{"id":413,"date":"2022-02-02T18:36:01","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T23:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/?post_type=chapter&p=413"},"modified":"2022-02-02T18:36:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T23:36:01","slug":"12-3-trial-closes-and-closing-challenges","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/chapter\/12-3-trial-closes-and-closing-challenges\/","title":{"raw":"12.3. Trial Closes and Closing challenges","rendered":"12.3. Trial Closes and Closing challenges"},"content":{"raw":"One key tool in your sales toolbox is the trial close.\u00a0 A trial close helps test the water to get an idea on what the customer is thinking about the product or service.\u00a0\u00a0 Trial closes are low risk because it is asking for an opinion or checking on how well you handled an objection and it is not asking for a decision from the client (Cardone, 2017).\u00a0 An example would be something like \u201cOn a scale from 1-10, how would you rate this new phone?\u201d\u00a0 or \u201cNow that you have seen how the product works in water, what do you think of its durability?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The best use of a trial close is after you have made a strong selling point or when you have answered objections.\u00a0 It can be simple like \u201cIt looks like you really like this. Is that true? Or \u201cHow would this look on your shelf back at home?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Trial Close works by putting the idea of closure into a person\u2019s mind. Their response will tell you whether they are ready to close or not<\/em>\u201d (Trial close, 2020). \u00a0 So, given the ease of using trial closes and following the 7 step process, why are salespeople reluctant to close? \u00a0The number one reason is the fear of rejection. What if you ask for the sale and they say no??? \u00a0\u00a0Research shows that this fear is attached to our culture where career success is directly linked to our self-worth and this impacts our willingness to close a sale (Pipedrive, 2020). One of the best ways to overcome this fear of rejection is to build confidence through sales training (like taking this course!), having realistic goals, analyzing your calls afterwards to help improve, and practicing. Recognizing that it takes time to build relationships and that a No is not personal.\r\n\r\nSome suggestions to help with closing challenges (Hoffman, 2019):\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Don\u2019t just close once. If you wait until the very end to close, how do you know if you have answered the customers\u2019 questions and objections? It\u2019s important to consistently close through the sales presentation using trial closes and a variety of techniques.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Not asking for what you want. This seems straightforward but as a salesperson might fear rejection, they soften their ask to minimize the change of hearing \u201cno\u201d or they don\u2019t write out clear objectives for the sales call and leave without really getting what they want.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Using statements instead of questions. This comes back to listening more than speaking and using good communication methods.\u00a0 Questions get at the root of the customer\u2019s problems so that you can sell on the benefits.\u00a0 Try and remember that talking too much is one main cause for not getting a sale.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Closing to someone who can\u2019t deliver. This challenge results from not doing your research to properly qualify a lead or not understanding the decision criteria in a business to business sales call.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","rendered":"

    One key tool in your sales toolbox is the trial close.\u00a0 A trial close helps test the water to get an idea on what the customer is thinking about the product or service.\u00a0\u00a0 Trial closes are low risk because it is asking for an opinion or checking on how well you handled an objection and it is not asking for a decision from the client (Cardone, 2017).\u00a0 An example would be something like \u201cOn a scale from 1-10, how would you rate this new phone?\u201d\u00a0 or \u201cNow that you have seen how the product works in water, what do you think of its durability?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The best use of a trial close is after you have made a strong selling point or when you have answered objections.\u00a0 It can be simple like \u201cIt looks like you really like this. Is that true? Or \u201cHow would this look on your shelf back at home?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Trial Close works by putting the idea of closure into a person\u2019s mind. Their response will tell you whether they are ready to close or not<\/em>\u201d (Trial close, 2020). \u00a0 So, given the ease of using trial closes and following the 7 step process, why are salespeople reluctant to close? \u00a0The number one reason is the fear of rejection. What if you ask for the sale and they say no??? \u00a0\u00a0Research shows that this fear is attached to our culture where career success is directly linked to our self-worth and this impacts our willingness to close a sale (Pipedrive, 2020). One of the best ways to overcome this fear of rejection is to build confidence through sales training (like taking this course!), having realistic goals, analyzing your calls afterwards to help improve, and practicing. Recognizing that it takes time to build relationships and that a No is not personal.<\/p>\n

    Some suggestions to help with closing challenges (Hoffman, 2019):<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Don\u2019t just close once. If you wait until the very end to close, how do you know if you have answered the customers\u2019 questions and objections? It\u2019s important to consistently close through the sales presentation using trial closes and a variety of techniques.<\/li>\n
    2. Not asking for what you want. This seems straightforward but as a salesperson might fear rejection, they soften their ask to minimize the change of hearing \u201cno\u201d or they don\u2019t write out clear objectives for the sales call and leave without really getting what they want.<\/li>\n
    3. Using statements instead of questions. This comes back to listening more than speaking and using good communication methods.\u00a0 Questions get at the root of the customer\u2019s problems so that you can sell on the benefits.\u00a0 Try and remember that talking too much is one main cause for not getting a sale.<\/li>\n
    4. Closing to someone who can\u2019t deliver. This challenge results from not doing your research to properly qualify a lead or not understanding the decision criteria in a business to business sales call.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"author":284,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[49],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-413","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":193,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":414,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/413\/revisions\/414"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/193"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/413\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}