Why I Hate Closing Techniques

"My salespeople need to get better at closing," the Vice President of Sales said to me shortly after I arrived in his office.

If I've heard that line once, I've heard it a hundred times. Despite being on an important sales call, I couldn't help but cringe. You see, I will never, ever train people on closing techniques if they sell to the corporate marketplace.

Why not? When you analyze what happens when you teach sellers how to be great closers, you'll understand my perspective.

--

So right now, I want you to imagine yourself as a decision maker in a large organization. Perhaps you're a manager or even an executive.

You agree to meet with a seller who's been trying to set up a meeting with you for several months. When she mentioned the business results her firm was achieving with your competitor, you decided it was time to learn more.

But you're still a bit leery. You're absolutely swamped with a workload that's so big you can't seem to get out from under it.

After a 10-minute discussion with her, you start to notice that nearly every other sentence ends with a question: "Don't you agree?" or "I'm sure you've experienced that?" or "Is that true here?"

(Because she's been trained to "always be closing," she starts using the "Constant Close Technique" right away. This method is designed to get your head bobbing up and down. The more "yeses" you say, the easier it'll be for her to get your business.)

After sharing a bit more about her offering, she begins to implement the "Little-Decision Close" by asking:

- Do you usually start out with weekly or monthly orders?
- Can you get this through purchasing fairly easily?
- Do you agree that this methodology would be helpful?

(By getting you to agree to small things first, she's warming you up for the big close.)

Inside, your head is spinning and these thoughts are racing through your mind: "I'm not ready to get started on anything right now. I'm just learning. Besides, I don't know if it's even worth it to make a change. Shoot, it could be really disruptive right now with all the new initiatives going on in our company."

But the sales rep persists. She's really good at closing. She moves into the "Assume-the-Sale Close." With a winning smile on her face, she says to you, "We can get going on this by mid-month."

If you're normal, by now you're feeling a little pushed - or maybe even a lot pushed. You're not ready to make any kind of decision on the spot like this. Who does she think she is???

Trying to politely get out of this mess, you ask, "How much money are we talking about?" No matter what she says, it will always be too much!

When you tell her that, she chimes back in with the "Better-Act- Now Close".

Petulantly, she looks at you and says, "We're really busy right now. So many people are ordering. If you don't go ahead right now, I have no idea how long it will take or even if the pricing will stay the same. I've heard it's going up."

You tell her you'll have to take your chances, because it's out of the question for you to make decisions so quickly.

Not to be deterred, she comes right back at you with her best "Referral Close." Pulling a list of testimonials out of her briefcase, she lays them in front of you one-by-one.

"Look at all the great companies who we work with," she says. "They love us. We've done great things for them."

Glancing quickly at your watch, you say, "I'm sorry. I have to run to a meeting right now. Thank you so much for your time."

"If you act now, we've got this great promotional offer," she says using her best "Last Ditch Close". "We'll throw in 20 hours of free training and a new iPod."

Enough already! At this point, all you can think about is, "Get this woman out of my office."

--

That's what happens when you train someone on closing skills. They close and they close. At the same time, they tick off their prospective customers royally.

Whenever someone talks to me about their salespeople needing to be trained on closing skills, I have to redirect their thinking.

The inability to close is a direct result of poor needs development. It is the symptom of the problem, not the actual problem itself.

The very best salespeople don't employ any special closing techniques at all. They simply focus on understanding their customer's business and helping them achieve their desired outcomes.

Instead of talking about their product or service, they ask a ton of questions. They keep their focus on their prospect's business challenges and the gaps that need to be closed to achieve their objectives.

Then, knowing that corporate decisions take a while to make and often involve many people, they simply suggest the logical next step.

So please, don't talk to me about your salespeople needing to improve their closing skills. I can't help you with this.

If they're selling to big companies, the more they close, the less successful they'll be.

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Feel free to use the above article on your website or in your print publication or ezine. Make sure the following credit is attached:

"Jill Konrath helps salespeople get their foot in the door and win big contracts in the corporate market. Sign up for her free e-newsletter at http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com . You get a free "Sales Call Planning Guide" ($19.95 value) when you subscribe."

