Do Sales Close Themselves?
Across all industries, studies show that the problem of not asking for any commitment at all is much bigger than the problem of using the wrong technique.
What Statistics Say
While it varies per industry, surveys indicate that the percentage of encounters where salespeople and professionals never ask for any form commitment ranges from 50% to 90%. And the average across industries seems to be about 60%.
Huthwaite Research
Yet research done by Huthwaite proves that asking at least one closing question raises your success rate by 36%.
Authority Neil Rackham says it this way, “Traditional closing techniques are not the best way to obtain commitment from a customer in a major sale. But… as we’ve seen, doing nothing isn’t effective either. The sale doesn’t close itself.”
This is an important point. You must make some sort of effort to advance the sale. The sale will not close itself.
Closing Secret
In our next article we’ll look at why people don’t ask and what to do about it. Until then, remember this closing fact:
Closing Fact – You will have to make an effort to advance the sale. The sale will not close itself. By asking for commitment in the right way you can move forward without being pushy.