In the book "the Psychology of Selling", a passage is titled "The Approach Close".

In this passage, the book tells about a way to achieve a sale. The salesperson will say to the prospect that he is not here to sell something right now but to show why so many others have bought it and continue to buy it. The saleperson will also ask the prospect to listen with an open mind and determine whether or not the product (or service) applies to his situation as well.

When the prospect says, "I have to think it over", the salesperson will respond by saying, "well, Mr. Prospect, I appreciate, but you promised you would tell me one way or the other if this applied to your situation or not", and "After what you've told me, it seems that this is ideal for you at this time, unless there is something else that I don't understand".

This forces the prospect to give a reason for hesitating or objecting, and allows the salesperson to answer or explain, thus continue the selling process instead of ending with the prospect saying "I will think about it".

Here, what does "the Approach Close" mean? Does it mean "to close a deal by approaching(getting close to or get on the same side with) the customer"? Is "approach" here means a method so that "the approach close" means "the approach used to close"? Or "approach" means "to get close to"?

And, by the way, what does "one way or the other" in the 3rd paragraph of this post mean? Does it mean "agree or not" here?

Thanks,

Callithump

I can't help you with the "Approach Close" question, but the "one way or the other" is meant to force the prospect to say that the thing being sold does or does not meet his needs. I think this is what you mean by "agree or not".

This forces the prospect to give a reason for hesitating or objecting
Only if the prospect caves in to the relentless politeness in which he or she has probably been trained...which is exactly what the salesperson is counting on.

Yes, the 'Approach Close' smacks of a fancy salesman term for 'arm-twisting'. Pushy salesmen tend to put a high premium on Closing The Deal, because after that it is too late (for the dupe). Time To Think About It is an anathema to a salesman, since worthy questions may float in, such as:

Do I really want one of these things?
What else could I get for that much?
Do I even have room for this junk?
Could some other poster have a better deal on the same thing?

I think that it is not close/near but close/shut that is being used here. To close a deal, see Aramis' post, is to complete it. as in "He wasn't going to buy the expensive model but I agreed to free delivery and that closed the deal."

Garrrfff... sputter, cough, cough...

I've been successful in sales for 25 years and have never, nor would I ever, talk to somebody that way. It would annoy the piss outta me if somebody did that to me...why on earth would I do that to somebody else.

(Maybe that's why my clients like me. )


Edit: typo

I agree. Someone comes on to me like that and I'd shut down so fast you'd think I'd fallen into a black hole. But that wasn't calli's point.

Quote:

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Garrrfff... sputter, cough, cough...

I've ... never, nor would I ever, talk to somebody that way. It would annoy the piss outta me if somebody did that to me...why on earth would I do that to somebody else.

(Maybe that's why my clients like me. )
Edit: typo

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What she said. We do very soft sell at the store. I took a job once - when I was younger and desperate - selling vacuum cleaners. That job sucked - and I sucked at it, because I couldn't "close". I always believed them when they said they couldn't afford the damned thing.