Apr 21 2008 8:40AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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How can so many people be seduced into believing that “closing” is what causes a sale? I think I know. It’s the lure of the reward. If you want a fancy name, psychologists sometimes call it the “recent reward syndrome”. Let me explain.

What’s the best way to get Clarence, the family dog, to do a new trick? Don’t you say, “Sit”, push his butt down and give him a treat? And don’t you repeat this sequence over and over until Clarence sits by himself? Of course you do. You’re just as smart as any of the famous animal trainers ... and you know that a quick reward guarantees a quick response. You know that Clarence’s behavior was influenced by the reward.

Well, guess what? You’re no different than Clarence. Your behavior is influenced by the reward too. Let me show you what I mean.

What’s the one behavior, out of all of the different selling behaviors that directly rewards you with a sale? If you guessed the close, you’re right. Closing is the only selling behavior that is immediately reinforces you with a reward. And as a result, it causes people to assume that their “close” was the behavior that brought them the sale. From there it’s all down hill.

If that isn’t bad enough, most associates assume that if they close more, they’ll cause more sales. Twenty years ago closing made sense because we didn’t know any better, but today we have proof that it only works if you’re selling inexpensive products (below five hundred dollars). Matter of fact, it provides the support for the first rule for closing the sale:

Closing techniques will increase your chance of making a sale with an inexpensive product, but reduce the chance of making a sale with an expensive product.

So remember, if you want to sell more homes, quit working on closing techniques and start working on the strategies that will reduce your customer’s perception of risk. This approach will make your average associates great closers!