Essential Sales Closing Techniques and Post-Sale Strategies

Effective Sales Closing Techniques

• Which Close: Encourages a customer to make a decision between two specific items.
• Standing Room Only Close: Used when a product is in short supply or when the price is expected to increase soon.
• Direct Close: A technique where you explicitly ask for the sale.
• Service Close: Explaining the services available to overcome potential obstacles.

Mastering Suggestion Selling

Suggestion selling involves offering additional goods or services to the customer. Methods include:

• Offering related merchandise.
• Recommending larger quantities.
• Calling attention to special sales opportunities.

Upselling and Cross-Selling

• Upselling: Suggesting larger quantities to make a customer eligible for special discounts.
• Cross-Selling: Suggesting related items of merchandise to complement the original purchase.
• Special Sales Opportunities: When a company runs a promotion on unrelated products, the sales representative should inform the customer.

Building Clientele and Post-Sale Activities

The post-sale process includes: Order processing, departure, order fulfillment, and follow-up.

• Order Processing: In retail, bag the merchandise with care.
• Departure: Before customers depart, reassure them of their wise buying choices.
• Order Fulfillment: Based on the purchase order or sales order.
• Follow-up: Making arrangements to fulfill all promises made during the sales process.

Managing Sales Transactions

• Sales Checks: A written record of a sales transaction.
• Debit Card Sales: Businesses with encrypted PIN pads can process debit or credit payments; this provides faster access to funds.
• Credit Card Sales: Can increase sales volume by as much as 40 percent.
• Layaway Sales: Removing merchandise from stock and storing it until the customer completes payment.
• On Approval Sales: An agreement allowing the customer to take merchandise home for further consideration.
• Cash on Delivery (COD) Sales: A transaction where the customer pays for merchandise at the time of delivery.
• Sales Tax: A percentage fee imposed by the government on the retail price of an item or service.
• Allowance: A partial return of the sale price for merchandise that the customer has kept.