Chapter 15
Closing Opportunities, Opening Relationships
These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
—Obi Wan Kenobi
The closing technique is a convenient whipping boy. Look around and you’ll find article after article that starts by pointing out common closing techniques, and then beating them up as manipulative. You’ll read things like “You’ll be told to close with the 1-2-3 Close, the Assumptive Close, the Daily Cost Close, the Alternative Close, the Ben Franklin Close, the Banana Close, and 101 others.”1
“Don’t use these closing techniques! They demean both you and the buyer.”
And they’re right . . . for the most part.
If you plan on doing everything you can to help your client succeed (and you should), and you want to make sure your relationship strengthens with every contact (and you do), then don’t try to trick someone into taking an action. If clients feel tricked, they won’t trust you. Not good for you, not good for them, not good for the sale.
The thought of killing trust is anathema to any seller for whom the relationship is important, and love for the closing technique is about as universal as love for speeding tickets, but many sellers throw out the closing baby with the closing-technique bathwater.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with closing.
How many times have you felt:
- You understood the client’s world, their business issues, their aspirations, and their afflictions.
- You had the right solution for the client’s needs—better than your competitors’ and better than ...
