Trial Close and Sell like the Pros

Closing or ending the sales interview is end of the sales process. We traditionally close the deal at the end of the meeting. We use proven methods to get the prospect to yes after going through the steps of the sale.

My first sales book was the textbook from the Dale Carnegie Sales Training class that I attended weekly. The training was excellent. Looking back now, things have changed in sales. New tools, new systems, new products and services have revolutionized business, industry and the selling of product and services. In spite of the changes, professional salespeople still follow systems that generally end in a face-to-face moment when the salesperson asks for the order. That has not changed in one hundred years or more. The reality is that if you don’t ask for the order you are unlikely to get it.

The textbook was “The 5 Great Rules of Selling” written by Percy Whiting. Percy went on the road and sold securities in 1918, I believe. He wrote the book after an illustrious career in sales and after his appointment to a leadership position in the Dale Carnegie training organization.

The 5 Great Rules of Selling are:

1. Attention
2. Interest
3. Conviction
4. Desire
5. Close

Note what happens at the end.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) is my favorite sales movie. I don’t care much for the profanity. I guess it ads to the intensity of the movie. There is a lot to learn from the story. Much of it is overdone, but the reality is that selling is a tough business. There are too many great snippets from the movie to share with you. The best part is when a character (Alec Baldwin) conducted a sales meeting at the office as a favor to his friends that own the company. The presenter was a top sales producer. He didn’t have any respect for the sale force. It was a rough sales meeting for all involved, but the reality of selling was accurately presented again.

In the story, the sales process was noted as

1. Attention
2. Interest
3. Decision
4. Action

Get it done at the end.

 

There was another acronym that he presented during the meeting. The message is not new. It is well known in sales. It is an important truth that sales professionals follow when practicing their profession.

A. Always

B. Be
C. Closing

What does always be closing mean? How can you always be closing without irritating the prospect and blowing up the deal? The answer is simple. A easy and effective way to always be closing is to learn and practice the technique of trial closing.

Trial closing is done during the sales interview, not at the end. As you work through your sales process and ask your prospect if what you just said made sense. Ask if they agree with the value of each point. If they say yes you can go on to the next point. If they say no you can stop right there and explore why is isn’t important or of no value to the prospect.

There are a couple of really good reasons to practice trial closing. The first is that by trial closing you take and maintain control of the process. You are in the lead chair. If one or two points of your presentation don’t resonate, put them away and focus on others that do. The next good reason to trial close is that trial closing makes the end game easy. If your prospect continues to say yes and agree during the course of your meeting, it is darn hard for them to say no. If they do, just pick up your notes and confirm all of the good points that they have agreed to and go for close again.

Here are some simple examples that you can adapt for trial closing your products or services. Let’s use selling a car as an example.

(You) “I see that you like the red coupe. It really looks good. Can you picture yourself driving with your best girl, the top down and your favorite songs on the stereo?”

(Prospect) “Yes I can.”

(You) You might not know this, but your coupe is delivered with an unconditional 100,000-mile warranty. That is the best warranty in the business. You can rest easy that you won’t be paying for repairs for the foreseeable future. Do you see and appreciate the great value in having this extended unconditional warranty?”

(Prospect) “Yes I can.’

(You) I gave some recent industry data that shows your coupe has one of the top five-resale values in its class. That means if you decide to sell your coupe you will get a high market value for it. That makes your purchase of the red coupe financially sound. Do you agree?”

(Prospect) “Yes it do.”

If you have sufficient product knowledge, understand your competitive advantages and have a qualified buyer in front of you, getting to yes by practicing trial closing makes the whole sales event easier for both you and for them.

In reality, if I have a prospect that has told me yes to multiple trial closing questions I am inclined to just ask for the order.

(Me) ‘Based on what you have told me, let’s do the paperwork and get you your new red coupe.”

(Buyer) “OK.”

Based on my example, I have just completed a true sale, a value proposition for both of us. The buyer got the car of his dreams with assurances about warranty and resale value. I got money. We are both happy.

I love to sell. I hope that you do too.