If this is your first time visiting, you can receive this blog by RSS Feed or email .

Those sales professionals that I’ve worked with through the years all know that I am constantly comparing the sales process to sex. The greeting, meeting, dating, engagement, marriage, kids and divorce thing is quite analogous to engaging a prospect and turning them into a customer.

One of the best applications of this girl meets boy analogy can be applied to closing a sale.

We all know that the close is the point where a decision maker agrees to buy. I get tired of sales trainers who obsessively focus on “the close” as if it represents the entire sales process. It’s important, to be sure, but it’s only part of the sales process and shouldn’t require an inordinate amount of effort on our part.

If we’ve properly completed all of the parts in the sales process, this concluding piece should be easy. In fact, it should be as easy as a first kiss.

Think about it. You meet someone and get to know them. There is chemistry. One thing leads to another and before you know it you’re face to face in a candlelit restaurant enjoying a glass of wine. The kiss just happens. No planning, no big strategies, it just naturally happens. It was part of the normal course of events that evening.

Closing a sale is exactly the same. If we’ve done our job, no arm twisting of the prospect or customer will be required. The close will naturally and comfortably fit into the normal course of things.

Many salespeople get anxious about the close. “Should I close them today? What kind of close should I use? Should I experiment with trial closes?” Doing this can really rob us of confidence and diminish the work we’ve done leading up to that point.

I used to have a customer that said to me, “Scott, I know you’re not here for a social visit because you’ve been working hard to earn our business. Where’s the order for me to sign?” We know we’ve done a good job handling the sale when the customer or prospect expects to be closed. Sometimes they even ask to be closed.

Should we ignore closing skills? Not entirely. But I want us to remember that the close is the final punctuation, and nothing more, to a well written sentence.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Summary: Fifty years ago salespeople were taught “closing techniques” as if that’s all there was to making a sale.

I get a migraine every time I hear a salesperson use a classic closing technique that is ill timed and inappropriate. I get an even bigger migraine when I hear someone teaching these techniques to an unsuspecting group of new sales recruits. Classic closing techniques are outdated. Not only are they outdated but customers and prospects can see them coming a mile away. Please remember that most purchasers, decision makers and buyers have seen more of these techniques than you have.

Below are some of my not-so-favorite classic closing techniques (I’m not making these up):

Companion Close – the salesperson actually sells to the person with the decision maker.

Compliment Close – the salesperson flatters the prospect into submission.

Distraction Close – the salesperson catches the prospect in a weak moment.

Doubt Close – the salesperson shows the prospect that they doubt the product and lets the prospect disagree.

Hurry Close – the salesperson goes fast to keep the prospect from thinking too much.

Selective-deafness Close – the salesperson responds only to what they want to hear.

Shame Close – the salesperson shames the prospect into buying.

Treat Close – the salesperson convinces the prospect that they should give themselves a treat.

If you view the sales process as a series of steps you don’t need heavy handed closing. The final step of the sales process should be just another step to completion. This is why I like to refer to the final step in the sales process as finishing the sale versus closing the sale. If you’ve done all your homework and connected all the links in the sales process, the closing should be a non-event, sometimes needing virtually no input from you at all.

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here (salesvitamins.com) to subscribe and automatically receive Sales Vitamins™ as new posts become available. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

We’ve all heard the expression, “In golf you drive for show and putt for dough.” I love that expression because it applies to just about every area of your life, especially sales. If you love golf there is nothing more satisfying than hitting a 300+ yard drive from the Tee Box. There is most assuredly a positive correlation between the distance driven and one’s ego gratification. But here’s the killer. Each stroke counts the same whether it’s a 300+ yard drive or a two inch tap-in at the cup. Things aren’t so satisfying if a golfer gets to the green in beautiful style and then takes five putts to get in the hole. Those short missed putts add up quickly.

Sales is the same way. Everyone with even an ounce of sales ability loves to meet that important prospect for the first time and make that first sales presentation. Don’t we all love making a good first impression and knocking them dead with our presentation skills in front of a group? When we do these things well, the sales process moves ahead nicely. However, “moves” means something completely different than “closes.” The sale is not completed until the decision maker gives it the thumbs up. After the initial meetings and presentations are over there are plenty of other details that need to be handled before the sale is completed. Get out your putter.

Because most sales professionals are good at the front end of the sales cycle, our prospects tend to judge us on the small things that follow instead, i.e., our putting. Prospects also know that they are seeing us at our best and at our company’s best during the start of the sales process. They know our responsiveness and thoroughness aren’t going to improve after the sale is consummated. For these reasons they put a lot of weight on how we follow-up with them on the details of the transaction as the sales process progresses.

I’ve seen many interested prospects turn sour when they realize that the salesperson and the company are all show and no go. Potential customers know that once they purchase from you that the day-to-day maintenance of their account will be nothing but details and timely follow-up. It’s your ability to handle the details during the sales process that will gain their trust and confidence. Go ahead and have your splashy sales presentations for show, but handle the details and follow-up for your dough.