renow your s. Scale th em up

an d down. Adapt an d adopt.Re-jigger and rebore. Polishan d san d. By th e time youfinish , th ey won't look liketh ese keys at a ll. No mat ter.Use th ese principles as yourlaun ching pad . Where yougo beyond th at is as wideopen as outer spa ce.

Review wha t you've learn ed.You sta rt ed with a look a tthe importance of closing quite sim ply, if you cannotclose, you cann ot sell. Ther ea re no born closer s. Closingcan be learn ed. Tak e

your instr uction from t heworld's champion closers.

David Boue started workingon h is close when h e rea dThe New York Times ar ticlean d decided to use it asammunit ion.

Corr ection. He sta rt ed hisclose by keeping inform ed inth e first p lace!

You now know how to ma tchyour presen ta tion to yourprospect's personality, andyou've ga ined skills for skill-fully handling and closing group sales.

Your foun da tion includes

being able to speak clearly,colorfully, and per suas ively th e closer's fun dam ent altools. And this app lies inan y selling inter action. Ifyou're not an expert speaker,sta rt stu dying. You mustmaster t he language.

Once you ma ke classic keyspar t of your na tu re, you'llclose the ea sy and m edium-

ha rd sales au tomat ically.And t he r eally difficult saleswill come easier a nd ea sierwith time. Closing is th epinnacle of selling achieve-men t. Here is where yourtim e, money, an d effort pa ysoff or goes down t hedrain. Learn from thetop-producers who do close.Most classic tr ut hs a re sim-ple. Most sales ar e closedwith a classically simple key.It's a science you can learn.

Knowing t he Secrets ofClosing Sales ma kes yourwork easier, more productive,more profitable, an d, perha psmost importa nt of all, morefun . You now have the toolsto do just th at . Good selling!



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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The late Charles B. Roth personally trained more than 30,000salespeople in the art of closing more sales. In the field and as a salescounselor, he helped develop the selling programs of dozens of leadingfirms, including Ford Motors and Railway Express.

Roy Alexander heads his own consulting firm in New York City, wherehe specializes in sales and communications for energy-related fields.He is the editor of the professional journalMarketing Times and isco-author of Climbing the Corporate Matterhorn, Direct SalesmansHandbook, and Commonsense Time Management.

Secrets of Closing Sales summarized by arrangement with Learning Network Direct, Inc., from Secrets of

Closing Sales: Sixth Edition by Charles B. Roth and Roy Alexander. Copyright 1993 by Prentice-Hall,

Inc.

825 75th Street, Suite C, Willowbrook, Illinois 60527-8492

1-800-776-1910 1-630-734-0600 (fax) www.audiotech.com

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Secrets of Closing Sales