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Lily's Secret to Selling Without Rejection
December 2005
by Ann Barr
The day Lily first came to work, her smile lit up the room. Everyone immediately liked her.
Still, she was not a person about whom anyone would say, "Wow—this is going to be a very successful sales person."
But Lily Ellerton turned out to be one of the most productive and effective salespeople I have ever known. Each month, she was either number one on the sales chart or number two.
What was her secret?
In addition to working hard, making numerous outbound calls and establishing rapport with prospects and customers, Lily used one specific tactic very consistently.
Lily's Success Secret
If you follow Lily’s example, you can:
1) Find out what is most important to your prospects.
2) Get feedback from your customers on how they feel about your sales presentation.
3) Increase your sales without using high-pressure sales tactics.
How is this possible?
By "trial closing"—asking the prospect how he or she feels about your presentation. (See examples below.)
Why it Works
With “trial closing,” you are:
—Getting feedback from the customer without actually asking for the order.
—Taking pressure out of the sales situation because you are not asking the customer to make a decision.
—Asking your customer for his/her opinion.
In short, an opinion is much easier to give than a decision.
Low-Risk Strategy
At first, it may feel uncomfortable to ask the prospect how s/he feels about your product or service. But remember: you run little risk with trial closing.
What is a trial close? Exactly what the words imply: a test to see how near the prospect is to buying. The trial close can be used any time during the selling process to test the waters—the purpose is to help you know when to ask for the order.
Without the risk of a final "no" and being rejected, a trial close is like a report card that tells you how the prospect is accepting your presentation.
Different ways of using a trial close might include asking:
—"How does that sound to you so far?"
—"Am I going in the right direction?"
By asking these—and similar—questions, you are giving the customer the opportunity to let you know how s/he feels about your company, products, services and/or benefits, based on your presentation.
If the answer is negative, you can ask questions to find out why.
If the answer is positive, you can use a more direct or choice close, like: "I can go ahead and write up the order now and schedule your products for delivery either first thing in the morning or the following day. Which day would be best for you?" Or: "Will the case of six be enough—or would you rather get two cases and save $16 today?"
Sometimes the answers you get are so strong that you won’t have to close at all—you’ll do what Lily Ellerton did. Just write the order!
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