The Two-by-Four Closing Question

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SAVVY SELLING - APRIL 27, 2007

The Two-by-Four Closing Question

by Michelle Nichols

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Selling is a series of steps. One way to convince customers to take those steps is to whack them between the eyes with a simple question

Years ago, sales trainers used to push a concept they called Always Be Closing. Some salespeople misunderstood it. They thought it meant that their first words to a prospective customer should be something like, "Hi, I'm Chris Jones. Do you want to buy some widgets?"

Yuck.

While I certainly don't agree with that in-your-face interpretation, I do believe that selling is an ongoing series of steps. And I know from experience that you have to convince your customers to take those steps with you. It's sort of like dating. The first step is exchanging phone numbers, then going out, then going out again, and so on, until you both decide you're a good match. In business, you keep closing until you land your customer's signature on a contract, a deposit check, or a purchase order.

With that in mind, I want to offer one powerful closing technique that could strengthen your selling repertoire.

Adaptable Technique
Sometimes closing a sale comes down to one well-prepared question that whacks the customer right between the eyes, like a thug wielding a two-by-four. Hal Becker, who sells sales training and speaking services, asks prospective clients: "What ongoing sales training do you offer your salespeople?"

I love this question because it's brief, it describes the primary value of his service, and it doesn't rely on a specific response for Becker to move forward. You can easily modify it to sell almost any service—from pest control to computer maintenance.

With a little effort, you can use his technique for selling products, too. If you sold corporate jets and your product's primary benefit was speed, you might ask, "How do you ensure your executives have the fastest jets available?"

Prepared Response
When creating your own two-by-four closing question, keep in mind that brevity is power. Salespeople are famous for talking too much. Keep your closing question short to hold your customer's complete attention. This leaves less chance for them to stop listening or get confused.

And carefully choose the primary value you will emphasize via your question—like Becker's, it should be one concept that quickly describes the main benefit of your offering. To determine what it should be, ask yourself what aspect of your offering would customers want so badly that they would miss lunch or cross a very busy street to get it?

Finally, consider all possible responses to your closing question and be prepared for each. I can only think of three for Becker's question. Prospective customers might not offer any sales training at all. So Becker would probably ask for the reason and then sell the benefits. Or the prospects might have a sales meeting once a year. This would open the door for Becker to sell his services' benefits on a more frequent basis.

It's All in the Execution
The other possibility might be that the customer already has similar training on a similar schedule. But this is still not necessarily the end of the line for Becker, because it demonstrates the customer already sees the value in offering something like what he sells on a regular basis. He could ask what they're already buying, and suggest something to complement or augment it (see BusinessWeek.com podcast, 2/16/07, "How Hal Becker Lands Sales").

The Always Be Closing concept is sound advice—but it's how you execute it that matters. Yes, you should always be closing your clients in order to go on to the next step of the sale, until you end up with the order. But if you remember to break the closing into steps and use smart closing questions, you will close larger amounts in greater volumes at faster rates. Happy selling!

Michelle Nichols is a professional sales speaker and consultant based in Reno, Nevada. She is also the Savvy Selling podcast host for BusinessWeek. She welcomes your questions and comments. You can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com. Her toll-free number is (877) 352-9684 and direct line is (775) 303-8201.

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.