How to Properly Close the Sale and Eliminate Buyer's Remorse

by Jim Klein

Last week I shared with you the ten most common objections and the best ways I have found to handle them.

This week, I will share with you how to properly close the sale and eliminate buyer's remorse

If you've done all of the steps properly, you've made it easy for people to say yes to your product or service. You owe it to them to assume the sale and then "create the future".

What I mean by "create the future" is you should paint a picture for them, and with them, on how great it's going to be in the future with your product or service.

I promise if you do that you'll eliminate the thing that most salespeople fear which is called "buyers remorse"; that dreaded call when the buyer calls you a day or two later and says (and I know you've probably experienced it), "I've changed my mind." This will rarely happen if you put them in the future, and
create the future in their mind of what the benefits will be using your product or service.

At this point in the sales process you want to paint a picture of some future date after they have been using your product or service. Explain this picture in detail using lots of adjectives, and how the benefits of owning your product or service will change their lives.

Make the picture very descriptive and get acknowledgments from them that they can see and feel how it will be. It's basically a review of the benefits using their emotions to insure them they are doing the right thing.

I am sure you can recall a time in your life when you have made a purchase and then began wondering if you made the right decision. You have thought "Should I have waited and shopped around more? Should I have bought the blue instead of the red one? Should I have bought a bigger one or a smaller one?"

I know, 'buyer's remorse' has happened to me many times in my life. However, as I began talking to other people about my decision, more times than not, I would get confirmation from others that I had made the right decision.

You see, that's really what anyone is looking for; confirmation from someone other than themselves that they have made the right decision.

So, a very important part of the sales process, after the money has changed hands, is to confirm that the prospect has made the right decision in purchasing your product or service.

As I have stated before, a buyers makes decisions based on emotion, and backs it up with logic. Well, 'buyer's remorse' is an emotional response to a purchase. Use positive reinforcement to cement the sale and eliminate buyer's remorse.

Another very powerful way to give the prospect positive
reinforcement is to create a future relationship with them. Talk about how great it will be doing business with you in the future, and how you are going to support them in getting the results that they want.

Let them know you're not just going to make the sale and forget about them, or pass them on to another department in your company. A phone call the day after the sale is a great way to let them know how much you care, and will show them you mean what you say.

Make the transition to the next step in their purchase a smooth one for them. If there will be a delivery of a product, take the time to be there on the delivery date. At the very least, make a phone call to the prospect to make sure everything went according to plan, and that they are satisfied.

When I sold homes and mortgages I went to almost all of my closings. It was a practice very few sales people in those professions did. However, I found it helped to make the buyers feel more secure, and helped to build a long term relationship with them.

By taking the time to go the extra mile with the people who bought from me, I was rewarded with repeat business from them, and it helped me to develop some valuable referral sources.

Continue to follow up with them periodically to make sure everything is going well and to see if there is anything else you can do to help them. You might have other products or services you can give them, or you can use these periodic contacts to let them know you're still in the business, so when the time comes for them to purchase again, you'll be there.