Tweet

It’s OK to ask for the sale. Really it’s OK

Written by: Bob Janet

Article Overview: “85% of the interactions between sales people and prospects end without the sales person ever asking for the sale. 85%!” Retail News by Richard Fenton It’s OK, no it is a must to ask for the sale, because as Hockey player great Wayne Gretzky says, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

It’s OK to ask for the sale. Really it’s OK

I asked a number of unsuccessful and marginally successful sales people, “Why don’t you aggressively ask for the sale?” I received these top 3 replies:
• “ I don’t sell by pushing the customer.”
• “ In this market you cannot be over aggressive.”
• “ The people here are different.”

And then, after talking with them for a while I got the truth, “I do not like being rejected.”
No one likes rejection. I don’t know of any person who likes to hear the word “NO”.

It’s OK, no it is a must to ask for the sale, because as Hockey player great Wayne Gretzky says,
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

It is easy to never have the customer say “NO” when asking for the sale.
But first let’s get two well used practices out of the way, never to be heard of or used again.
#1. The Ostrich, head in the sand salesperson says:
When the customer says “NO” I do not hear them. I do not pay attention to them saying “NO”. I ignore it, therefore they do not say it. Well you may not hear them saying “NO”, but they are saying it. And they are hearing themselves saying “NO”. And once they start saying “NO” they will continue saying “NO”.

#2. The Overcomer says: I know how to overcome hearing the word “NO”.
Although this self confindence is good, once the customer says “NO” the first time, it is easier for them to continue to say “NO” when you ask for the sale. And why waste valuable selling time trying to overcome a situation you do not have to create in the first place?

Here it is. The 100% Guaranteed technique to never having the customer say or think “NO” when you are asking for the sale:
It’s all in the way you ask for the sale. Never give the customer the opportunity to say “NO”.
Ask Choice Questions!!!!!!

When you say, “Do you want to buy this product in Blue?”
The customer can say “NO”.
When you give them a choice, “Which color do you like best, red, blue, green or black?” You are not allowing them to say “NO”. And if they do not like any of those colors they will most likely tell you the color they like or you can give them more color choices.

Here is another great example: If you want a meeting with a customer and you say,
“Can we meet Friday morning?” They can easily say “NO”.

But give them choices, “Which would be better for you, if we meet Thursday or Friday morning?” You will never have the customer say “NO”. Again, if either one of those are satisfactory for them, continue to give them choices of other meeting days and times.

Recently I saw one of my clients double the order they received from their customer while taking an order simply by using the choice method I taught her. The customer normally reordered 5000 units of a particular item every 3 months. Instead of asking, “Do you want to reorder another 5000 units next month?”, my client said, “Since your busier season is coming which would be better for you to reorder, 10,000 or 20,000 units?” Another principle came into play here. The principle of the easy way out. When given a choice customers will most always take the easiest choice. In this case the 10,000 was an easier choice than 20,000.

Related Articles
  Staffing needs in the Holiday Rush
  The Second Sale You Have to Make for Increased Sales
  Planning the End at the Beginning
  How To Increase Your Online Sales Anytime
  Small Business Cashflow Crisis? Have a Sale!

Article Tags: choice questions, confindence, head in the sand, hockey player, ostrich, overcomer, rejection, salesperson, successful sales, truth, wayne gretzky



Related Forum Posts
Re: Selling on eBay - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":ctamvpom]Does anyone know if you can remove an item that you've listed for auction on eBay and then conduct a private sale? Is there a way to do this without violating the rules on eBay?[/quote:ctamvpom] If you are going to have a private sale with someone that saw the listing on Ebay and you complete the sale off the Ebay site, it violates their rules as far as I understand them. You can re-enter the info on Ebay and let someone bid right away to complete the sale and then Ebay gets their share. Chris
Prospecting for the new guys! - Hello all, I have read and read and I still don't have a good idea how to sale. Everyone tells me that I have the perfect personality and I can talk to anyone. My problem is I don't know if I should just walk into the clients office unannounced or should I try and "cold call" and see if that gets me anywhere. I own a service company. This is my biggest obstacle because I don't know how to sale a service and not an item that they can see and put in their hand. I think I could be a good salesman but I just need some direction. How do I get the prospects to sale to? Any help would be great.
Re: Discover 5 Traps of Internet Marketing that Derail Business - Well, I'm impressed that someone's doing good with Amazon! I've never had any luck with them. I think in the four years or so that I've been with them, I've had a "big" sale (someone who buys more than 5 items) twice. Mostly I get someone who buys one item, and that's it. And since Amazon sells used books as well as new books, more often than not my commission for that sale is in pennies. And if I get one sale a week I'm lucky... Buy hey - if they're doing good for you - more power to ya!
Biggest Challenge: Closing The First Sale - My biggest challenge was getting someone to believe in my product. It was difficult as well for me to ask for the sale but once we got one we went and got another... and then another... myownboss, can your clients finance your business? Can you make a sale and use that to build? It's slower growth but it's always a plus if you don't have to rely on outside investors. Jennifer.
Book chains - [quote:3k60a92e]I was dying to remind them that authors are the reason they have a job, but held back. [/quote:3k60a92e] Oh, you should never hold back! Sounds like that was something they needed to hear. But chain bookstores are a bit of a pain. My nearest Barnes & Noble closed down recently (the Mall it was in closed.) I expected everything in the store to go on sale, and planned on buying a hundred dollars worth of books on the strength of it. But...no. No sale - not even a lousy 10% off! All they did was strip the covers off every single paper back book and send them back to the publisher. They just didn't care. Hardbacks didn't go on sale - presumably they were just returned to the publisher as is, or sent to other stores in the area. The thought of it still rankles...


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Sales Training – Top Salespeople Are Not Dunces

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Unspoken Yet Important Rules for Book Proposals

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.