When a Sales Close is Not a Close

Because it is …. a trial close. I’m flat out terrible at traditional sales order closing statements and I know a bunch of them. You name it … everything from the “Ben Franklin” to the “Japanese Origami Folding Paper Close”. The really good news is that I never need to bend arms to get the order. I am pretty good at doing the other things right before we even get to that point and I am extremely adept at the art of the trial close.

You’ve maybe seen this acronym … “ABC – Always Be Closing“. For me, that’s a little blunt and a little too old-school. I prefer … “ABTC – Always Be Trial Closing“. So, what’s the difference?[Tweet “Closing the sale is easy if you can master the trial close!”]

A Close requests an action. An example would be … “Please sign this agreement and there are 10 pages so press hard.”

A Trial Close takes someone’s temperature. “Can you see yourself using this product?” More like requesting an opinion. I suppose it could be considered a close cousin to the “minor point close”. Other examples …

“How does that look/feel/sound?”
“Did that answer your question/concern?”
“If you were to go ahead with this, when would you be needing delivery?”
“How does this compare to other products that you have looked at?”
“What are your thoughts at this stage?”
“Does it look like this product or service would fit your needs?”

You get the drift. The beauty of trial closes is that there are so many variants and that they can be asked so many times that they naturally lead to a formal close. And, these questions should not be uncomfortable to ask or answer for any party! In most cases, there is no formal close. If you have done your work correctly, your customer will close themselves. Of course, you need to be aware of buying signs at which point, shut up and get out your pen!

Please note – This article was originally written and published by me on my NetWorks! Boise Valley site. If you are a B2B salesperson living in Boise, Idaho and are looking for a top-notch networking group … please visit the site and give us a shout!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!