Using Sales Closing Techniques Is Outdated

Closing sales no longer requires sales closing techniques. Do any of the following sound familiar?

1. The attitude close
2. The alternate choice close
3. The voice inflection close
4. The fear of loss close

These are all examples of different sales closes made popular by Sales Guru Zig Ziglar in his best selling sales books in the 1980’s. Do you use any of these? If so, don’t you realize how immature you are?

Zig Ziglar was a master sales professional in his time. But his techniques are outdated. We are now in a new century. The leading sales people in the 1980’s are the CEOs, presidents, executives, and decision makers that you are now trying to sell to. They have read Ziglar’s books and know and understand the sales srategies that he taught. Sales closes are meant to manipulate and outsmart the person that you are trying to sell to. Use one of these closes on an executive today and you risk losing the sale; these closes are insulting and executives know when they are being manipulated. The problem is that today’s sales managers have read the same books that were bestsellers in the 1980’s and they are unable to adapt to new market conditions. In addition to closing techniques they still demand that their sales reps use cold calling as a sales prospecting method, even though today’s executives are unresponsive to cold calls.

As an anecdotal example, I was in discussions to sign up for a radio advertising deal for my company. I really liked the advertising sales rep that I was dealing with at the radio station. We had a face-to-face meeting where she explained to me the benefits of radio advertising and also the characteristics of the station’s listeners. I thought she was doing a great job and was very helpful. Then came the ‘alternate choice close." She asked, "Will you be paying by check or credit card?" What she was trying to do was ask me a question that had only two possible answers and, by answering the question, I, by default, would be accepting the advertising deal. She didn’t need to do this. I make my own decisions and don’t need her to manipulate my thinking process; it’s insulting. The deal did not happen.

Forget about sales closing techniques. Sell something that you believe in. Sell the features and benefits. Be yourself. Don’t try to read or outsmart the people that you sell to. People will respect you for your knowledge in your product, for having integrity, for being honest, and for being yourself. It is these types of people that get the sales, that get great testimonials, and that get further business referrals.

The B2B sales market in the 21st century is different then it was in the 1980’s. Understand this and you will earn more commission and will be a top sales performer.

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