The Psychology of Closing: The Household Executive Sales Lady

Background

Lecture starts with a personal story about moving to Dallas in 1968.
The speaker taught sales and motivation classes from 9 AM to 9 PM, Monday through Saturday.
During this period, the speaker and his wife (referred to as "the redhead") were house hunting.

The couple discussed and agreed on a reasonable budget for a house.
The agreed budget resembled a large foreign aid bill in the speaker's perception.
They decided on a maximum figure but considered an additional $20,000 if they found their dream home.

The wife found a house after looking at only two houses.
The house had everything they wanted: four bedrooms, a big lot, walk-in closets, four bathrooms, a large den with exposed beams, a big garage, and an office space for the speaker.
The house was $18,000 over their already stretched budget.

The wife invited the builder to show them the house to get a benchmark for real estate in the area.
She displayed excitement and used emotional appeals to persuade the speaker.
The wife employed various closing techniques to make the speaker see the benefits of the house:
- Snooker Close: Acted as if she was uninterested to avoid pressure.
- Ownership Close: Pointing out features as if they already owned the house.
- Reduction to the Ridiculous: Broke down the extra cost into small daily amounts ($1.70/day).
- Affordable Close: Converted the extra cost into manageable figures.
- Socratic Method: Asked a lot of questions leading the speaker to the conclusion.

Translate the Story to Your Situation: The wife used the 1902 Close, which involves making the prospect visualize ownership and breaking down costs.
Selective Hearing: She ignored negative comments about affordability, focusing on the positives.
Optimism: Maintained an optimistic outlook that they could afford the house.
Asking Questions: Used questions to guide the speaker to a logical conclusion.
Pre-Selling: The wife had pre-sold the budget and the additional $20,000 before house hunting.
Breaking Down Costs: Made the extra cost seem minimal by breaking it down into daily expenses.
Understanding Prospect Needs: Knew the speaker’s specific desires (swimming pool, office, circular drive) and pointed out how these could be added later.

Effective sales techniques involve emotional appeals, breaking down costs, and maintaining optimism.
Understanding the prospect’s needs and using imagination can help close sales even when the product does not meet all initial requirements.
The story illustrates that you can achieve what you want by helping others get what they want.