Please tell me where the material will appear.

Comments

[William Rice]

Hi Jill,
>
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your comments on closing techniques! For
a couple of decades now I have felt like I have been ****ing into the wind
arguing with sales "professionals" about that. If the presentation is done
properly and the need exists, or has been created, the customer should be
closing you! It is good to hear it from a professional with a good
reputation, I will be quoting it a lot in the future.

Also, I have been on the purchasing side as well and you really have the reactions that I felt when faced with closers down pat.

Thanks again,
Bill Rice

[Bill Bell]

Dear Jill,

Your sales lady with the canned closings might be typical of sales people across the full range of industries. They are the ones who make it hard for sales people to get their foot in the door, or even get an appointment. If they would approach sales the way you do, and the way I did, they would make more money, their customers would be glad to see them coming back, and the general sales activity would not be contaminated by close-oriented sales neophytes.
And yet, at the other extreme there are those who present their wares attractively, and persuasively but still fail because they never ask for the order. Knowing when and how to pop the question is hard to explain, if it acutally can be explained at all. But one way not to do it is with all those "by- the-book" closes that you so well listed.
Thanks for anothr fine selling message.
Regards, Bill

[gary jader]

I could not agree more with your comments on closing. It's like a business card. Never give them out unless they are asked for. And, they will not be asked for until you first provide value. It's like the guy who sits in front of the fireplace and says "Give me heat," not realizing that he first must put wood in. Understand needs, demonstrate value first, and closing will take care of itself.
Gary Jader
Founder
Ideas on the Wall

[Jeff Seifert]

Bravo Jill!

I couldn't agree with you more. I've been selling to big companies for 20 years and I find traditional close-centric training to be entirely inappropriate for the complex sale. If we do our jobs correctly, closing the sale is a natural outcome of our problem-solving abilities.

Keep up the good work.

Jeff Seifert

[Rob]

"When you analyze what happens when you teach sellers how to be great closers, you'll understand my perspective."

This woman is NOT a great closer. She's a very poor closer. Any sales technique must fit the situation. In this case no sale has been made.

This person has not listened to her customer. If she had, she would know that her next step is to close on the next step. What can we do to move forward? What information do you need? Who else in your organization should I be talking to? I can see that you have more questions and that you're busy today. Can I see you again next week, or would the following week be better?

Without closing, "sales" people are just professional visitors. But, poor fact-finding leads to inappropriate closes, which does indeed irritate the customer.

[Andrew Golden]

Dear Jill,

Another great segment. Couldn't agree with you more.

I avoid these type of sales people. Fact is, I think it's these types of
sales people that immediately conjure up the visions of car salesmen,
better yet, used car salesmen- ultimately causing people to be
'sales shy' because they desperately want to avoid appearing as such.

We've always take the position of education. Meaning a slow 'soft'
(for lack of better words) approach. We probably give away about 20%
of our potential sales because we're not aggressive enough.

Regards,
Andrew Golden
www.icmneutrals.com

[Mike McLaughlin]

Jill,

What a great post. Clients/customers see right through those store-bought closing techniques. All it does is telegraph to the customer that their needs are less important than yours. If salespeople embraced this idea, we'd clear the bookshelves of alot of books that are just giving bad advice. Then, there'd be more room on those shelves for your forthcoming book.

Mike

[JSLogan]

Great post Jill! I've never seen closing tactics you highlighted ever work in selling to big companies.

I've found the only closing tactics you need are honesty, empathy, and respect.

[Michael Martine]

Excellent points made in this post. I think this closely maps to the reasons why blogging is so huge and getting huger: Authenticity. All selling "techniques" (and for that matter marketing and PR "techniques") are essentially performances and playacting. They are not honest discussion. Real selling is authentic and honest. Anything else is deception. Same thing goes for blogs: ghost-written "pr" blogs or any blog that isn't authentic, real, and human will not achieve its desired effect.

BTW, I know "huger" isn't a real word, but it's more fun to say than a real word!

