Morph of a Nerd CEO – Selling Past the Close
You: “Don’t buy our product just because it is the cheapest alternative available. In fact, the money you save and the opportunities you gain because our product is so easy to use will dwarf the savings in initial purchase price. Moreover we have features that our competitors haven’t even begun to think about copying; we have patents; we have more users than anyone else…”
Prospect: “I’ll buy. I’ve got a limited budget and your product is the cheapest one on the market….”
You: “That’s not why you want to buy our product. We…”
CUT
You’re selling past the close. You’d rather be right than make the sale. Pretty soon you’ll talk the customer out of buying altogether. One correct answer is: “Thank you very much for your order. How would you like to pay for that?”
Arguments provoke arguments. It was hard for you to learn to sell in the first place; now you have to learn when to stop selling. But, if you’re really confident in your selling ability, then, when you get an order, go on to sell something else.
You: “That’s great. Thank you very much for your order. You know, we can save you even more money [note this incorporates what the prospect told you was his hot button – price] if you buy the extended maintenance contract at the same time. In fact I can give you an additional 10% off on the whole order if you prepay both for the software license and two years of extended maintenance including FREE priority phone support, all upgrades, and special discounts on addons. Shall I write it up that way?”
The previous paragraph is for extra credit only and can be risky. The most important thing to do is cement the sale you already got.
Don’t sell past the close. Also a good rule when you have a boss and convince her of something: stop arguing immediately.
Other posts in this series:
Morph of a Nerd CEO - The Power of Silence
Morph of a Nerd CEO – The First Employees
Morph of a Nerd CEO – The Close
Morph of a Nerd CEO – First Sole Practitioner
Morph of a Nerd CEO – Yuk, Selling
Morph of a Nerd CEO – Sick Days are Sick
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