In the sales process, many sales people think that the close is a step that appears near the end of the process. In reality, the decision to buy or not to buy occurs quite early in the selling situation. Whether this is a positive or negative decision is a direct result of the job the sales person did getting and holding the customerâs attention.

You can seldom close a sale you have not made. There are some techniques that will occasionally persuade a customer to make a buying decision, but the effects of such decisions are short lived and usually lead to remorse, an unhappy customer, and perhaps the loss of future sales. One objective for every sales situation should be to develop long-lasting relationships that will encourage repeat sales over a long period of time. We want our customers to agree to what is good for them and good for us.

Making a sale means agreement benefiting both buyers and sellers. That road to agreement is two side-by-side roads that must be traveled at the same time. One road is conviction, and the other is rapport. Conviction equals facts, the data used to support the proposal. Rapport is how the buyer feels about those facts and about the person presenting them.

Conviction is relatively easy to achieve. The rapport that must accompany conviction is more difficult to achieve. Fortunately, rapport can be built even if past actions have undermined confidence. There are four steps to building rapport with almost any customer or associate.
 
ð Be interestED, not interestING

ð Listen

ð Understand and prove it

ð Accept and respect the customerâs point of view

Too often we are self-conscious when we make a sales call. We desperately try to make a good impression on the buyer. We are much more likely to achieve that objective if we are interestED in what the buyer has to say and make no effort to be personally interestING. Emphasize the you, down play the I.

Listen carefully and effectively to what the buyer says. Prove that you heard and understood. Use restatements, or ask open-ended questions to expand a point previously made.

Even if you do not agree with all that is said, accept the customerâs point of view. You can show respect for his or her point of view by saying,  ãI understand how you might feel that way.ä This statement does not represent a retreat from your proposal. It is simply a rapport building technique. It is much more productive than an argument about an excuse, or a trivial objection from a buyer with whom you seek to reach agreement.

Selling requires both conviction and rapport if we are to make a sale. Conviction is necessary to ensure proper consideration of the relevant facts. Rapport is even more essential to the favorable consideration of those facts. Rapport is like applying lime with fertilizer, it causes the facts to be more effective. The end result: more closed sales!
 

Rule 1
Never knowingly make an untrue statement. Always state things honestly.
 

Rule 2
Do not make assumptions or unqualified statements. Stay with facts you can support or prove.
 

Rule 3
Do not state your opinion as if it were fact.
 

Rule 4
Do not try to manipulate others or back them into a corner. Instead of pressuring others, listen to their point of view.
 

Rule 5
Make a practice of understanding. Avoid terms like always, never, must, positively, absolutely, etc.
 

Rule 6
Try not to challenge or trap others. Do not show them directly they are wrong.
 

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