Often times customers have hidden objections that they will not share with a sales person unless they are directly asked a question. These obstacles directly affect our ability to close effectively with minimal negotiations. Discovering and closing on these objections is critical to the sale. The key to this process is to ask High Quality Questions. Although many smaller trial closes are used throughout a presentation, there are 4 important selling points to use a trial close before moving to the next step of a presentation.

1. After an Inside Presentation.
2. After an Outside Presentation.
3. After a Demo Drive (if motorized).
4. Before going inside to write a deal.
The word tracks for trial closing are simple and flexible. The timing however is critical. We should never proceed to the next step; inside, outside, etc. until we have attempted to uncover any hidden objections.

Side Note: I do not believe there is a right or wrong order in which to do a proper feature-advantage-benefit presentation. But we cannot skip any part of a presentation or we are lowering the value of what we are trying to sell. Higher closing ratios are achieved when the value of the RV has exceeded the price before we write the deal.

If a customer expresses an interest for example, in the interior features of the RV, (floor plan, kitchen, etc.) that is where you should start. You should show a feature or two at most, than offer the budget choice technique discussed in a previous post, our training class, and in our sales products, to make sure the customer is within their budget, before continuing your presentation.

Once the customer has placed themselves within budget we can continue our presentation. After completing the inside presentation, do not move to the outside, or vice versa, without using a trial close like; “After looking at the interior features of your new (motor home, trailer), do you feel this is going to meet your needs?, meet your expectations? solve some of the challenges your having with your current RV?” etc. Then be quiet and wait for a response. If the customer responds with “Yes”, it is your opportunity to build value. Don’t just move on to the next step. This is perfect time to show the customer how this RV will meet their needs.

Build value by saying something like What do you like best? or How do you see this being an improvement over what you have now?. Whatever they say next is important to them so point out an additional benefit to whatever they mention. If they say “No”, no problem. You have an objection you need to overcome. Better to find out now and overcome it, before continuing with a complete presentation only to find out they won’t buy it because something is wrong with it, or to start negotiating on the price to make them happy. If you get a No, just follow up with “What are you uncertain about?, or Which feature are you concerned about?” Then be quiet and wait for a response.

You are about to get an objection. No problem, that is exactly what you want. Objections give you something to close on. You can’t close on an unknown. Better to find out now than to continue and increase negotiations at the write up stage. Use the same technique inside, outside, demo drive and before going inside to minimize price negotiations, build value, hold gross profits, and sell more RV’s.

Now Go Sell Something!