Sales Closing Strategies Are Not Dead

There’s a lot of talk about “closing” in sales, and yesterday I read an article that compelled me to write this post. The article, simply entitled Closing Techniques, really put the “slam” on the concept of “closing”.

The article I read stated that “closing techniques are an outmoded form of psychological manipulation…”

There are numerous closing strategies taught by so many sales coaches, such as “The Alternate Choice” close…and “The Impending Event” close, to name just two.  Bill Lee lists several additional examples in his article Six Closing Techniques for Salespeople for those of you who are just dying to master this topic!  You may want to pre-order my next book, 67 Ways to Pick Up a Woman in a Downtown Bar while you’re at it.

Bill and I both agree in principle with the article referenced above. It is the traditional closing ‘mentality’, NOT the concept of sales closing  itself that gives sales closing a bad name.  Sales trainers everywhere are teaching sales reps to implement a variety of ‘closing lines’ during sales calls, and inexperienced sales reps fail to recognize that the ‘closing lines’ themselves sound just like what they are: Lines…and are not the essence of the sales process.

This is particularly true in big ticket B2B sales.  The fundamental concept that every sales racehorse knows before s/he attempts to implement canned closing strategies, is that solving customer problems is the only relevant value any sales rep can offer…and the root of solving problems and creating relevant customer value is asking the right questions so that you understand your customer’s business and personal needs and expectations.

There is an excellent posting on the concept of questions-based selling written by Evan Carmichael.

So here’s my takeaway on sales closing:

Every activity in the sales process must be targeted to driving the project or “deal” closer to an order.  THAT is what “sales closing” is all about. Closing is not necessarily about ‘getting the order’ now, especially in the complex sale associated with big ticket B2B selling. Sales closing is about always creating commitment to taking the next step, even if that next step means that you agree that the project is not right for either the customer or the seller. Why waste valuable sales time working an opportunity that is inevitably not going to close anyway?

There are some excellent “closing” concepts that are not “lines” in my post at http://www.salesracehorses.com/blog/6-strategies-to-competitor-proof-your-offering/21/

Cheers, and Happy Hunting!

Scott