by Shawn Grundy

Created on: September 08, 2008

Contrary to what many of the articles already written on this subject would have you believe closing should be the easiest step of the sale if all of the steps before it have been done properly.

Many will tell you that there are different closing techniques for different situations and that you need to memorize them all so that you can apply them when necessary. While this method may work from time to time, chances are that if you are in an industry where relationships matter for future business, you will have a very short career if you adopt this ideology. You see most of these "closing" techniques and traps were developed for industries such as Timeshare and Car sales, to name a few. Now I am not saying that these industries are bad, despite the stigma that is typically attached to them at the hip, but what I am saying is that these industries have a different sales process than some others.

There are two major types of sales - Business to Business and Business to Consumer. The two industries mentioned above were both Business to Consumer. Other Business to Consumer industries might include retail stores, real estate, personal insurance, investments, etc. These are usually somewhat product based and typically involve very short sales cycles. The major steps in a typical Business to Consumer Sales process is as follows;

Greeting (Ice Breaker)
Discussion (Rapport - Common Ground)
Demonstration (Questions - Touch & Feel)
Presentation (Why my product)
Closing (Will you buy?)

During all of these steps you will be continuously asking "trial closes". Trial closes are smaller questions looking to get agreement and leading to the larger close. For example - I might show you the kitchen of a new home and then ask, "Now, based on everything that we have seen in this kitchen, it sure looks like it would work perfectly for your family, doesn't it?" OR "Isn't this kitchen a great place for family gatherings?"

The steps above of course are generalized, but what are the details? Let me explain...

Greeting - This is the smallest step but also one of the most important. Most people draw their first impressions of you within a few seconds, so how you greet them will be key to making sure it is a good impression. This is also where you may want to "break the ice" a bit because the customer walking through the door is most likely tense and surely guarded. Breaking the ice will help loosen them up to feel comfortable and safe.

Discussion - This is the rapport building phase of the process

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