After reading hundreds of books pertaining to sales and closing techniques, I have been able to take the one hundred or one thousand closing techniques and reduce them down to seven simple closing techniques that I feel are appropriate for Jewelry Salespeople.
As many of you know, I do not believe in clever, deceptive, or manipulative closing techniques. I do not believe in pushy and overbearing salespeople that force a purchase upon the customer. I think that closing the sale should be a natural transition in the selling process. So here are my top seven closing techniques. The main thing that all sales people need to remember is that no matter what, you have to ask the customer to buy once merchandise has been shown. Unless of course the customer says those three magic words, “I’ll take it!”
In addition, sales people need to learn to recognize a buying sign. A buying sign is normally any question asked or statement that is made after both trust and value have been established.
There are obvious buying signs and very subtle buying signs. Some of the more obvious buying signs would be: Do you take cash? Can I get this sized right away? Will you gift wrap it for me? Some of the more subtle buying signs may be a woman looking at a man and nodding her head or possibly a man reaching or looking for his wallet or a woman coming in the store and saying my neighbor was here last week and purchased a beautiful set of earrings, etc. Therefore, there is never a bad time to close the sale once trust and value have been established. Close the sale the second the customer has given you a buying sign.
The Reflexive Close – Reflecting back a question the customer has asked once value has been established. For example: The customer asks “Can I get this ring sized by the end of the week?” Reflexive close – “Absolutely we can have it sized by Friday, what time would you like to pick it up?”
The Win/Win Close – Giving the customer two choices, both of which results in a “yes” answer. For Example: “Would you like to wear the watch home or shall I wrap it for you?” or “Would you like to pay with a check or a credit card?” or “Would you like me to gift wrap it or would you like to wrap it yourself?”
The Ask For It Close – This close is simply asking the customer to buy. For example: “Let me write the earrings up for you. How did you want to pay for them?”
The Order Form Close – Simply take out an order form and start writing the sales slip. This one takes a little more courage, but it works in distinct situations.
The NA=A/DA Close – NA=A/DA stands for Needs Assessment gets you answers – so demonstrate those answers. In other words, you are demonstrating based on the reasons the customer wants to buy – now you are rewording it as a close. For example: “I know the two-tone band is going to give you the versatility for dress and casual as you wanted and the sapphire crystal will give you the durability that you wanted to be sure of. Let’s write it up.”
The Reduce to the Ridiculous Close – This is where you reduce the perceived price down to nothing. For example: “I realize the ring is $5000. However, when you think about it you are going to be married for 50 – 60 years. So we are really talking about less than $100 per year for the ring of her dreams. What do you think?”
The Penalty Close – This close is attaching a penalty to the customer not buying today. Let me caution you – only use this close if it is absolutely true. For example: “This is a special custom made piece that our award winning jewelry designer has created, so it is one of a kind. Would you like me to gift-wrap it for you?” With the current economic conditions and the prices of gold, silver, platinum, and precious gems going up all the time, the penalty close is a very timely and effective close.
There you go! Seven simple closing techniques. Practice these closes in your morning huddles, when you are doing role-plays, and with your customers, and you will find your customers saying the words we all love to hear – “YES, I’ll Take It!”
Remember that as high as 60% of the time there is no attempt made to close the sale. As a sales person, you must attempt to close every transaction once jewelry has been shown. Anything short of not asking, is simply not doing your job. Some people just need a little extra nudge in order to make a decision.
Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Mr. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703, info@iastraining.com visit his website at www.iastraining.com.
