Stephan Schiffman - Closing Techniques

CLOSING
TECHNIQUES

(That Really Work!)

4TH EDITION

STEPHAN SCHIFFMAN

AMERICAS # 1 CORPORATE SALES TRAINER

Copyright 2009, 2004, 2003, 1999, 1990, 1988, 1987 by Stephan Schiffman
All rights reserved.
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Published by
Adams Business, an imprint of Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
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www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59869-820-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-820-6
eISBN: 978-1-44052-027-3

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To AFS, again

CONTENTS

PART 2: BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS FOR
CLOSING SUCCESS

Chapter 9: A Few Words about the Ideas Youll
Find in This Section of the Book

Chapter 10: Know Your Product or Serviceand
Be Creative in Considering What It Can Do
for Someone

PART 3: RETHINKING YOUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE PROSPECT

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Curt Schleier for help making this book a reality and, especially, Daniele, Jennifer, and Anne, whose patience and understanding were invaluable. Id also like to acknowledge here all the families of salespeople, who put up with the deadlines, quotas, difficult prospects, hard sales, and obsessive work that are part of any good salespersons life.

Introduction to Fourth Edition

Im a firm believer that the basics of sales are universal and timeless. Thats why I wasnt surprised when I recently sat down and reread the original version of this book. Though it was published about fifteen years ago, it seems as relevant today as it was back then.

Why then a new edition? There are several reasons, including the ugly picture of me on the back cover of the old one. But realistically, while most basics of sales in general and closing in particular have remained the same, the world around us has changed.

Ive probably been using computers for three decades or more, so I am technologically experienced. I cant remember for sure, but I doubt that back then I would have or even could have imagined how important a tool the computer has become. I never dreamed how much information would be available to meand all that I could do with it.

Much of what we have now probably existed back then, but it was all far more complicated to figure out and run. The increased power of computers meant software programmers had the ability to make software more accessible, almost intuitive.

But something else has occurred that I find most interesting. Not only has the computer become more sophisticated, but I have. In part, thats because Ive grown older and wiser. Im always open to new ideas and techniques. And ideas are everywhere. One new chapter came out of a book I read about a mountain climber.

I get new ideas from my students. It seems at least once a monthand frequently more often than thata student will ask a question that forces me to examine a problem. While I never set out to be a salesman, one of the things that ultimately kept me in the field was that every day was a new challenge. Surely, the basics of sales were the same, but every sale was a little different, an opportunity to grow and learn something with every saleand even more from every disappointment. Ive been in this business a long time, and had my share of ups and downs, But one thing I can say with certainty is that Ive never been bored.

Hence the revised and updated version of Closing Techniques (That Really Work!) . By the fact that you purchased this book, I presume (and hope) you, too, are awed by the challenges of our profession, open to new ideas, and eager to try them out.

Im confident that those of you who fit into this category will find much useful in the following pages.

I meant what I said about being open to new ideas. If you have any about any facet of sales, any suggestions at all, Im anxious to hear them. Send me an e-mail at sschiffman@steveschiffman.com.

Finally, most salespeople Ive met regard the close as the most difficult part of the sales process. I disagree. In fact, I think its the simplest. If youve done everything properlythat is youve contacted the right person with the right product at the right price and are able to deliver it where and when the prospect needs it well, then the close is just a mere formality.

It only becomes difficult when you havent done your homework. Which, of course, is something youll never do once youve read this book.

Stephan Schiffman
New York, New York
February 2009

Introduction

Is closing really the most difficult part of the sale?

Youd think so to hear people talk. Most salespeople are terrified by the idea of closing. Often, they view it as a final conflict with their prospects, the point at which they must pull out the heavy artillery and finally get the job done.

But even though closing the sale is the part of the job nearly every salesperson dreads, it can actually be the easiest part of the sales cycle. Thats the argument I make in this book, and I firmly believe that if you follow the steps youre about to see outlined, youll agree with me about the ease of closing by the time you finish this program and implement it. You wont agree with me because you appreciate the ideas on some abstract level. Youll agree with me because your commission checks will be bigger, youll find that youre working more efficiently than ever, and you arent scared of your prospects any more.

Ive worked with small companies, medium-sized companies, and Fortune 500 companies. Ive trained more than 450,000 salespeople in more than 900 companies throughout the world. The ideas on the pages of this book have worked for them, and they can work for you.

Im going to show you how to integrate the closing process into a productive, professional sales cycle. Im going to show you how to turn prospects into allies, not adversaries. Im going to show you how to make manipulative tricks and high-pressure techniques obsolete.

Read what follows. Give it an honest try. And you will change your career for the better.

Stephan Schiffman
New York, New York

PART

The Fundamentals

CHAPTER 1

A Third of a Season

I believe that selling is not complex.

Surprising as it may seem, thats a minority opinion. There are a lot of sales experts out there who will tell you that Im dead wrong, and that sales is a very complicated matter involving elaborate levels of persuasion and interpersonal manipulation. These people have written a lot of books. Most of the modern sales books, I think, are really rehashes of old, essentially confrontational techniques that came into vogue in the 1950sor even earlier.