Two Top Closing Techniques for New Salespeople

You can do the sales dance all day long—with flipcharts, astounding specs and discounts up the kazoo. But if you lack the right closing skills, you can kiss the sale goodbye. Here’s what two top sales pros advise when it comes to the all-important close:

The Columbo Close

The 1970's classic TV detective, Columbo was one of the best closers of all time. His ability to get people to answer questions came after he would turn and start to walk away, and just when the suspect began to breathe a sigh of relief, Columbo would turn and say, "just one more thing." That question would always disarm the suspect and lead them to fumble.

Sales coach and consultant, Thomas Phelps is a strong believer in the Columbo Close. He notes that in a typical sales situation, most customers invariably have their guard up in anticipation of the “hard close.” But if the customer thinks the sales call is over, they’ll lower their guard. The key is to save your closing question until after the customer feels that the sales call is over—then hit them with the Columbo close: "just one more thing." For this to work, the question or statement you make at that point must be powerful, effective and be pinpoint accurate. If so, the customer will usually answer the question honestly and quickly. Your goal is to uncover any hidden customer objections and to seize the moment by expertly addressing the objection.

Oh, and one more thing about the Columbo question. In that moment when the customer’s guard is down, the answer you get may be hard to swallow. Phelps cites the example of a customer being asked if they would ever leave their current vendor--the hard reply: "it would take a lot.” Or when asked about what you can do to make the sale, the reply could be “your products lack the quality I need and your pricing is out of line.” Answers like these can tell you a lot about how hard you need to work to get their business.

The ROI Close

Sales and marketing guru Adams Hudson regards the ROI close as one of his favorites. It builds on the product’s problem-solving ability, discounts and benefits by adding the carrot of a return on the customer’s investment. For example, “The investment you’re making is paying you back. If my figures are correct, since we guarantee this system will cut your entire energy bill by 20%, it’s actually paying you a return on investment of 6.2% in pure energy savings. We guarantee it in writing. And since you know that each day you delay costs you more, and we currently stock the system you need, doesn’t it make sense to start saving now?”

In the film Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin’s Blake brutally admonishes his beleaguered sales team with the famous “always be closing” line. How you close can mean the difference between winning the “steak knives or the Cadillac El Dorado.”

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