Closing throughout the sales conversation, which we talked about in last week’s Thinking Aloud article, is a concept that’s difficult to grasp for many, especially anyone who has lived in fear of having to ask for the order or otherwise “go for the close”. We’re going to spend some time looking at specific examples; hopefully some of the examples shown over the next several weeks will be close enough to your situation to allow you to incorporate this strategic selling technique into your own natural selling style. (If not, send me some info about the aspect of closing you find challenging, and I’ll address it in a future column).
Let’s take the case of Antoinette, who is seeking funding for her start up business, but who hates the idea of asking for money. Her business is not yet developed enough to be attracting money from professional investors – she’s in a friends and family round where she needs to find folks she already knows who would like to invest in her firm. Fortunately, she knows some people who might have the excess cash to invest, and she feels confident that the business plan is solid enough to pay off nicely for early investors. Unfortunately, she is intimidated about actually asking for money.
So, how does the closing throughout the sale approach work in this case? Because we are talking about asking family members for money, we are of course assuming here that the fund-seeking entrepreneur is extremely sensitive to the appropriateness of her request, and that she has no interest in taking money that is not freely offered. This is no hard sell, but instead an example of how to respectfully ask for money. It’s a given here that she does not want money from anyone who cannot afford to invest, or who is uncomfortable with the idea. Though not a one-to-one parallel with other selling situations, it is a truism that great salespeople only sell folks what they really need and want, as unhappy customers rarely come back for more.
First, Antoinette asks her friend or family member if she can book some time to speak with them about her new business (one on one is preferable, or single investing units --she can talk to Aunt Sadie and Uncle Bert together if they make investment decisions together). When they get together, she gives them a very short description of the business including her funding hopes and needs, and then, after telling them that she would be interested in having them consider investing in the business, shifts quickly to trying to understand their investment interests and concerns.
She asks them questions about what sorts of business investments they’ve made in the past, and how they’ve felt about them. Or what their personal investment goals are, and what sorts of returns they hope for and expect. She probes to understand what makes an investment comfortable for them, and what they dislike. Of course, she is paying close attention to how they are receiving these questions, as finances are very personal and she has to follow their lead as to how much they feel at ease disclosing. This is a potentially intimate conversation, and Antoinette has to be much more interested in listening and learning that she is in pitching at this point.
Only when she has learned enough to believe that the investment is truly appropriate for her relatives, and that their personal goals can really be met, does she shift back to talking about her business, and how it can in fact fit the picture described.
The temptation of less experienced sellers is to listen for just a few moments, and as soon as they hear one point they believe their offering can meet, they jump in to make that claim. Enthusiasm for the match makes them forget about listening and start talking instead. Even though it may feel right at the time, that behavior shuts down the learning part of the conversation and shifts it to a conversation that feels like a hard sell. It’s far better to note the point of agreement in your own mind, but to bite your tongue and keep listening, probing for more info as needed. Only when you’re sure you really understand all of what your prospect cares about do you move on to telling your story.
For example, let’s say Antoinette’s Uncle Bert answers her first investment question with a polite buy shallow response, “Of course we’d love to support your business, dear, but we are a bit nervous about putting our retirement funds in anything so uncertain…”
As a good listener, Antoinette will acknowledge his sense of risk, and wait till he says more. If he does not volunteer further info or seems to be waiting for her to talk, she’ll ask another question, something very open-ended and designed to elicit more insight, like how he feels about investing money in general.
A less effective Antoinette will jump on that first comment, with some response about how her business is not a risky investment at all. She means well, but she has essentially shut down the conversation at this point. She’s not listening, and her prospects know it. There is no hope of a win-win from this point on.
What may be surprising is that the same negative result occurs even if the first comment is all positive, with no objection to handle. If Uncle Bert had said, “Funny you called, Sadie and I were just looking for some more investment opportunities”, it may seem safe for Antoinette to jump in with a “well, that’s perfect, my business is just the thing.” Even though it all sounds good, she has still shut down the questioning and listening far too early. The much better response to his positive first comment would be another question, such as, “what sorts of investments would you want to consider?”
Are you getting the feel for a different sort of sales conversation? I hope so, because insightful questions and good listening are at the heart of all successful communication, especially those in which persuasion is hoped for.
Practice asking more and pitching less, and next week we’ll look at more examples of selling by listening and getting agreement throughout the call.