Chapter 16
Closing the Deal
The ABC mantra, Always Be Closing, typically destroys trust, along with the possibilities of future sales and repeat business. In this chapter we redirect you away from this counterproductive thinking and show you the value of leading with trust. You will understand the reasons not to Always Be Closing and you will benefit from specific ways to focus less on closing and more on helping.
It’s often said that customers like to buy, they just don’t like to be sold. We might add that buyers like to decide—but they don’t like being closed. Yet many salespeople persist in believing that the buyer’s to-buy-or-not-to-buy decision represents a pivotal moment at which sellers can and should influence the buyer. This moment has come to be called closing.
Closing has been cast as the dramatic end point to a transaction. That is a myth. The most influential moments in sales actually happen much earlier in the sales process.1 In fact, most attempts at closing do more harm than good to the relationship.
The time when a buying decision is made is just another milestone in the ongoing evolution of a trust-based relationship.
The time when a buying decision is made is simply another milestone in the ongoing evolution of a trust-based relationship. Leading with trust means focusing on the relationship, not the sale, as your ultimate goal. Closing is therefore irrelevant; exploring, and moving forward is what matters.
Six Reasons Not to Always Be Closing
The phrase ...
