Closing Technique: Ben Franklin Sales Close

Ben Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He is one of the most influential people that helped shape America. Ben Franklin was a wise man that was very methodical in his approach to life, business and society. When Ben Franklin needed to make a decision that was unclear, he would use this method to remove any doubt. This closing strategy is formed on logic and deductive reasoning.

Other names for this close are the Balance Sheet Close, T-Bar Close or Pros and Cons Sales Close.

The Process:

1. Take a piece of paper and draw a T in the middle.

2. On the top left write “Reasons For” and on the right side write “Reasons Against”. Make sure you place the “Reasons For” on the left side because of the way we read. You want their eyes to see that first every time they look at the sheet.

3. Eliminate the “Against Reasons”. The two main reasons are cost or timing.

a. Cost: This tends to be the main source of contention. The customer genuinely has an interest in your product or service otherwise they would not be meeting with you.

b. Timing: The prospect may be in the shopping mode and just wants to gather the information necessary to make an informed decision. The probable purchaser could be investigating the steps and costs involved to make the purchase.

4. Help them with the “Reasons For”. Make sure have about 10 valid reasons.

5. After you have completed the list you say, “It looks like the reasons for outweigh the reasons against. Lets go ahead a moved forward.” Now begin finalizing the sale.

5 Quick Tips:

1. Ask appropriate questions: Make sure some of the questions you ask reveal the emotion or feeling associated with the problem. Once you have the feelings, ask a follow up question to see what it would mean to them if you helped them resolve the problem.

2. Listen: The key to any close is to actively listen. Take notes. These notes will help you with this closing technique.

3. Attach an emotion or feeling to the reasons: This is critical for any sales call. When you can connect your product or service to their emotion, it makes it easier to close the sale. People buy back it up with logic.

4. Assume the sale: By asking to move forward you ease the purchaser toward the sale. Using this process will help you close more deals.

5. Practical: This is great for any business or personal decision you face.