[Jacques de Villiers]

Hi Jill,

I posted this article on my website. You can check it out here http://www.jacquesdevilliers.com/index.asp?pgid=103

Regards
Jacques de Villiers
www.motivators.co.za

[Wade Fletcher]

Jill,

Great article. So you're telling me that we need to focus on THIER needs? What a crazy concept!

In the spirit of March Madness, I love the focus on fundamentals.

Wade Fletcher

[Dale Carmichael]

As someone who wants to switch careers from IT to sales I really appreciate your advice. I currently work at a fortune 500 company and have been involved both as an influencer and a decision maker in many expensive software purchases and each time a group decision was made after many sales presentations. In my experience the more expensive the product or service the more deliberate the purchasing process.

[David Peterson]

I agree that if you have set up the sale properly you shouldn't have to work so hard to close. Most of the products and services I sell are over the phone and if the rep has properly done his or her due diligence the sale will close naturally.

Phone reps only have the prospects level of engagement in the conversation to determine where they are in the sales cycle. While carrying on a conversation they are listing for and delivery varying voice inflections and they are paying attention to who is carrying on most of the conversation. So, I instruct the reps that work for me to use some of the statements above as trial closes to get a notion of where they are in the sales cycle. In the telesales business you don't want to waste a prospects time or your own time for that matter so my recommendation is that you throw out a few of these statements to see if the conversation is worth carrying on.

In other words you may not be using the “assumptive close” to seal the deal, you use the assumptive close to see if there is any interest, or to see if the prospect is even listen to your pitch.

David Peterson Editor - USReference.com

[Douglas Jarquin]

I found this article looking to better my closing techniques. Instead, I am more aware of the truth and do not have to learn anything new.

Thanks,
Douglas

[Nick Moreno - National Sales Center]

So true … when you follow the sales process and implement it properly, closing the sales becomes both easy and natural.

[Kathy Mast]

Hi Jill,

I know your material was published several years ago, but I think it is still very relevant. I'm sharing your ideas in a presentation for a group of management consultants, and I will suggest that they sign up for your newsletter, buy your book and review your website.

Best regards.
Kathy Mast

[Jim Farrell]

Hello Jill, I enjoyed your Blog Post. I just completed reseach on Spin Selling by Neil Rackham and published the post "Spin Selling - How To Make The Larger Sale"

Rackman's research was very intersting regarding closing, that is what made reading your post so revealing to me.

My Blog Post can be viewed at http://blog.business-bits.com/?p=15

I would love to have your comment on it.

Thanks so much and keep up the great work.

Jim

[Konia]

Great blog. This have good relevant detail.

[John]

An insightfull post. Will definitely help.

Apart from traditional marketing, these days most of the marketers use viral marketing. I came across a website called www.how2talk2.com. It allows people to write articles about their products and services for free in a fun way. You write an article in the form of how to actually talk to someone and you can include links on all of your websites in your articles.

Also, thanks for the great post!"

John - www.how2talk2.com

[JuanLulli]

Wow Jill -- you wrote this way back in '05! As relevant and fresh then as now and as always. Closing-centric sales approaches are as simple-minded as they are fundamentally dismissive and arrogant and as fatally flawed when positive outcomes are being desired.

[Billrice]

From the other Bill Rice:

I think this shows two important distinctions that should be highlighted in most sales training:

1. There is a big difference between belly to belly B2B sales and aggressive B2C sales. I have done both and there is cause and technique for both.

2. Sales scripts and rigid sales process can drive customers away. I advocate the "playbook" paradigm versus the sales script.

Jill you always give us great stuff. Thank you.

[ashley]

you're awesome!

[Debby Binns]

Hi Jill
This is a really insightful post! I agree that if you have set up the sale properly you shouldn't have so much hard work at the back end closing it up. Thanks for the words so succinctly put and there as a reminder to us all!

[Cody]

The principle you are stating is true.

However, isn't this just a rehash of the grandfather book of all sales, "SPIN Selling?"

Please email me if I am incorrect.