How to Serve by Closing the Sale
Sales and its bad rap. It’s silly, really.
Maybe there is a contingent of folks somewhere wearing wide ties with short-sleeve shirts and Sansabelt pants, flicking away cigarette ashes while snorting black coffee out of Styrofoam cups as they try to get unsuspecting customers to buy what they don’t need, plus a lifetime commitment to hidden fees. But that’s not the program (or dress code) we’d advise.
Those fond memories of the shoe leather pounding the pavement aren’t really what sales are all about. So, forget the slime factor, and let’s focus on service.
Now, if you were trying to persuade a homeowner on hard times to needlessly install a new air conditioning system when the current one is imminently repairable and good for a good, long while of efficient operation – then, OK, that would be slimy. But that’s not what honest contractors do, so that’s not an issue.
What is an issue is how you feel about serving your customers. Your customer has a problem. You know how to solve it. “Sales” is the mode of delivery of said solution – the mode through which an exchange of money covers the cost of the problem’s solution and provides satisfactory results to your customer.
Unless you’re the only game in town (only possible if your town doesn’t have Internet service), your customers have options. To help them choose your solution, establish rapport by listening and asking questions… questions that can take you toward the close. For example, you might start with questions that get an easy “Yes.” “So, you’d like to save energy?” “You want reliable operation?” “You’d like consistent comfort?” Once the “yes” pattern is established, ask one where you’d really like to hear a yes answer: “Are you ready to make a decision today?”
