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THE CLOSE (asking for the sale)

It is important to ask for the sale, I guess. I can't tell you how many times I have been ready to walk out of a store because the salesperson is just too timid to ask me if I want to buy. Often, it's a revelation to me. He or she will say, "May I just wrap that up for you?" and it will dawn on me that, yes, I did want to buy it!

Thank goodness that they asked me! I was going to wander from store to store, aimlessly admiring lovely items, until someone had the sense to point out to me that in fact, this one was the one I wanted to buy! How many of you have found yourselves in that same situation, waiting and waiting for an astute salesperson to recognize the "buying signals" you are helplessly exhibiting, hoping someone will have the sense to ask you if you are paying with a credit card or cash?
We need to ask ourselves (those of us who sell for a living) how many times we've been compelled to buy something we didn't want just because we were in the presence of a great closer. And conversely, how many times we've walked away form something we wanted, just because we weren't "closed".
You can tell, I hope, that I have less enthusiasm for this step than many trainers. This step is part of what I call, "Controlling the sale" and I think, as I said earlier, that if your clientele is as smart as mine are, they will just chuckle and say, as one of mine did a few months ago " nice trial close, Jeff".
We are pretty arrogant when we assume we have any control over our clientele. The smarter they are, the more money they have, the less we will be able to herd them into the buying corral, pardner. It's just us wishing we were able to exhibit control, a thing humans like to exhibit. I might write someday about how successful I've been at letting the client control the sales situation, but that will offend too many people.
Any control you have, though, is directly related to the amount of money and brains which your clientele has. If you want to sell dumb people, and many of us do, get into the fast food or cigarette industry. They lock in their clientele before they are old enough to be discerning. Otherwise, you'd better start realizing that you are in a cooperative rather than adversarial relationship. And the guy with the money is the guy you'd better cooperate with. Wrestling him to the ground and "controlling the sale" works best if you own a business with no competition.
Incidentally (well, not incidentally), this is why many smart people buy from the home town jeweler, rather than the chain. Mom and pop operations have always been about cooperation, and chains have always been about controlling the sale. This has led to national chains which cannot sell high-end goods (can you name a national chain of high end jewelry stores? Well, one, and it's average sale is now 125 dollars. Not so high end anymore). They drive away the people with money and brains, because people with money and brains won't stand for being controlled. THEY want to exhibit control. Well, now you know how I feel about CLOSING THE SALE.
Instead, learn your product and the people you sell to. Trust, and an experience, are all they want.

Learn more about this author, Jeff Mccandless.
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