sales closing technique adapted from an

This sales closing technique has been adapted from an old direct sales trick that was a bit underhand but very successful, and with a few changes it can still be very effective today. It comes from the dark and murky days when selling was less regulated and prospects more naive. Sales people used it when selling one-off sales where they would not be revisiting the same customers. With some investment you can adapt the technique and turn it into a professional sales closing skill that will also give you good feedback from your prospects. More importantly, it will give you a way of increasing your sales by selling to prospects that you thought you had lost.I started my sales career sellingust about everything that could be sold to the public in a direct sales role. Vacuum cleaners, home improvements, finance plans, and subscriptions, to name just a few. One of the most successful sales closing techniques we used was when the salesperson had made every effort to close the sale but the prospect was still not buying.The sales person backed off from trying to close the sale, and started to pack away whatever product they had been demonstrating. The prospect felt they were off the hook and started to relax. The seller then made an excuse to call their manager. They said it was company policy, or to prove they had completed each appointment. The sales manager would always want to speak to the sales prospect. They would start by asking for feedback on what the salesperson had done and said. Without the prospect realizing it the conversation moved from asking for feedback to the start of a new sales pitch.The now relaxed prospect was caught off guard and was open to the sales closing techniques used by the manager. The manager would align themselves with the customer and point out mistakes in the sales presentation they had received. This got the prospect on side and built a relationship. The sales questions asked by the manager, about why the prospect hadn't bought from the seller, made it easy to close the sales. All they had to do was address whatever issues the prospect had openly told them about when asked for feedback. The call usually ended with the manager apologising for any misunderstanding caused by their sales person, and then giving the customer a revised sales proposal which was often accepted.One of the things that made this sales closing technique so effective was that the prospect didn't know they were being sold to by the manager. They opened up and told them the reasons why they hadn't agreed to buy, and all the manager had to do was overcome those obstacles to the sale. This is the part of this closing technique that you can adapt for your sales role. Now I'm not suggesting you use this rehearsed salesperson-sales manager routine on your customers or prospects. But what you can do is implement a call back process to prospects that uses some of the elements of this closing technique.You can adapt a script for calling back prospects that you, your colleagues, or your sales team, have not been able to close. It doesn't have to be the sales manager that makes the call it can be a colleague or another sales team member. You can call while the seller is there or after they have gone.You can make the call informal and friendly, or a more formal customer care type call. The important elements of the call are:1. Introduce yourself and the reason for the call.2. Ask for genuine feedback and discover why the prospect didn't buy.3. Overcome the prospect's objections and obstacles with a new sales presentation.4. Gain agreement and close the sale.The above steps are just an adapted sales pitch. Consider each of the sales stages and what you want to say and ask that will help you to move on to the next stage and towards closing the sale.This sales closing technique, of contacting prospects that didn't buy, gives you two major benefits. The biggest benefit is the increase in your sales. The second is that you convert more of your sales leads or prospect data base, and this can save you money on marketing and buying in prospect lists.

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