Page 144 - Lighting Magazine January 2019

on the Mark
“Whenever you ask a closing question, shut up and wait
for the answer.”
—J. Douglas Edwards
Mark Okun is Business Contributor to enLIGHTenment Magazine and President of Mark Okun Consulting & Performance Group. He has more than 30 years of hands- on retail experience training and coaching sales associates in the lighting and furniture industries. Mark@bravo businessmedia.com
and emotion. I touched on this in last month’s column “Creating Sales Stars.”
Stories let you share a tremendous amount of information while increasing desire. Unlike question- ing, building good stories takes e ort, creativity, and has an emotional memory. Your story must have a moral — which is an action the client wants to mirror or repel away from. The story you create has facts interwoven into it that support the emotional and logical response you want the client to have.
There are many styles of stories that can be used in face-to-face sales, such as recounting a time you solved a customer’s problem. Stories subtly focus on eliminating common objections before they are expressed.
Action
The action here is asking for the sale. Whenever I am on the road, I shop in all the categories I serve; it is my passion. My retail stops range from appliance, fur- niture, and ma ress stores to plumbing and lighting showrooms. I’ve found one common denominator: I am never asked to buy anything.
I’ve had lots of information and pleasant interac- tions, but I’ve never been asked if I wanted my item of interest. Is it no wonder salespeople have measured closing rates of 35 percent average? I see that as a 65-percent failure rate!
While it is impossible to close 100 percent of the time, these numbers are far too low when we satisfy a client with information yet let them leave us to buy online. You may think that this low production rate does not apply to you. The truth is, if you do not measure sales productivity daily, by the individual and based on closing either a sale, an appointment to
make a purchase, or solidly making them part of your digital ecosystem, then the client is o en lost forever. Many believe “closing” happens at the end of the presentation, but I want you to entertain the idea that closing – I prefer the term “con rming” – occurs from the time you ask your rst question. To be crystal clear, con rming throughout the presentation is NOT acting aggressive or pushy; it is being assertive using
the correct questions at the proper time.
At any point in your presentation when you share an important piece of information, perform a trial close to con rm with the client, “How does that sound to you?” Or you can vary the question to be something like, “Do you see what I mean?” “Does that make sense to you?” and “Are we on the same track?” An a rmative reply means they agree with you. Make a mental note of the answer so it can be used in a
summary closing action.
J. Douglas Edwards is commonly known as the god-
father of sales training. I was introduced to his form of professional sales development in 1980 when a sales manager gave me a set of casse es to listen to while driving. Although some aspects of his sales education have become null today, the one lasting piece of ad- vice I garnered was, “When you ask a question – any question – shut up and wait for an answer.”
No ma er what answer you get from a client, you can work with it. The pressure of silence is o en too intense for most people; wait for the response. Silently waiting is a practiced skill. It involves asking a direct question and then remaining quiet until the client speaks. If you talk rst, then you are guessing at what the client is thinking. Please wait...because your guess is probably wrong.
Asking for the order is a mandatory action for ev- ery salesperson. If you have done your job correctly, making a purchase is the logical next step for the client. Closing the order can be as easy as reiterat- ing the client’s statement and asking for agreement. For example, “You mentioned you have a contractor coming in a couple of days. We have that item avail- able now for you, shall we check this o of your list?” Another close could be, “You mentioned this piece is the correct color and size, did you have any other questions for me or should we continue?”
Selling is not a spectator sport! To be successful, you must get in the trenches without fear and inter- act with the client face-to-face without interruption because they are the essential part of our business.
Wishing you all a prosperous 2019, and as always Happy Selling! 
142 enLIGHTenment MagazIne | January 2019
www.enlightenmentmag.com