She shouted from far… “Hey young man, so how’s the mattress?”

Standing in front of the door, I turned and replied…
“well, we got to think about it…”

She was behind the counter, from far I saw her moving out of the counter and came dashing towards me, I said to myself… “wow! I got to stay and see what she’s going to do…”

It all started when my (sleeping partner) wanted a new mattress. One Sunday after lunch we passed by a huge furniture complex when Catherine (my sleeping partner) turned to me and said “hey dear, seems like a lot of mattresses for sale here.” So we stopped, parked, and went in.”

A guy (the sales guy) came and greeted me and asked the all typically <which I don’t recommend for retailers> ‘can I help you?’. “I am looking for a mattress”. He took me upstairs and shown us dozens of different mattresses. I left the choice to Catherine. So she ended up with 2 preferences. We sat on it, slept on it, and talked about it. Then I told the sales guy that we’ll think about it. Like all consumers, I wanted to check out other places to see if there are other good mattresses as well. Furthermore, that mattress cost a few thousand bucks!

Sales mistakes the sales guy made:
1) Didn’t know my name or Catherines’.
2) Didn’t build rapport with me.
3) Didn’t ask many questions.
4) Did not answer my objection – of I want to think it over.
5) Did not create a sense of urgency.
6) Did not close.

This guy is a professional mattress presenter. What he does is show you all these mattresses and explain the technology behind it and hope you will say… “this is great, few thousand bucks, so cheap, I’ll take it!”

So I went downstairs to walk out of the store when a lady, in her late fifties, came dashing towards me. Remember the opening story? Apparently, she’s the owner of the business. She has shown me her card and from there I got to know that she owns 4 other furniture stores as well. Basically, she saw me as a buyer, I dressed very well, so a few thousand bucks mattress shouldn’t be a problem. That’s why she came over, her money is flowing out the door and she has to grab it!

She asked me what was my concern. I told her and she attempted to answer them. Halfway through she asked for my name, which is good practice for retailers, especially when you are selling high ticket items. She also occasionally touched me (at my arms and elbow) – to build rapport and connection. One thing she did very well is when she kept talking, I looked away looking at other furniture she would touch my elbow to gain my attention. (als0) It’s a subtle way of saying, pay attention I’m talking. It’s a good technique.

So we started the negotiation. Remember the mattress presenter? I didn’t even negotiate. I just gave him my objection and the end of the story. But this time, I’m negotiating, which is a good sign for the seller.

After getting a good deal I gave out a buying signal… “ok, pretty good deal.”

Then the secret of closing the sale part arrives…

She took out the order book and started writing the agreed price on the form. I was standing there saying to myself, “Yippie! I got sold in the hands of a sales closer.” By the way, writing details down in the form in sales technical term is called The Order Form Close sales closing technique. I’m sure you have heard of it. Most sales books talk about it. I train salespeople in my sales training with it too. Anyway, after writing the price, she asked me when do I want it delivered? (which is assumptive closing). I answered and bang, sales closed.

In CLOSING: Being a order-taker will kill you in these times. Tackle the objections and close the sale. Negotiate and close the sales. Remember, to close more sales, you actually have to close more sales.

Wishing you more sales… with less effort!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Managing Director Sells Sales Trainer EXPENSIVE Mattress!
// Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng is Sales Ninja Grandmaster, lingo for Chief Trainer of Sales Ninja Training, Asia’s #1 Unconventional Sales Training. Sales Ninja Training specializes in helping small-medium, listed and global companies transform their salespeople into the ultimate sales professional known as Sales Ninja. For more information on our sales, motivation, and leadership training, visit our website.

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