The first rule in closing the sale is to make the final decision simple.
For instance, if you’re presenting a mega-sized storage unit, help the prospect design the width and drawer configuration as you are going through the feature’s advantages and benefits. This approach gets the prospect talking and participating in the demonstration; it gets their buy-in as you go along and makes them comfortable saying yes. Consider this dialogue as an example:
Jobber: “Do you store your sockets standing up in a holder or do you lay yours on their side in a tray?”
Prospect: “I stand mine up in a holder.”
Jobber: “Great, so we need your unit to have socket drawers tall enough to hold your deep sockets, correct?” (Note: The question “correct’ is very important. It gets your prospect thinking positively about their new cabinet and is a soft trial close.)
Prospect: “Yes.”
Also, note that we use the words “you” and “yours” six times in that short exchange. These words help to increase your prospect's comfort that they are designing their own personal unit.
As you work through the presentation, get the prospect's positive or negative decision on each of the features that fit their needs, including electrical outlets, USB ports, laptop table, etc. Each time you get your prospect to make a decision, they are getting closer to a final “yes.”
The objective is to make your final closing question simple, so getting all the design and other decisions out of the way during your presentation allows you to start closing with a simple, yes-yes close.
Jobber: “Since I don’t want to interrupt your working day, should we deliver your cool new unit in the morning before work or at the end of the working day?”
Another smooth way to get to “yes” easily is to pull out your order form at the beginning of the presentation and fill in the details as the prospect makes decisions. Using this “assumptive close” approach makes it seem like an official order to the prospect from the get-go and again helps them get comfortable with the purchasing process. This way when you get to the end of the presentation you simply put the order form in front of the prospect and point to the spot where they are to sign.
You don’t want to get to the closing part of your demonstration and then have to ask for a lot of decisions. What color do you want? How many drawers do you want? Making a bunch of rapid-fire decisions is likely to get the prospect nervous and nervous customers don’t buy. You want to be sure your prospect has already made most of the decisions before you ask for the order and close the deal.
