Techniques leading to the conclusion of negotiations are aimed at accelerating the partner’s decision, the decision he would have made anyway.

– Too early! Don’t focus on closing the deal right after it starts.

– Too late! When you realize that the buyer wants to pull back.

The sales process can be divided into four stages.

1. Search – Finding people interested in a given product or service.

2. Assessment – Quickly determine whether potential customers can afford to buy our product or service. Selling is a business, not a charity, don’t waste your time on people who can’t afford your products and services.

3. Arousing interest – arousing interest, desires, willingness to possess, needs. And the buyer’s conviction of superiority over others that the competition offers. And most importantly, it wants to buy your product from you. If there is no this stage, the sale will be more like an extortion attempt and the customer may not be satisfied.

4. Completing the transaction – the customer makes decisions and pays for your product.

1. Closing ‚tug’.

By acting patiently and slowly, amazing things can be achieved step by step. By acting in this way, you can also turn your most relentless partner into your customer.

Remember these little tugboats that can turn a 300,000 ton tanker. Customers also change their point of view. Just because he said no to you a minute, an hour earlier, or yesterday does not mean that he will say no to you when you ask him again.

By acting step by step, you can convince everyone.

2. Closing ‚a horse on the paddock’.

If the horse is not in the correct position, you can nudge his legs as much as you like and he will return to his starting position anyway. Similarly, some businessmen try to change the position of their clients by brute force.

The author led the ‚horse’ around the paddock so that he forgot about the decisions he had made previously. Some clients resemble the stallions from this example. They say NO with no justification whatsoever.

Don’t try to force them to change their decisions. Instead, tell a story that will allow them to forget about their decisions, but also arouse desire and need, very subtly letting him know that he will change his mind and benefit from it.

Therefore, don’t take fame as a final refusal. Just think it means needing one more run with your customer around the runway.

3. Closing ‚it probably won’t stop you’.

You don’t always have to react to every objections and objections. You can say:

„But that won’t stop you from making other purchases with us.”

– But that won’t stop you from making a purchase today

– But that won’t stop …

4. Closing ‚you can afford it’.

This technique can only be used in conversations with wealthy clients. Customers appreciate the flattery that they can afford to spend so much money.

Conditions for using this method:

– appropriate circumstances: special occasions, unique, unique accessories, limited edition. This is not a method to be used with normal offers and with normal people.

– the right person in front of you, i.e. wealthy, you need to know that they can afford it.

– any relationship that connects you, the warmer the better, because you can afford strong words sprinkled with humor.

When you present the client with an offer or an additional offer for selected options, and the client replies that it is too much, then you can say something like: ‚Damn it, Roger! You want to do it. And you can afford it. Come on, don’t hesitate. ‚It is about flattering the client’s wealth and reassuring him that he has money and can afford it, and that he wants to do it, but hesitates, but this is the only opportunity and will not happen again.

5. Closing ‚leave them alone’.

Leave your customers alone if you are presenting the product to more than one person. On the pretext, back off for 5 minutes and let them talk without you. To be used when your clients are:

– husband and wife

– president and vice president

– partners running the company

When an offer is made for large investments, this method becomes the rule that must be followed.

6. Closing of Vince Lombardi.

A method of combining negotiations where additional equipment or an extended warranty can be sold.

When the final purchase decision is made by the customer and he only thinks about getting his new product. That’s when it is easy to convince the customer to make complementary purchases.

– First, make him decide to buy the main product and want it very much.

– Then go to add-ons, accessories, etc.

There is no need to negotiate all the details at once. First, make sure that the customer decides to buy even the basic version of your product, and then make an additional effort to sell add-ons or accessories.

The difference between a good player and a great player, according to Lombardi, is that a great player always demands more of himself and takes extra effort when others have already given up.

7. Silent closing.

It is about making a presentation and … staying silent. From that moment on, the first person to speak up loses.

Customers can react to your selling proposition in three ways:

– he will say YES

– he will say NO

– I can’t make a decision right now

This is a method that I have seen more than once in the movies. There is an offer to both sides. Then you write down your final offer on a piece of paper and put a pen next to it, proposing to sign it, then move it towards your partner and silently wait for his decision.

Remember, always assume that the client will agree to your proposal. Don’t say a word until you know what, he wants and what he doesn’t.

8. Conditional Closure.

This type of closure works great for clients who are appalled by the weight of decisions they have to make in a proposed transaction.

The size of the purchase keeps them from making a decision. Try not to make the signing of the contract look as serious as it really is.

9. Closing subject to.

A similar method to conditional close, except that you are not sure that the client will meet these conditions.

The client is willing to buy, but he may not get a loan for it, or he has to sell the current property to get a loan for a new one. It is about difficult conditions to be met by a client who may have a bad situation.

Is it worth signing a contract with such a client? According to the author, yes. Because it psychologically brings the customer closer to the purchase decision.

10. Closing of Ben Franklin.

Before making a decision, take a piece of paper and divide it with a vertical line in half so that two columns are formed:

– arguments for / pros / advantages on the left

– on the right side the arguments against / cons / disadvantages

– Define their importance, relevance and number to the project, then make a decision

You can even give yourself a few thoughts and during this time, add another point for and against to make a decision on the last day of reflection. It is also important to have a clearly defined goal at the beginning of the considerations, which is really the most important thing in a given project.

How can this be applied in negotiations?

It is important that the buyer agrees to use this method before proceeding with any further analysis.

You can say something like: I’m not surprised that you have a hard time making decisions, most intelligent people do. One of the most eminent politicians, Benjamin Franklin, also struggled with such problems, and here you quote his method, asking for permission. When he agrees, you start listing the reasons together with the buyer, help him and suggest more benefits to make the list as long and valuable as possible. When it comes time to argue against, you leave the buyer to himself.

11. Closing ‚stupid mistake’.

This is an excellent way to force the buyer to buy the goods without confrontation. It consists in telling the client how unwise he is acting without accusing him of doing so.

How in practice?

We are talking about someone else who made a stupid mistake while in the same situation as our client. A good example is the story mentioned in the book about the purchase of a helmet for a bicycle by a customer who did not buy it for his son, who had an accident the next day. It is about showing what can go wrong if you don’t buy the product.

12. Closing ‚the last objection’.

For this method to work, you have to make the client feel defeated, as if you don’t want to sell him anything anymore, just talk about his negative decision in order to improve your work. You ask him questions to bring out the final objection that prevents him from making a positive decision.

– What was my mistake?

– Is there something wrong with the service or product he proposes?

It will often be about the price. Do not miss any of the four steps to close:

– Give the impression of being defeated

– Do not press

– Allow the other party to reduce everything to one objection by asking the right questions

– Remove the cause of this reservation

The article is a small part of my private notes and entries from the book ‚Roger Dawson – Secrets of Negotiations for Businessmen’.