Don't Try to Be a Closer

Source: Rain Today

Closing is about the salesperson, not about the prospect, and can make the salesperson seem manipulative. When trying to sell a complex professional service, trust is essential. To earn trust, you have to care – really care – about the client. Trying to close a sale can destroy trust. It places what you need above what the client needs.

The notion of closing assumes clients buy rationally. You believe if they don’t buy, there must be a rational reason. The salesperson tries to uncover the reason. While doing this he or she is saying, “If I remove this obstacle, will you buy?” That’s closing. But in fact buying, even buying professional services, is emotional.

If you try to close, you commit the sins of:

• Focusing too much on you.
• Focusing too much on your services.
• Moving too fast.

Buyers don’t buy because you’ve eliminated obstacles to buying. They buy because they’ve come to trust you, i.e., they believe you care about their needs.

From Rain Today, www.raintoday.com, November 1, 2006. For the complete article, click on the following link: http://www.raintoday.com/pages/1968_stop_trying_to_close_the_sale.cfm.