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The Four Stages of Closing

Post From The SalesAttitude.com Blog: Written by William Woodard · Filed Under Sales Professionals

When I first started in this business I was very fortunate to meet up with a great mentor. His name is Myers Barnes and not only did he help me with my overall selling process, he taught me how to use the four stages of closing. Once I was able to understand this part of the selling process my sales really took off! Here is my take on what Myers taught me:

There are four stages of closing the sale:

Close Today
Close Subject to...
Close for Next Appointment
Close on Follow-up

Closing the sale today

If you're able to meet the buyer's conditions and come to an agreement today, you should start the paperwork right away. In many cases, you'll need to negotiate the conditions, and this is where your creative thinking comes into play. Make sure you're being viewed as a problem solver, a consultant or advisor and give alternative suggestions if they're available to you. Clarify their objections before you tackle them, as they may just be smoke screen objections and not really that important to making the buying decision. If their objections are real, treat it that way and try to resolve it, if you can not resolve it then go for the second area of closing.

Closing the sale subject to

This means you'll write the agreement today subject to resolving the condition at another time or getting approval from your company to meet the condition. Closing subject to is a powerful tool at your disposal to make more sales and close the deal on the first visit.

Here are a few common examples:

The customer wants a feature included in the price:

This agreement is subject to ________ being included in the total sales price of $225,990.

The customer needs to think it over for the weekend.

This agreement is subject to the customer's consideration for 48 hours.

The customer wants to talk it over with a third party, such as a friend, family member, attorney, Realtor or accountant.

This agreement is subject to the final approval of ____________________. This approval will be received no later than _______________.

Remember, this tool is used as an opportunity to help the customer and should never be used maliciously. If the customer is not comfortable with a subject to clause, don't push it on them, or you may find that you'll lose any chance you have of getting the sale. Just simply move on to the next stage of closing; setting the next appointment.

Closing on the next appointment

Sometimes the customer is just not in a position to sign right then. It could be they have an appointment they need to get to or you need to provide them with some other information. If this is the case, work with them and schedule the next appointment right then. You'll often find yourself rescheduling if not all the buying authorities are present. For example, one spouse isn't there or another family member's input is critical to the decision. If and when you find yourself in these situations, get out your day planner and set a date and time right then. You need to get a commitment. Otherwise the urgency you created will diminish. If they're not able to set a time with you, this will give you a reason to follow-up.

Closing on the next area or stage of follow-up

Follow-up is the real test of a professional salesperson. You must create a reason to follow-up with your customers if they don't buy today. You've invested so much time and energy getting to this point. The average company spends between $400 and $1,000 dollars to get someone to walk into your office. Don't throw away the opportunity.

Some reasons to follow up: