Selling and Closing Using Product Negatives
Selling and Closing Using Product Negatives
But closing isn’t some magical spell requiring just the right incantation. One of my most successful final closes is the simple phrase, “Give it a shot.” When you’ve done your job right a simple request for the order is often all it takes. In reality, the entire call is the close. At the end of your interactive presentation, you’re merely asking for what makes sense. (Or, if you use an assume close, you’re expecting what makes sense to happen.)
Whatever the actual close itself might be, I often set it up with by selling the negatives. I make my original recommendation, recommending, let’s say, the finest Premier Level package. I of course make the prospect want the Premier before ever mentioning the price. I make him want it, even if he’s thinking that it’s going to be far too expensive. Then I give him the price, provide all the reasons why it’s worth every penny of that price, and move into my initial close.
Often that will be a summary close. Most summary closes entail listing all the benefits then, in one form or another, asking for the order. “As we’ve agreed Mr. Customer, the new Jiff-o-matic is the fastest, the easiest, the most cost-effective . . . “ Since no product is perfect I usually include a few negatives on that list.
Sometimes the prospect closes right away. Not usually, but once in awhile. If he doesn’t, I continue the process until I’m sure he can’t or won’t be able to buy the Premier. Then I try just a bit more, even though I don’t expect it to work. At that point, and not before, I cut back to my secondary recommendation. Slowly. Selling the negatives.
“Well, if you really can’t see your way clear to go with the Premier—and as I said, I think you should give it some very serious thought—but if you can’t, we do have the Marquee Level. Now, the Marquis package is not going to . . . “
And I list all the things the Marquee Level won’t do, all the ways it falls short of the Premier Level, stressing any features the prospect will be losing that he’s indicated might be important. Then I say, “But what the Marquis will do . . .” and I detail the positives—perhaps just a tad grudgingly—again stressing the features most important to the prospect and any additional advantages, even beyond saving money, gained by cutting back. Perhaps the Marquis package will take significantly less storage space or it will give him a chance to try out the product or service without such a lengthy commitment.
So I’ve set up a forced choice between my original recommendation and my cutback recommendation. Often at this point, the prospect takes over the selling: selling himself away from those features the cutback doesn’t offer, features he needed just a few moments before; trying to sell me into agreeing that the Marquis Level is really best for his situation. It’s astonishing how quickly vital features become unimportant when a significant amount of money can be saved. And if there’s a feature or two found only on the Premier Level that’s still important to him, often I can find a way to package it with the cutback recommendation—either for free or at a relatively small additional price—as a sweetener to clinch the deal.
If he isn’t losing any vital features by cutting back—and I made him want the original recommendation enough—anyone that’s breathing, and a few that aren’t, should be able to close the sale.
If necessary, a good salesperson can cut back three or four or more times before finally getting the order. The mistake mediocre salespeople make is that they cut back too quickly or they fail to stress what’s lost with each cutback.
“No way,” the prospect says, shaking her head. “It may be a Premier package to you, to me it just looks overpriced. Way overpriced.”
“Well, we’ve also got our Marquis package” the rep says quickly. “Not only is it our highest rated in terms of customer satisfaction, it’s considerably less expensive than the Premier. Actually, it’s probably the best deal we offer.”
Then why was he just trying to foist the Premier on her? If he was any kind of salesperson at all, there must have been good reasons. He needs to make certain she knows what they were. Otherwise his original recommendation loses all credibility. Which means he loses all credibility. And the sale.
When done correctly, closing by cutting back can sometimes be as easy as cashing a big commission check. You just tell your prospects what they lose by cutting back—along with all the benefits they don’t lose and anything they gain—and let them sell themselves. This strategy also helps minimize buyer’s remorse. After you walk out the door, the prospect is far less likely to start feeling like he was sold something he wouldn’t have bought on his own. And he’s far more likely to feel he got the package he needed, the one he wanted to buy rather than the more expensive one you were trying to sell.
Selling and Closing Using Product Negatives - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Maher's Website.
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There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different sales closes. They all work. At least they all work at one time or another. Obviously, when closing you do everything you can to create urgency. You use all the honest tools you can muster and all the options your company provides. You use your favorite assumptive closes, forced choices, whatever you like.
But closing isn’t some magical spell requiring just the right incantation. One of my most successful final closes is the simple phrase, “Give it a shot.” When you’ve done your job right a simple request for the order is often all it takes. In reality, the entire call is the close. At the end of your interactive presentation, you’re merely asking for what makes sense. (Or, if you use an assume close, you’re expecting what makes sense to happen.)
Whatever the actual close itself might be, I often set it up with by selling the negatives. I make my original recommendation, recommending, let’s say, the finest Premier Level package. I of course make the prospect want the Premier before ever mentioning the price. I make him want it, even if he’s thinking that it’s going to be far too expensive. Then I give him the price, provide all the reasons why it’s worth every penny of that price, and move into my initial close.
Often that will be a summary close. Most summary closes entail listing all the benefits then, in one form or another, asking for the order. “As we’ve agreed Mr. Customer, the new Jiff-o-matic is the fastest, the easiest, the most cost-effective . . . “ Since no product is perfect I usually include a few negatives on that list.
Sometimes the prospect closes right away. Not usually, but once in awhile. If he doesn’t, I continue the process until I’m sure he can’t or won’t be able to buy the Premier. Then I try just a bit more, even though I don’t expect it to work. At that point, and not before, I cut back to my secondary recommendation. Slowly. Selling the negatives.
“Well, if you really can’t see your way clear to go with the Premier—and as I said, I think you should give it some very serious thought—but if you can’t, we do have the Marquee Level. Now, the Marquis package is not going to . . . “
And I list all the things the Marquee Level won’t do, all the ways it falls short of the Premier Level, stressing any features the prospect will be losing that he’s indicated might be important. Then I say, “But what the Marquis will do . . .” and I detail the positives—perhaps just a tad grudgingly—again stressing the features most important to the prospect and any additional advantages, even beyond saving money, gained by cutting back. Perhaps the Marquis package will take significantly less storage space or it will give him a chance to try out the product or service without such a lengthy commitment.
So I’ve set up a forced choice between my original recommendation and my cutback recommendation. Often at this point, the prospect takes over the selling: selling himself away from those features the cutback doesn’t offer, features he needed just a few moments before; trying to sell me into agreeing that the Marquis Level is really best for his situation. It’s astonishing how quickly vital features become unimportant when a significant amount of money can be saved. And if there’s a feature or two found only on the Premier Level that’s still important to him, often I can find a way to package it with the cutback recommendation—either for free or at a relatively small additional price—as a sweetener to clinch the deal.
If he isn’t losing any vital features by cutting back—and I made him want the original recommendation enough—anyone that’s breathing, and a few that aren’t, should be able to close the sale.
If necessary, a good salesperson can cut back three or four or more times before finally getting the order. The mistake mediocre salespeople make is that they cut back too quickly or they fail to stress what’s lost with each cutback.
“No way,” the prospect says, shaking her head. “It may be a Premier package to you, to me it just looks overpriced. Way overpriced.”
“Well, we’ve also got our Marquis package” the rep says quickly. “Not only is it our highest rated in terms of customer satisfaction, it’s considerably less expensive than the Premier. Actually, it’s probably the best deal we offer.”
Then why was he just trying to foist the Premier on her? If he was any kind of salesperson at all, there must have been good reasons. He needs to make certain she knows what they were. Otherwise his original recommendation loses all credibility. Which means he loses all credibility. And the sale.
When done correctly, closing by cutting back can sometimes be as easy as cashing a big commission check. You just tell your prospects what they lose by cutting back—along with all the benefits they don’t lose and anything they gain—and let them sell themselves. This strategy also helps minimize buyer’s remorse. After you walk out the door, the prospect is far less likely to start feeling like he was sold something he wouldn’t have bought on his own. And he’s far more likely to feel he got the package he needed, the one he wanted to buy rather than the more expensive one you were trying to sell.
Selling and Closing Using Product Negatives - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Maher's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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