How Do You… “Ask for the Sale”?
I have heard too many times in the IT solution Provider community the comment “ask for the sale”. It is a clear notion but I never have really heard it explained. I, like many providers think, that it means just that, “So can we go ahead and get this started for you?” This in itself is the problem with the general concept. No one really knows what “ask for the sale” means and no one really knows how to “ask for the sale”.
So let’s clear this up a bit. Asking for the sale, in my opinion, is the wrong way to look at it. To ask for something immediately puts the ball in the opposite court and places you in a waiting state. This is not the position you want to be in as a salesperson. A salesperson should be able to always maintain control and should have a good idea of any potential objection that may come their way. In asking for the sale, you open yourself up to objections and can get sent into a sometimes never ending follow-up mode. How about we focus instead on “assuming the sale”?
Assuming the sale is confidence, it comes through in the way we talk, and the way we structure our sentences. We speak in present or past tense like the project is underway or has already occurred. Here are some examples of assuming the sale.
1. What’s great is with the new Hosted exchange platform, you can connect to your office from anywhere you have an internet connection, so now you can be at the beach, at home, or wherever and have your office available.
2. We have already started this project for you, our guys are staged and ready to move to the next phase; your signature here allows us to get phase 2 started.
It is important to paint pictures with your words. If you can allow someone to visualize their life with your solution, you have a better chance to make the sale. For instance in sentence #1 above we talked about connecting to the office from anywhere. Elaborate on that, “Ya know I gotta tell ya; I was on vacation sipping Mai Tai’s on the beach in Hawaii, when I got a text that an important document couldn’t be found.” “The office needed my help; since I also use hosted exchange, I was able to pull up my info right from my lounge chair, get it to my boss, and all was good in a matter of minutes”! How cool is that?
Assuming the sale and painting the picture are important tools, especially when selling services. Since services are not tangible, and have no physical makeup, it is important that we create this physical makeup with visualization through words. Start assuming the sale and you will see the difference this makes in your close ratio.
Frank Gurnee
VP, Channel Services, ExchangeDefender
(877) 546-0316 x4777
frank@ownwebnow.com