Trial Close

Disciplines > Sales > Closing techniques > Trial Close

Technique | How it works | See also

A Trial Close is not a normal 'closing technique' but a test to determine whether the person is ready to close.

Use it after a presentation or after you have made a strong selling point. Use it when you have answered objections.

The Trial Close may use other closing techniques or may be a more tentative question.

Ask 'If...' questions.

Ask questions that assume they have already bought the product.

When you have asked the Trial Close question, as with most other closes, be quiet, watching and listening carefully for their response.

'ABC' is a common abbreviation: Always Be Closing. It means that you should always be heading towards a close, although you must also be careful about over-doing this. If people are nowhere near ready to buy, this will just annoy them.

Examples

It looks like you really like this. Is that true?

If you took it home, would you be proud to own this?

Do you prefer the larger or smaller version?

How would it look on the shelf back at home?

How it works

The Trial Close works by putting the idea of closure into the person's mind. Their response will tell you whether they are ready or not.