By Jana Love
Sales is all about leading the prospective buyer to making the decision to buy your product through exploratory understanding of their needs. If these steps have been successfully executed, then the final steps are not only necessary, but they are also in keeping with the natural flow of the call. We find that for some sales people, the cost of this final step is too high. Instead, they choose a polite and perhaps "safe" approach of, "Let me know if this is something you would like to consider?"
Sales is all about confidence. If you have been trained on how to sell your product, as well as how to understand and read your customer, then testing the waters with an assumptive close is the only last step to take. A distinct advantage is assuming that your prospect sees the benefits that your product or service gives. While your assumptions may be completely wrong, your confidence can be contagious and may be all that is needed to convince them to buy. You need to use frequent "temperature checks" on your customer to make sure that he/she is following along with your assumptions. Remember, if your customer says “no," that doesn’t mean the sale is over. This just means there is more discovery to do! If you don’t ask, you don’t know.
