251: Close That Sale

<p>You would think that asking for the order would be the simplest thing in a sales job.  Not the case here in Japan.  Surprisingly a lot of salespeople here in Japan never ask directly for the order.  They get to the point where they should ask but they choose not to.  One of the reasons is they fear rejection, getting a “no”.  They job of sales is an emotional rollercoaster all around the world, so preserving your self-esteem and self-belief is critical.  There is nothing like getting rejected in selling to knock your ego around.  Japanese salespeople have found a way to avoid that regretful eventuality by not actually asking for the business.  It is left vague, sort of hanging there.</p> <p> </p> <p>They usually lack skills in selling, so the steps which they should have completed in a professional manner, haven’t been done, so in fact they have no right to ask for the order.  If you have built the trust, have asked well designed questions to fully understand the client’s needs, presented the correct solution, dealt with any hesitations or objections, then you can confidently ask for the order.</p> <p> </p> <p>The way of asking doesn’t have to aggressive or hard sell.  Actually, that won’t work in Japan, so let’s forget about that idea.  We can simply ask , “shall we go ahead?”.  Or we might offer an alternative of choice, such as, “would you like to start in January or would February be better?”.  The selection of either of those months means that you are accepting the business and will go ahead with the deal.  Another soft variation that works well in Japan is using a minor point.  We can ask, “Shall I send you a hard copy of the invoice or is an electronic copy okay?”.  Either answer means “yes”, we have an agreement.</p> <p> </p> <p>Most often in Japan the answer is “we need to discuss it” or “we need to think about it”.  In American sales training they have a harder edge and go after that statement,  “What do you need to think about?’ or “How long will you take”.  That type of pushy sales technique just w