There are several types of closes.  Today, we’re going to focus on 2 of the most common. Mastering the use of these two will allow you to book more appointments and close more sales.

1. Trial Close.
2. Alternative Close.

Trial Close - What is it?

The trial close is the salesperson's MVT.(most valuable tool)  It's like a thermometer or blood pressure cuff – it's a critical diagnostic tool used to assess a situation…or better yet, assess how our prospect feels about the product or service we are selling. A Trial Close is a 'closing technique' to test or determine whether our prospect or client is ready to make a buying decision. Trial closes are questions designed to get the customer in the habit of saying yes before you ask your final closing question. What happens most of the time is we do all the talking and leave them out of the conversation, not knowing what’s on their minds, not getting any diagnostics to work with and then all of a sudden ask for them to make a decision - Allow them to go through a decision or buying process in their minds - while leading them to yes!

How should I use it?

Use it during your presentation or after you have made a strong selling point. I found using it during a listing or buyer presentation to be a huge help in closing the sale. I refer to this as “getting to yes”.

Set up – you’re on a listing presentation – you’re going over the various things you do to market the home – you mention something like…here’s something else I do…I am going to _________(hire a professional photographer to take pictures, so your home makes the very best impression possible) – you notice they seller nodding their head – positively responding – this is where you throw in a trial close.  You’d say – it seems you like that idea? The say YES – So should I note that’s something you’d want me to do should you list with me? They say YES. On this one point in your presentation, they say yes to you two times. An embedded command is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) technique for "planting" a thought within the mind of another person beneath the person’s conscious awareness.The purpose of using embedded commands is to move your target’s mind in the direction you want it to go without seeming to be intruding, ordering or demanding in any way.

When you ask the trial close - be subtle and nod your head up and down too. Body language is 55% of communication. Whenever possible, layer this throughout your presentation 5-7 times, time it with a positive comment, body language - ex.a smile or when you notice them nodding yes with you. When prospect/client says yes multiple times during the presentation, it reduces resistance for a ye at the final close.

Alternative Close

What is it?

The Alternate of Choice close is a question with two possible answers — either answer is an agreement and gets you the desired outcome. The key is to give two solutions that both lead toward the sale. By giving two choices, one or the other is usually chosen. This is much better than what happens when you give one choice, and the only other option can be a “no.”

The Alternate of Choice can also be the simplest close you will ever use. It’s also so easy to forget to do it - I hear agents often saying things like “when would be good for you?” or I am open most of the day on Tuesday, when did you want to meet?” Often, this is our way of being “polite” and “customer service” oriented. However, it sends a message that we’re not busy and lacks professionalism. If you ever wonder why people think they can call you, and you’re able to meet them without any notice? This is why. People want to do business with people doing business. Imagine if we called our doctor, lawyer or CPA and they said “I am open most of the day on Tuesday, when did you want to meet?” It is safe to assume most of us would hang the phone up and have some doubts about their professionalism, and/or level of competence.

When should I use it?

1. Alternate of Choice question is often used to get a date or time commitment to set up an appointment. However, can be used any time you are looking to get a client or prospect to make a choice between two things.

2. Example of an alternative close: ________, I can meet you (Tuesday) at 4:30 pm or would (Thursday) at 5:30 pm. Which would you prefer? Or, you’re on a listing appointment, and you could say... do you want me to have the for sale sign up early next week or by the end of this week?  You see the idea here, we’re simply giving an “alternate choice” and either way you win. It’s important to be casual and not sound “salesy” or “scripted”. Just ask like it’s the right thing to do.

3. Don’t talk once you asked the question – the first person to talk loses.

How often do you ever hear -  “ You have to lead generate” and “You have to make calls”?

Step back and put things into perspective. Let’s address the details behind these comments.  I want to bring some awareness, help break this down for you and I trust the end result will be you feel empowered and have some clarity.

Usually, this is an open-ended conversation - it’s a broad subject “lead generation” or “prospecting” I’ve found, since it’s such a broad topic - almost like when we say the universe - that’s a big space - in fact how big is it exactly?  No one really knows.  So, when we say “you have to lead generate - make so many calls each day etc.  It can easily become overwhelming.  As a result, we tend to shut down and become paralyzed with fear and the unknown. So let’s go over a few basic steps that should help you accomplish your goals.

5 Steps to setting up a lead generation plan of action -

Step 1 - Establish your 12-month production goals - How many homes or units are you going to sell?

