The Last Inch

Sales is a fascinating subject. You can get inundated with material about qualifying, prospecting, small talk, confidence, opening, handling objections, spinning stories, asking questions, etc. Let's not forget closing - always be closing.

We spend an inordinate amount of time, energy, and space talking about closing. Rightfully so, we focus on getting a customer to sign on the dotted line.

That dotted line, no more than a few inches long is the final destination of a long sales journey. Customers' hearts beat faster as they approach the last inch. Their breathing changes. Some sweat. A very real physical change or turbulence sets in, however short lived that might be.

When that moment of truth nears, your job is to make the prospect feel either very very uncomfortable or very very comfortable. If you haven't changed his physiology enough, he will likely not be closed.

By uncomfortable, you're creating an emergency, a sense of urgency. You're playing on scarcity and the human desire not to miss out on a good deal.

By extreme comfort, you're creating a situation of familiarity. You're almost a friend, or at least a friendly face. Or you've painted your solutions to his problems as so natural and insignificant a buy.

Just don't live in the middle with unchanged customers. Always seek to change your customer.

Comments

[Greg Woodley]

Hi Allan,
Like the end note, "Always seek to change your customer" and may I add, "for the better".
Sales is about knowing what you offer, how & why it will help someone and then understanding your prospect (including what's important TO THEM and how they THINK & COMMUNICATE) well enough to get them to want what you are offering. The want has to exceed the fear of the unknown. The satisfaction has to exceed the buyers remorse so that ultimately they feed good.
Greg

[Brian Gracely]

As a fan of Seth's, I always enjoy the focus on Sales & Marketing. But I will highlight that "getting them to sign on the dotted line" doesn't mean the same thing in every country.
http://bgracely-exft2009-wfumba.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-inch-maybe-only-in-america.html

[HalalBucks]

The recommended list of readings that Seth/SAMBA posted is really good.

As Seth said, usually sales are ignored in traditional MBA.

Please tell us more about what you learned in these sales sessions :)

[Steve Swearengen]

It is relevant to distinguish a sales process from say, a fulfillment process and that may be inferred here. Agreed, don't live in the middle.

However, if you are saying [signing on the] "dotted line" is the "final destination" I disagree. Seems to me putting the check in the bank is closer to final destination (we can debate that, I never want it to be final!).

So many things can play into a customer's make-up (physiology is one, so called 'buyer's remorse' another, etc.) to inhibit the fulfillment of the sales promises that, to me, sales is as relevant pre-close as it is post-close.