Guide to a close with assurance. “Kujaribu ni bure” (Try it on for free); and being human, the lady might say, “Thanks, but I’m not buying”. The inexperienced seller will be sold on this and say, “ Hata kesho ni siku”. Not the experienced one…
If you don’t close the buyer on why he should, he’ll close the opportunity on why he shouldn’t. To close is to get commitment from the buyer that he will buy what you are selling. It’s a frustrating thing about sales- that, that presentation that crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s will not automatically lead to a close. Even after vividly seeing why he needs your product, rarely will the buyer willingly open his cheque book, write and give you a cheque with no prodding on your part.
Any why? Because it represents risk, change. And the immediate reaction to this is resistance. It is the seller’s responsibility to guide the buyer to a close. If he doesn’t do so, the buyer will. Only he will show you why he shouldn’t buy. And why? As uncomfortable as his current situation may be, it’s what he is familiar with. So he will sooner recede into a comfort zone than venture into the unknown.
Guide to a close with assurance. Learn from a hawker
The seller acts shepherd by exuding assurance, confidence and direction. Like a hawker with his perfectly timed, open ended sales closing statements, not questions; his closing phrases in sales. That’s why to the lady who shows interest in a pair of shoes, the hawker will say, “Kujaribu ni bure” (Try it on for free); and being human, the lady might say, “Thanks, but I’m not buying”. The inexperienced seller will be sold on this and say, “ Hata kesho ni siku” (Maybe another day). And a closing sales opportunity is lost. The virtuoso hawker on the other hand doesn’t stop there; in one fluent motion he bends to pick the shoe, reaches for the lady’s foot to remove the one she has on stating, “I just want you to see how it suits you”.
Assurance and confidence
He silently and politely instructs while communicating assurance and confidence. The lady pushes back with, “I don’t have money”, to which the hawker reminds her, “Kujaribu ni bure”, knowing she will not say, as she had earlier, that, “Thanks. I’m not buying”. Some hawkers get offended by “I don’t have money” and may even click their tongue. And so, again they are closed by the buyer on the opportunity for why she shouldn’t buy and a sale is lost. Meantime, the expert seller proceeds with his unsolicited demonstration. He fits the shoe on her. And then he gives further and final direction to the excited lady, in love with the look and feel of the shoe on her. He says, “Ni mia mbili tu” (It’s only 200shs). She pays.
Corporate equivalent
Of course the corporate sale is more complex. Still, the principle is the same. Guide to a close with assurance. If you do not guide or instigate the closes they will not happen. So, when you sense the time is right, casually instruct, with “Sign, here”; confidently respond to the objection about price with the assurance that, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get. Let me show you the value you get when you own (not buy) this software.” Otherwise, you know who will be ‘closed’ instead.
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