Trial Close Your Way To More Sales

Trial Closing is an "If ... then" question, not a closed-ended question like closing on the sale. For example:
* Trial Close: "If we can do for you all the things we discussed, then would you advertise with us?"
* Closing on the sale: "Will you sign the contract?"

A Trial Close is a safe way of testing to see if you would get a "yes" response if you were to hard close on the sale. You can use trial closing in several situations, especially when you're not 100% sure of the answer to your Trial Close question.

Trial Closes are important because:
1. It gives you insight as to where the customer stands in the sales process.
2. It allows you to uncover remaining objections.
3. It's a safe way to gauge if the customer is going to buy.
4. You gain a better understanding of the role the contact has in the decision-making process.

How To Recognize When To Trial Close
Trail Close when:
1. You're comfortable that you've received enough acceptance from all the people in the decision-making process and from delivering multiple Value Propositions to address more than one Value Opportunity. If you don't have acceptance in both those areas, you won't get the maximum sale you deserve or you won't get the sales at all when the proposal hits the real decision maker.
2. There's nothing left to discuss with the contact.
3. You're receiving Buying Cues.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of four leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, VertMarkets, and Howland Peterson Consulting.

All About Buying Cues

This article is dedicated to Bob Baran. Bob passed away Thursday, March 22, after surgery complications. Bob (pictured here in the sweater vest at the February Erie Sales Club workshop) was an active member of our club. Our condolences and prayers are with Bob's family. We will miss you!

Buying cues are statements or attitudes that indicate the customer may be ready to buy. They can be subtle or overt depending on the person's personality type and level of acceptance. Buying cues indicate that enough overall value has been accepted and your prospect is ready to buy. If you fail to recognize these cues, you may not advance to closing the sale.

How To Recognize Buying Cues
Here are 6 buying cues that should prompt you to close on the sale:
1. General verbal signals such as a friendlier tone of voice and asking questions that your prospect is mentally involved. "How would that work? How much is that?"
2. Repeating a question that has been answered fully already or asking the same question twice in rapid succession. "Rates -- what did you say about rates?"
3. Asking a question that indicates they picture themselves working with you, such as your process. "If I wanted to upgrade in a few months, would I call you or a service person?"
4. Asking for a sample of your services. "Do you offer a trial program? Can I take it for a test drive?"
5. Asking for your professional guidance or opinion. "How should we set that up? Is that the best program?"
6. Asking a question about starting or timing. "When does the sale end? How soon could it be delivered?"

2 Responses To Buying Cues
When you recognize the buying cue, it's up to you to decide how to respond.
1. You could follow the buying cue by trial closing or closing on the sale.
2. You could ignore the buying cue and continue to probe. You might choose this option if a buying cue is presented earlier in your conversation.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of four leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, VertMarkets, and Howland Peterson Consulting.

Skip This Article If You Never Receive Objections

If you're a successful sales rep and you don't ever get any objections, you can skip this article. And then give me a call -- I want to know your secret! The reality is that we all get objections, and the first crucial step in responding to objections is to isolate the objection. Validate that there is only one objection standing in the way of the prospect buying from you. Here's the 1-2-3 plan:
1. Restate the objection.
2. Eliminate the objection -- take the objection away as if pretending it was solved.
3. Close on that objection.
Example: "So you're saying that you don't have budget now, correct? If you did have your budget now, would you purchase our product/service?"

If the isolated objection is the only one, then probe to fully understand and provide a Value Proposition if appropriate. If the isolated objection isn't the only one, probe to understand each objection and then handle each objection individually.

When you go back to probing (asking questions) to isolate and overcome objections, realize that oftentimes there are multiple objections, but only handle one at a time:
1. Understand that objection with more probing.
2. Deliver value to overcome that objection.
3. Close and get feedback. Closing will identify if there are additional objections.
4. Repeat the process until all objections have been identified, understood, and overcome.

Overcoming Objections
The best way to overcome an objection is to shout at the prospect as loudly as you can, flailing your arms in all directions. That's not true -- just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Your success will be based on your ability to fully understand the objection and address Value Opportunities (VOs) with your value.
* Can be a new VO that we missed. We go back to define and deliver value.
* Can be a VO that we did not fully understand. We didn't ask enough questions or we worked to our own agenda. Maybe the contact is not a decision maker and cannot/did not have enough knowledge to answer your questions to properly define.
* Could be something related to their process that we do not understand, such as DM loop or budget. Sometimes it's a matter of waiting for the objection to clear itself (e.g. budget timing, new DM coming in).
* Could be an objection where a VO is identified but we cannot deliver value and can't overcome the objection. If you can't overcome it, it's usually because they won't disclose what the real objection is, they don't have money to spend, your contact isn't the decision maker, or you can't deliver the products/services that address their VOs.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of four leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, VertMarkets, and Howland Peterson Consulting.

Combatting Smokescreens & Stalls

It's rare to talk with a prospect and not get an initial statement that includes pushback for one reason or another. A smokescreen is an immediate objection for protection from being sold. The smokescreen isn't legitimate, but it may indicate a legitimate objection later in the sales process. Example: "We don't have any budget." That may be true and you will have to overcome that later in the call OR they may just want to get rid of you.

A stall is an unstated objection that prevents them from buying today. The reason is unknown -- you have to dig to find out the true objection and if it can be overcome. It can be a symptom of a deeper attitude (objection, skepticism, etc.).

In order to make a sale, you must be able to separate the true objections from the smokescreens and stalls. Then you have to isolate and overcome those true objections.

How To Respond To Smokescreens
You have two options when confronted with smokescreens:
1. Ignore and keep going.
2. Treat it as a real objection.

To ignore and keep going, you would (a) restate the smokescreen to show you're listening, (b) put them at ease, and (c) keep going down the path of your call. Example: "You don't have any budget left. That's OK. I don't expect you to buy anything right now but would like to learn more about your company so when you start your new planning, we're familiar with each other."

When treating it as a real objection, you (a) probe to understand it, and then (b) isolate and overcome it if possible. If you can't, you'll have to ignore it and keep going.

How To Respond To A Stall
Since a stall is a put-off without a stated reason, the goal is to get the reason (true objection). Cut to the chase -- ask them directly. Example: "It seems like you are hesitant to make a decision on this. What exactly is keeping you from doing this?"

You can also ask what has to happen to get to a decision. If you still don't get a reason, you most likely will need to talk to someone else -- a decision-maker -- in the decision-making loop.

The Erie Sales Club is a joint effort of four leading local businesses: Jameson Publishing, Marsha Marsh Real Estate Services, VertMarkets, and Howland Peterson Consulting.