The “I don’t need you” Appeal
Within the flow of the sales letter or presentation comes the close towards the end. Here is where you actually ask for the sale. This is the transition point from which you stop selling, pitching, persuading and get your prospect to take the action you want them to—whether to sign up for a newsletter, open account or buy your service.
Now there can be tens of closing techniques but I think that they all can be summarized into the principle of “You need my product more than I need your money”. In other words, the bottom line of the close is that you are telling the prospect that he needs you product (so he will get more value) than you need the money (the seller gets less in exchange).
Now let us look at some popular closing techniques and see how they come down to this one idea:
1. The Affordable close – In this technique you are showing the prospect that he indeed can afford to pay the price you are asking because his spending practice already shows that he can. For example, you may say that the cost is “less than the price of a cup of coffee”. Now on the surface this may not seem that you are showing your need versus his, but you are actually saying that what they pay YOU can amount to what YOU already enjoy as a seller or business person. He will not be enriching you by the purchase.
2. The Assumptive close – Here you are assuming or acting as if the decision to buy is already made. You simply bypass asking for the sale and talk about their ownership of the product or how many they want to buy. So you are assuming a positive response to a question that is not yet asked. In this case you are showing that you are not expecting any resistance and so that the sale is a foregone conclusion. In essence, you are not desperate for the sale, or you don’t need the sale.
3. Deadline close – The prospect is presented with a deal and a deadline to get the ‘special price’. It’s a now-or-never situation. If they stop to decide, then they may lose the deal because the price would be higher. Just the thought of losing the discount can push the prospect over the decisional line. So you are really showing that it is in his favor, and not yours, that he makes the decision right away.
4. The Ultimatum close – Show them all the negative consequences of not buying right away. You have already listed all the benefits of getting your product or service but now you must show how their lives would be impacted without your product. In essence, you are showing concern for their lives and not yours. You already enjoy the benefits because you own the product so it’s not about you but them.
5. The Reversal close – This is the most risky of all but in this case you are acting as if you do not want the sale. Some marketers refer to this as “take away selling”. The whole psychology is that the more desperate you appear to get the sale, the more suspicious the prospect becomes that you are really pulling one over him. But if it appears that you can afford to lose the sale, then it places him on the defensive with no resistance to fight against. If he finds himself pushing against thin air, then he is likely to fall—right into the sale!
We have looked at just five closing techniques, but I think they are enough to show how your attitude as the sales person should be that you are trying to enrich the customer’s life and not your own. If the prospect senses that you are selling just for what you can get rather than give, then you will lose all credibility in his eyes.
I’m convinced that there is no greater psychological anchor in closing a sales greater than the attitude and conviction that your prospect needs your product or service more than you need his money.
Filed under: Online Copywriting
