Cambridge Business Association
Consultative Closing
Book

Consultative Closing

Simple Steps that Build Relationships and Win Even the Toughest Sale

Greg Bennett
AMACOM, 2006
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Recommendation

Often, salespeople – even those who already practice "consultative" selling – are reluctant to ask for the sale because they don’t want to jeopardize a client relationship they’ve worked hard to develop. Yet, the whole point of developing the relationship is to generate sales. Sales trainer Greg Bennett offers a solution to this conundrum in the form of his "mini-steps" sales approach. He explains how salespeople can break the sales process down into small, actionable steps, to help the client buy into it and advance the sale, without appearing self-serving or pushy. His system reworks existing sales practices, so some of his concepts may feel familiar, but he points out that many salespeople, and even sales managers, are too comfortable living in "Maybe-Land." He advocates taking up permanent residence in "Reality-World" by asking for an answer, even if that answer is "no." getAbstract encourages those who want to refine their consultative-selling techniques to read Bennett’s book.

Summary

Friends Don’t Close

The days of "snake oil" sales are gone. Today’s salesperson understands that the best way to sell is by becoming a valued adviser or consultant to the customer. Begin the "consultative selling" process by asking questions, and carefully listening to your prospect to determine his or her challenges, needs and objectives. Then, present your product or service as a solution to meet your customer's needs. Establish a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with the customer.

However, the consultative selling style has an inherent flaw. The salesperson is often reluctant to ask for the sale for several reasons. First, most salespeople want to avoid conflict at any cost. Consultative salespeople want their customers to like or even love them. They fear that asking the customer to do something, such as commit to a purchase, can risk the relationship. Also, consultative salespeople worry about appearing pushy or manipulative. When they assume the role of adviser, they shed the role of salesperson. This makes it difficult for them to do what is necessary for all salespeople to do: ask for the sale.

Traditionally, "closing" is defined as the act...

About the Author

Greg Bennett has been a consultant and sales trainer for 30 years. He is a partner in a sports enterprise company that owns the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids teams.

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