Closing (sales)

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Closing is a sales term which refers to the process of making a sale. The sales sense springs from real estate, where closing is the final step of a transaction. In sales, it is used more generally to mean achievement of the desired outcome, which may be an exchange of money or acquiring a signature. Salespeople are often taught to think of targets not as strangers, but rather as prospective customers who already want or need what is being sold. Such prospects need only be "closed".

Contents

Overview

"Closing" is distinguished from ordinary practices such as explaining a product's benefits or justifying an expense. It is reserved for more artful means of persuasion, which some compare with confidence tricks. For example, a salesman might mention that his product is popular with a person's neighbors, knowing that people tend to follow perceived trends. This is known as the Jones theory.

In automobile dealerships, a "closer" is often a senior salesman experienced in closing difficult deals.

Closing techniques include major and minor closing questions, for example:


Since fear of rejection is one of the biggest impediments to sales success for many people in sales functions they don't actually ask for the business. Hence the constant search for "closers" in sales recruitment.

All of the "closing" techniques below are different ways to ask for the business. No matter how skillfully applied the customer has the option to answer "No."

Most common techniques

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bird, Steve (2004). Koekemoer, Ludi (ed.). Marketing Communications. Lansdowne, South Africa: Juta Academic. pp. 251–259. ISBN   978-0702165092.
  2. 1 2 3 4 McCann, Dennis G. (1989). The art & science of resort sales. Placerville, Calif.: Hampton House Pub. Co. pp. 67–71. ISBN   978-0942645071.
  3. editor, Gail G. Lyons, consulting (1994). Real estate sales handbook (10th ed.). Chicago, Ill.: Real Estate Education Co. pp.  158. ISBN   978-0793109470.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Meyerson, Mitch (2005). Success secrets of the online marketing superstars . Chicago: Dearborn Trade Pub. pp.  134. ISBN   978-1419505010.
  5. 1 2 Hogan, Kevin (1996). The psychology of persuasion: how to persuade others to your way of thinking (8. print. ed.). Gretna: Pelican. pp.  210–211. ISBN   978-1565541467.

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