Part 22 — by Scott Morris
Three soft closes that save customers time, help them to make better buying decisions and never alienate shoppers.
Every part of the sale certainly has its place and is extremely important. However, the only step that actually puts money in your salespersons’ pockets is commonly referred to as the close.
Soft Closes
This Next Level Training series installment presents “soft closes” any sales manager or storeowner can present in sales meetings and coaching sessions that will never alienate a customer. In fact, every customer will appreciate the added insights they provide, allowing people to make much better decisions. Plus, they’ll also engender genuine loyalty and encourage repeat business!
Most of these insights actually came from customers I’ve worked with over the years. Whenever a customer taught me something important, I jotted it down in a notebook. And over time, I created an impressive list. To my knowledge, these closing insights aren’t being taught anywhere else.
Success or Failure
Every day, your store’s success or failure depends totally on the conversations your salespeople have with every one of your customers! Your top salespeople may close 32% of the shoppers they wait on, while many others will only be at 16%. The primary difference in their performance is their ability to close customers!
Assuming that your entire sales staff received the same store training on the selling process and product features and benefits, it doesn’t take a diploma from Einstein University to realize that those with the weaker closing skills are walking half of their closeable customers out the door! Let’s go one step further and equate that to dollars lost by taking the store’s average ticket, multiplying it by your standard margin, and multiplying the result by closeable customers your salesperson failed to close. Then, when you are finally able to pick yourself up off the floor, read the following four closing dilemmas and what I call golden insights to overcome them.
Closing Dilemma #1: First Store Syndrome
Every salesperson has encountered a situation such as this. After being assisted for about half an hour, a couple finds a sofa and loveseat they really like. The salesperson's presentation seemed perfect and excellent rapport was established. It appears they are now ready to go ahead, pull the trigger and buy. Then, all of a sudden, they look at each other in silence for a couple of seconds, and then one of them asks, “Could we have your card?”
This kind of rejection can arise when people have just begun to shop. They may have decided while sitting in their car before entering the store to not buy at the first place they shopped. Their surprising request for a card should be viewed as a frail or artificial objection or barrier.
Golden Insight—Overcome Artificial Barriers. Many people really don’t enjoy visiting multiple stores before they buy, but neither do they want to take a chance of making a mistake by not doing so. They’d much rather be at home watching their favorite TV show or outdoors with their pets. These are the kind of people who, after shopping at a few more places, get tired of looking. And, at the final store they visit, they’ll simply decide, “We are tired of looking. This sofa will do just fine. Let’s go ahead and buy it!” The result is that the first store they visited loses the sale to a competitor that showed them a product they didn’t like quite as much as the one they saw first. But unfortunately, they couldn’t remember everything about it.
They probably came to you early in their shopping journey because they felt that there was a good chance you had exactly what they were looking for. Keeping that in mind, the salesperson should say, “Sure, I have a card! I want to let you know that it’s been really great meeting you and talking with you. I feel like I made two friends today! Plus, I feel like we did some excellent work to find what you really like, something that will probably be perfect for you. Wouldn’t you agree?”
If they answer “yes,” then it’s time to use the following close that nearly always works like magic. “You know Phil and Betty, you are in the market to buy a sofa and loveseat, right? Well, I’m in the market to sell a sofa and a loveseat! I really would like to work with you. How can we get together on this?” The customer response given most often is the following. Most often, one customer asks the other, “I do like this set, don’t you?” “Yes, I do, too,” the other will reply. “Ok, so let’s just go ahead and get it!”
Closing Dilemma #2: Room not Ready
Many shoppers find something they like but say, “We have to go home and decide on the room’s paint colors and carpeting first. We have to get the room done, and then we’ll know what set will work best.”
Golden Insight—Furniture Should Come First. The hardest decision, by far, for shoppers is choosing their furniture! Selecting a sofa involves finding the right style, color, comfort, size, and price. On the other hand, there are dozens of carpeting colors to choose from and probably hundreds of paint colors that might work well. Furniture sets the theme for a room. Paint and carpeting complement the furniture they choose. So the best approach is to pick out the furniture first!
That’s why taking just a few seconds to explain why they should go ahead and “lock in the furniture first” provides shoppers with key insight that can prevent them from making a very big mistake! It’s the difference between them being happy or unhappy with their room for years to come!
Closing Dilemma #3: Color Concerns at Home
This scenario is another one every furniture store salesperson faces routinely. It’s somewhat opposite to the previous example. Once a shopper finds something they like well enough to buy, they explain at the end of the presentation that they want to go home first to make sure the furniture color will work with their carpet, flooring, or existing wall colors. Then, they usually take pictures of the item that interests them and ask for the salesperson’s card. This seems to be a legitimate concern, but they don’t have to go home to decide if it will all work out!
Golden Insight—Use a Sales Closing Box. A sales closing box can keep them in your store! That’s important because once they leave, many will say, “Since we’re out, let’s just go to one more place.” That’s when the door opens to the possibility of losing them to a competitor!
To create this phenomenal sales tool, collect dozens of different carpet, flooring, and paint samples from a home improvement store for your salespeople to use. Arrange them in a box salespeople can use in such situations. Most customers don’t want to make a return trip if they can avoid it.
What your salespeople should say to them instead is, “I think I have something to help you with that. Let me get it.” When shoppers identify the paint and flooring samples they have at home, the samples can be used to overcome the objection to an immediate purchase. This approach also solves another problem: the lighting in shoppers’ homes will likely be different in their home than in your store, making the perceived color of a sofa in your store also different. Using the sales closing box allows customers to see how well they all go together right next to each other under the same lighting conditions! This in-store experience is much appreciated by customers and salespeople alike and helps to close a couple of extra sales per salesperson per month.
Some Parting Thoughts!
The most important part of the sale almost never gets the attention it needs and truly deserves. Helping customers to make more informed decisions often saves them a lot of time and frustration. None of the three techniques introduced above will offend anyone when done and used properly. They actually serve to enhance overall customer relationships.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Space limitations prevent us from going into other closing techniques in this Furniture World edition, such as how to close:
- Spouses who can’t agree.
- Shoppers who want to get someone else’s opinion before buying.
- Someone who is having trouble deciding between two different sets.
- The indecisive shopper who seems unable to decide to purchase a set they’ve been looking at for over an hour!
Your Next Sales Meeting
Coaching your salespeople to use techniques that save your customers time and help them make better buying decisions is one of the best ways to overcome objections and close more sales. At your next sales meeting, give them the tools to close shoppers on their first visit to your store. Happy Selling!
HIGHLIGHTS:
It doesn’t take a diploma from Einstein University to realize that those with the weaker closing skills are walking half of their closeable customers out the door! Let’s go one step further...”
“The merchandise presentation seemed perfect, and the salesperson established excellent
rapport. It appears they are now ready to go ahead, pull the trigger and buy. Then, all of a sudden...”
