The Just Ask Close

Just Ask For The Order

 

At the end of your sales call there is only one thing to do. Ask for the order. There are easy methods to get your prospective customer to yes.

 

There is a method that I refer to as the little decision closing technique. Other ways to close the sales are the act now close and the assumptive close. These tactics can stand alone or can all be used to complement each other during the tender period as you bring your sales call to an end and solicit positive purchasing decision.

 

I am making an assumption that during your sales presentation you are selling a product or service to a prospect that has a need, a budget and decision authority to buy from you. If not, all bets are off.

 

That said, if you have done a good job of prospecting, qualifying and interviewing your prospect you have earned the right to ask for their business.

 

A simple observation I would like to share with you is that your prospect know exactly who you are, who you represent and why you asked for their time. If they gave you and appointment it is a very good and positive sign. I don’t make appointments with salespeople unless I am interested in their topic. My time is valuable to me. I do not waste my time meeting with people who have not won my interest before setting the meeting. Your prospect’s time is just as valuable to them as mine is to me. If they give you an appointment you are staring out in a very good position.

 

This brings me to my final suggestion to end the sales interview and win an order. I personally prefer to just ask for the order. No gimmicks, no games, no tricks, just a simple yes or no answer. If I have done a good job along the way and the prospects says no, I immediately ask them why not, answer the objection(s) and ask for the order again.

 

Here are some simple statements that you can use to just ask for the order:

 

“Are you ready to move forward with my proposal?”

“Let’s do this.”

 “I’m ready to get started, how about you?”

 “Are we in agreement?”

 

No matter how you go about closing your sale it is very important to let your prospect answer any and all questions you pose before you talk again. You will be penalized for continued chatter while closing business. Let your prospect talk. Let them answer. They will tell you yes or tell you no. Again, if they say no you get to ask some variation of “why not?” Either way, you are still in the game.

 

Just ask? Yes, it is a very simple way to end your sales presentation successfully. There was a lot of preparation and skill required to get the prospect and the sale to a conclusion. If you did a good job during the sales process, closing the sale should be easy.

 

Now, go and close a deal. Good selling.

Assume the Closing Position

The Assumptive Close

Closing a sales is a relatively easy to do if you have successfully gone through a quality sales interview with a qualified buyer. My style is consultative selling or problem solving. This style of selling is based on getting the prospect to talk about his or her needs after leading them with relevant, progressive probing questions. The objective is to get to a point where you both agree that there is a problem that you can solve for an investment by the buyer.

Closing is just asking for the order.

There are a few simple ways to get to the end of the sales process. There is the act now close, the little decision close and the assumptive close. You can use any three of these methods to close the order. They all work. Another easy way to close sales is to just ask for the order. “Will you buy from me?” also works just fine.

Let’s look at the assumptive closing method. The assumptive close is a little more nervy and tricky than the others. It can backfire if deemed to heavy handed.

The premise of the assumptive close is that all during the interview you and your prospect have agree on the problems and the solutions you have offered. You may have stopped a few times along the way to do some trial closing. “Will that feature solve this problem?” After a few or more yeses you can assume that the prospect is going to purchase and become your customer.

The tender moment when you apply the assumptive close can be played out with simple statements or questions..

 

• "Just sign here and I will get your order processed.”
• “Please write a deposit check for $100.00.”
• “What is the purchase order number?”

 

Next?

If they don’t put up a fight you have won the order. Enjoy your victory and move on to the next call. If they do object to your assumption don’t panic. Objections are a normal occurrence in sales. They happen often.

 

Handling objections is easy if you have done a good job during the sales interview.

 

• Repeat the objection to your prospect so that you have a clear mutual understanding of their concern.
• Answer the objection if you can. Use the notes from your interview to point out what the prospect said earlier on that particular issue.
• Get agreement.
• Close again.

 

If you like, feel free to upgrade your close with a few little decision and an act now value statement.

 

Earlier you told me that this feature would solve an important issue for you. Has anything changed? Good then we can move forward. Will you be paying cash or will you take advantage of our payment plan (little decision)? Place the order today and I will be able to process it and deliver your product before Christmas (act now).

My favorite sales trainer, Mark Thelen, said that no is non-yes. If you don’t win the order on a sales call you have failed somewhere along the way. It is your fault not the prospect’s fault. Learning, practicing and using proven closing methods just makes good sense and helps salespeople succeed.

 

Assume that the order is yours. You have earned it.

Good closing!