Sales Training – The ABCD of Closing the Sale

If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve heard of a book or process called ‘The ABCs of Selling’. The ABC is quite simple. It always means to be closing.
Over the years it has become a well-known sales mantra. You may already know where it’s coming from, and if you don’t, now I guess you know what’s coming.

Yes, that’s right, he’s American.

So given that the majority of sales training materials and one of the most influential sales books come from the United States, and if we can agree that UK and European citizens don’t like being sold to It should come as no surprise to learn that most people in the UK dislike salespeople as most of them have been trained in a way that is not appropriate to our fundamental cultural requirements. In other words, no wonder we have such a bad reputation!

the english are different

The British (and in this I include most Europeans and anyone from Delhi to Cape Town to Kingston, Jamaica, whose origins are culturally British), respond to vendors along a line that begins with caution and continues with caution. suspicion to open hostility. We want things; Of course they do, and most of us have had to sell at some point in our lives; Britain is one of the world’s largest trading nations. But as individuals, we value our privacy, and the shameless ABC sale is invasive.

Always Be Closing assaults our finer sensibilities. We are the modest virgins of the sales world, to be courted with a consultative approach. Being spoken to by someone who is openly aiming for a sale greatly displeases us. We want to feel that we are in control and that we are getting what we want. It is not what the seller wants to sell us.

I am British and have chosen to make a living for the last 30 years in sales. I know, as you know, ABC doesn’t work. What you don’t know, though happily I do, is that there is another approach that does work. I have called it ABCD.

I learned by trial and error and some may say I learned the hard way. I disagree because I loved every moment. However, if you had asked me thirty years ago; Tony, here’s a shortcut through some of the trial and error. Would you like it? I’d probably take my hand off your shoulder.

So I decided to write this book to help professional salespeople like you and me appreciate the subtle differences we need to make in our sales approach to be successful in the UK and European environment.

And the first lesson you have to learn is this:
The role of a British salesperson is not to “sell” in the American sense. If he wants to sell to British customers (and to most European customers who have somehow acquired the famous British stock), he must do something different.

You have to create demand!
ABCD
My ABCD means ………… ‘Always create DEMAND’.
Call it Wish, if you want. I often do. In our work we are contacting, networking, following up, and our goal is never to focus on closing: our challenge is to create demand for what we offer.

Everything we say and do should ensure that we increase the amount of customer desire to do business with us, so much so that I think we can safely say, “It’s not our job to SELL, it’s our job to make customers want to buy from us.” U.S!” Call it facilitating the buying process if you want.

Once this is done, closing is the easiest part of the job. In fact, if you create enough demand, you’ll never have to close. The customer or client does not need to be “closed”. Like a meal created by experts, when it’s done, it’s done. No more work required.