1. You have to know what you’re shooting for or you’ll miss the target every time. If you don’t know what this number is, a simple way to begin this process is to divide the 12-month income goal by your average sales price.  Ex: 100K / 7.5K would be roughly 13 - 14 sales in a 12 month period. Clarity equals power and lack of it leads to drifting and frustration. As simple as this sounds, I would say at least 50% of the agents I have met over the years aren’t really crystal clear about this first step.

Step 2 - Based on your goal, how many lead generation systems do you need to use to achieve your goal?

1. I notice a few things going on - either we don’t have any real specific plans and are just wandering through the day - or - we have wandering eyes and start something while keeping an eye on what someone else is doing and jump around from one approach to the next.  Key:  Determine what works for you - put your blinders on and go to work.
2. EX: Goal- 12 maybe 1, Goal 18-24 maybe 2, Goal 30-40, maybe 3 … and so on. Recognize the idea is to go small and remain focused on the approach(s) you’ve decided to master … and stick to it. You only need to have enough streams of income to accomplish the end goal.
3. I want to stress here, you don’t need to do 10 things, information overload - it’s typically 1-2 maybe 3 systems done really well and you’re making a great income.

Step 3 - Identify the various ways you can lead generate?

Which approaches do you see yourself doing or appeal to you? Here are a few different ways you can prospect for business:

Some ways to lead generate - not all of them - just some to consider.  

• *Your Database Referrals- sphere of influence and past clients
• Knocking on Doors
• *For Sale By Owners
• *Expired Listings
• Internet Leads
• Business to Business
• Networking events/organizations
• Social Media
• Open Houses
• *Just Listed/Just Sold calls or doors

Step 4 - Create an action plan - and get going.  

1. Learn everything you can about the process. Benchmark for results, find other agents that have had success in that area and model what they’ve done, read articles or blogs, watch a  video or attend training events that go into further details on the subject.
2. Learn and develop scripts about the technique you can use when engaging this group.- Don’t forget to practice, practice, practice. I can’t stress this enough!
3. Add it to your schedule. What time of day, what days of the week are you going to focus on this new system? Include your numbers, how many contacts each week?
4. Speaking of systems, what systems do you need to create to support the activities?  For ex, follow up systems so you don’t miss converting any leads you generate, or drip campaigns to maintain and nurture leads.
5. Track your numbers, this will bring some predictability to what you do in the future and give you something to measure now. I recommend tracking  - attempts, live contacts, appointments set, contracts signed that will lead to closings. Having an understanding of these numbers will - allow you to know exactly what activity will lead to results - and - give you  feedback for areas to improve.

Step 5 - Create an environment of accountability.

1. Tell the world about your goals.  (Humbly) Confess what you’re intending to do.
2. Find at least 3 accountability partners. This can be family, friends, co-workers, broker/manager, coach. If you have kids, they can really be a great accountability partner.
3. Find people that will not only support/encourage, people that will confront you too. People you respect or want the respect from are good accountability partners. People you won’t want to let down.  Often we will do for someone else more than we will do for ourselves.

Last point -

Use the KISS strategy.  

Have a plan and work it - remember to give yourself a fair shot at winning - this is going to take a full 90-day cycle to really see results begin to show up on a more regular basis.  You’ll have some wins along the way, just keep this in perspective and don’t break the chain.

The 4th quarter of the year matter. You can finish strong with these 1o tips to stay engaged during the holidays.

1. Don’t be too quick to buy into it’s the “it’s the holidays trap”.
2. When you let up in the 4^th quarter, you are losing six months of production.
3. Consider working from a 15-month business plan.
4. Prepare yourself for the end of year objections, they never change.
5. Accept the fact that you’re going to have to make more contacts in the months of Oct, November and December compared to March, April or May.
6. Have a mental diet prepared full of vitamin M - for mindset.
7. Most agents mentally check out around Halloween each year. Therefore, your competition decreases while your production increases.
8. If your business has slowed down, take advantage of this and work on your business since you’re not working as much in your business.
9. Understand part of having a grand harvest next year is planting your seeds ahead of time.
10. Start a 66-day challenge.

Eight Steps to get more sales through lead follow up

1. Have a clearly defined definition of what qualifies as a lead. 

2.Have an established pipeline - Build a list of your top 10 leads.

3.Approach each lead like there are serious, qualified and ready to go.

4.It’s critical to understand the majority of your appointments will come from lead follow-up … not your initial call. 

5. Most agents have too many “leads” which actually works against us.

6. Leads have no value … we must be thinking appointments and contracts.

7. When following up, set it up like an appointment 

8. What is the best follow up system to use?