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You are sales professional in a sales meeting in a sales interview, you are expected to close. I can't tell you how many times the candidates rung me after an interview, said fantastic meeting, got on like a house on fire, it was fantastic. Did you close? No, it wasn't the right time. We got on so well it wasn't necessary.
I, then, ring up the employer with the feedback and they go, nice guy. I'd love to go for a drink with him, wouldn't hire him as a sales person though, because he couldn't close a barn door. So it's imperative that you close in every sales interview that you attend. You wouldn't attend
Just to give you an example of how important this is, many years ago I did some extensive research-- well, to be true, what I did was had a bit of paper by and the side of me desk-- and when I spoke to candidates I asked them whether they closed and I put a tick in either the yes or no. And over the course of the month, it was just under 3/4 of sales professionals in sales interviews did not close. It's a travesty.
So how do you close? Let's go back to real kind of sales basics-- DADA.
Direct close, quite often it is inappropriate in a sales interview. It's a bit to double glazing. It's a bit to full-on. But if the moment's right, go for the jugular.
You've then got the alternative close, the "I understand you're looking for somebody to start in September. Is it the second week or the third week?" Close in that kind of way.
You've then got the deferred, "I understand that you're working through an agency. Basically, I understand that you're going to be talking to Aaron Wallis, and that you're going to talk about it in a lot more depth with them before coming back to me"-- the deferred close.
The easiest way to close, and probably the most natural way to close, is the assumptive close. "I've really enjoyed my time here being interviewed with you. I've really liked everyone that I've met. I feel that we can get on. I like your style. I like you direction.
I really like the business. I know I can sell your products and services, and I really know that if you give me the opportunity, I will succeed. So I really look forward to working with you. And I'm really looking forward to hitting the sales targets that you set me. Look forward to seeing you again when I start with your business."
Nice and easy, nice and assumptive, very, very natural, and it just gives you that tick in the box that you have closed the interview down.
But how do you get to that point? As a sales person, you know you just don't go in with the close. You've got to ask you lots of questions beforehand. When you feel the interview is coming to an actual close, when you feel that their questions have come to the end, ask questions about your own performance
One of the best ones is, how do you feel our meeting has gone today? It's no longer an interview, it's a sales meeting. You're on a level.
Ask questions about how they feel you'd fit in with other team members, whether they feel that you're the cultural match for their business, whether they feel there are any areas of your expertise or your qualifications or abilities that aren't right for the business. Overcome them. Acknowledge that you've overcome them, then go for a semi-close.
OK, so you didn't feel that I had enough experience of national account type business. I hope that I've now overcome that. Do you agree? Yes.
Then move on to the semi-close. Are there any further things that you'd like to explore before this meeting closes? If you're not getting any negative feedback at that point, you've got the opportunity to go for the close.
I can't stress how important is to close, so ensure that you do close at every sales interview that you attend.
Rob is the Managing Director of Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment, a national recruitment agency specialising in sourcing sales and marketing staff for businesses across a broad range of commercial sectors. Before setting up Aaron Wallis, Rob spent ten years at a specialist Sales and Marketing recruitment division of a £0.5BN recruitment group, leaving in 2007 as Marketing & Sales Director to establish Aaron Wallis.Submit CV
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