Tips on Creating a “Soft Close”

Article written for, posted, and indexed on www.wickedfire.com

This article is going to give some pointers on increasing your conversion through what’s known as a “passive sale”, “soft close”, or “passive close” in the sales industry. Though internet marketing is nothing like offline sales, there are certain elements of the traditional sales process that you can replicate online with great success.

Step One: Identifying Yourself as NOT a Salesman

No one likes to be “sold”. When someone feels as if they were just “sold” on a product or service they are much more likely to experience buyers remorse, and if the product/service offers a refund policy they may even take advantage of it. Obviously, this is not good for your profit margins.Now, you want to create a persona for yourself that is both true, yet untrue at the same time. For example, if you were selling lawn care products, you may want to label yourself as a “Route Coordinator” as opposed to a salesman. This does a few things for you:

1. It removes the “sales” feeling and image. This will make the buyer more likely to purchase, opt-in, or continue with the sales process.
2. It gives you extra credibility, even if you don’t actually deserve it. The fact remains that you’re still a salesmen, but the customer doesn’t need (or want) to know that.Going back to our Route Coordinator example, you are still a salesmen (selling new lawn care contracts), but the customer sees you as doing the company and them a valuable service (perhaps offering a discount if they help you fill your route). You still get the sale, and the customer is less likely to feel “sold”.
3. The customer will become more receptive as they are not in their “sales mode”, and are much more likely to actually listen to you. When you walk into a Best Buy and you are approached by a sales rep, what is the first reaction that you have? 99% of people immediately respond with “Just looking”, and some even leave. This is because they know that you are going to try and sell them something if you are the sales rep. Approaching them more passively, and saying something as simple as “Those are really fantastic TV’s, but I wouldn’t buy it right now. It’s a bit overpriced” opens the lines of communication, and creates a common ground between you and the consumer: they don’t want to pay too much, and you want to sell them something. If you can get them listening to you, that’s the first step.